No fuel to plugs

[fireman57]

Kind of embarrasing to ask but I will anyway. Picked up an '83 50hp rude and have been working on it. Pulled carbs and rekitted both as I don't know how long it has been sitting. Will get to water pump later. Fuel pump looks good when I took it apart. No tears in diaphragms that I could see. Can pump fuel to carbs with primer bulb and overflow them. Engine will only start if I spray premix in carb throats. Going to take carbs back off tomorrow and make sure that I have the floats set correctly. Think I do but am going to double check. What am I missing? I think that I may be too close to the problem. If someone else posted this I would have several suggestions for them but I'm tired and stuck.

 

[Indymike]

Re: No fuel to plugs

Is the choke closing as it should? Or primer priming?

 

[fireman57]

Re: No fuel to plugs

I have manually held the choke closed and it still hasn't helped. Starts fine with choke open and premix squirted in but dies when premix runs out.

 

[o/b tech]

Re: No fuel to plugs

Sure sounds like a fuel pump problem. Try installing a rebuild kit in the pump or replacing it with a new one.

 

[rickdb1boat]

Re: No fuel to plugs

Will it keep running if you squeeze the primer bulb? If so, the pump is shot ...

 

[fireman57]

Re: No fuel to plugs

Thanks for the replies. The only reason I discounted the fuel pump is because the carb bowls are full after firming up the primer bulb. It would seem to me (probably in error) that it would run until the carb bowls are empty. I will rekit the fuel pump as the cost is minimal and the time is nothing. It just seems like it is not getting pulled out of the carbs. Going to also replace the vacuum lines in case they have a crack in them but seemed good when I pulled the carbs. Already replaced the main vacuum line out of the crankcase but will check for others.

 

[OBJ]

Re: No fuel to plugs

Your engine should have a primer solenoid on it fireman. I'm wondering as to the year of the engine when you posted that you held the choke closed and it didn't help much. Maybe post a model number?<br /><br />When you did the carbs, did you pull all the orifices out and check them? Soak the carbs out good in carb cleaner?<br /><br />Just a question....is the compression good on both cylinders?

 

[Walker]

Re: No fuel to plugs

Originally posted by fireman57:<br /> Can pump fuel to carbs with primer bulb and overflow them.

You still have problems with the carbs, perhaps float levels not set correctly or bad needle valves/seats

 

[fireman57]

Re: No fuel to plugs

Sorry I haven't gotten back to this yet as today was more work and more rain and Sunday saw me having too many beers with a buddy that stopped by. OBJ it does have a primer solenoid on it and I can't hear it click when I flip the switch on the dash. Haven't checked it out with a meter yet but does not close the choke. Had the carbs all apart and sprayed out good with carb cleaner. Didn't soak them like I usually do as they didn't seem very bad. All orafices are clear that I can tell. I might have gotten lax when I put them back together and didn't pay much attention to the float levels. Walker when I say I can overflow them I meant that they are definitely full of fuel and I can force some fuel out of the connections if I pump any harder. Hopefully I will get back to it tomorrow and let you all know. BTW OBJ it is an '83 and it is the te model which seems to have a few more quirks than the other models.

 

[OBJ]

Re: No fuel to plugs

Fireman...I gotta wonder.....if it runs good while spraying premix into the throats but dies when you stop.....are you sure the float bowls are full? The float bowl drain plugs are easy to get to....maybe pull them and see what comes out?

 

[fireman57]

Re: No fuel to plugs

They were when I took them off the first tiem. I didn't take out the screw behind the drain screw when I disassembled them the first time but will this time. Had carb cleaner run out of them though. Going to try to get back to them this am as the rain has stopped. A little history from another thread: Bought it without controls and spliced another red cannon plug in from a V4. Had two black w/ yellow stripe wires for kill switch and just used one of them. Finally got it to turn over and compression checks fine at 88 on top cylinder and 91 on bottom. Just wanting to get her going as my season starts in mid April. Still need to redo my transom and should have it done next week. After it gets running then I will drop the lower unit for the H2O pump and find out why it quits taking lower unit fluid. I can put one tube in and then it won't take anymore and never comes out the top hole. I will check that out and it could be another post later. Thanks for hangin' with me on this.

 

[OBJ]

Re: No fuel to plugs

You might consider popping the core plugs and checking the idle holes under the big one on top of the carb. Don't take much to plug these holes up.

 

[Dave Abrahamson]

Re: No fuel to plugs

Originally posted by fireman57:<br /> OBJ it does have a primer solenoid on it and I can't hear it click when I flip the switch on the dash. Haven't checked it out with a meter yet but does not close the choke.

So...does it have a primer system or a butterfly style choke system? My 83 had the "push the key in" style primer, yours is on the dash?

 

[tashasdaddy]

Re: No fuel to plugs

when you soak the carbs, blow all the orifices out with compressed air. i think Joe Reeves say to run a small wire thru some of them.

 

[Cricket Too]

Re: No fuel to plugs

I am confused the same as Dave is. You say that it has a primer solenoid, and you "flip a switch on the dash", but then you say that it does not close the choke. I have never heard of a separate switch on the dash for a primer, I have seen them for the original electric chokes. If you have a primer, than you won't have any choke butterflies, so there will be nothing to close, and you won't really hear a primer as much as you would hear a choke, unless you get right next to it, and you won't see anything move on a primer. But since you said you manually held the choke closed, it seems like you do have butterflies, so you have a choke and not a primer. My '83 70hp had a choke instead of a primer.<br /><br />You also say that you can get it started with premix sprayed into the carbs, and since you didn't say anything about it stalling after that, I'm assuming that it stays running after you get it started, correct? So if that's the case then I would say you have a choke problem. If it keeps running after you get it started, I don't see what would be wrong with your carbs. Are you advancing the throttle (timing) at all when you are trying to start?

 

[fireman57]

Re: No fuel to plugs

Okay let me see if I can clear this up. I do have it running now. The red lever on th primer solenoid was flipped over. I found this after I redid the carbs again. My primer solenoid is activated by a toggle switch under my ignition key. When I flip and hold it up I can hear it click so I know that it is working now. When I release the switch it shuts it off. Kind of like holding the old choke knob on the dash of my 1953 Chevy truck. You would hold it out and when it started you would push it back in. Engine runs very well but smokes like I do. While I was setting the idle I found that I had lots of blue smoke coming from my powerhead gasket so I guess I will be pulling it now. Local dealer (who is one heck of a nice guy) has it in stock for $7.43. What a deal. Now if I could only charge myself the book rate of 300.00 to change it. Dropping the lower unit anyway so it should be that bad. Thanks guys for the help and will keep you posted. If I ever get my transom rebuilt for this behemoth and everything done in a couple of weeks I'll try to post some pics.

 

[fireman57]

Re: No fuel to plugs

This engine is missing some throttle and shift linkages also. My butterflies butterfly when it is running as the spring is either weak or no on correctly. I am missing an arm on both the throttle and the shift linkage so once I have these on (after the powerhead gasket/water pump replacement) I will be able to do more about it running correctly. All the major components seem to be in good shape.