Vaporlock in a 100 HP johnson?

[eaganboater1]

I was on the mississippi river in my 79 crestliner when my 100 hp johnson ran out of gas in the first 6 gallon tank. NP i thought, I switched tanks, primed the bulb and the motor didnt fire. not a single pop. subsequently we were sent adrift because my mushtoom anchor wouldnt hold me. afer 20 minutes a nice guy in a late model glastron stopped, and towed me about 3 miles back to the launch (thank you mystery boater!).

Once I got the boat out of the water and pulled to town I tried starting it and it began to fire. not having mufflers I didnt ress it until i got it home. a few days later i put the water mufflers on and and tried to start it. of course it fired right off and merrily ideled away.

It was in the 90's that day, and when i was starting to panic i tried choking it a few times. Did i flood it or did i get a vapor lock. and if a vapor lock how do i fix this in the water?

Also, shame on the 5-6 pleasure boats that ignored my repeated SOS calls on the boat horn. I'm pretty sure that is a ticketable offense to ignore a boat in distress. Finally, off subject, what can people recomend for a poper emergency kit and possible communication setiup for a small 16' fish/ski boat?

 

[Joe Reeves]

Re: Vaporlock in a 100 HP johnson?

Personally I've never encountered a vapor lock problem on a outboard. If the engine's been running okay ever since, I suspect you flooded it. If on the other hand, it's given you some trouble since then.... possibly you didn't run out of gas but encountered some other problem when you were coincidently running extremely low on fuel in that tank.

The mystery boater.... did you slip him a ten or twenty for his help, replenish the fuel he used?

The five or six boats that ignored your SOS horn...... the majority of boaters wouldn't know the code for an SOS from a SOL and probably thought you were having a party and celebrating a little heavy. On a river, not open water (Bay, Ocean,etc), no storm, and not in a life threatening situation, other boaters are not normally required to give assistance unless they are returning to port. Should they be on their way out to fish, ski, picnic, whatever... they can catch you on their way in.

Many years ago when I was a young man, I and various family members were on our way out for a day of sking etc. About 3/4 of the way there, people in a stalled craft near the bank of the river were yelling and waving. Getting closer, I recoginized the boat operator as one of the customers of the marine repair shop (dealership) I worked at. He had run out of gas. I told him to hook up another tank. He stated that he only had the one 6 gallon tank (fool!). I had only large tanks, too heavy to lift, similar to built in tanks at the time, no way to siphon, so I towed his rig back to the marina. This wasted a good two hours of my time, used a good bit of fuel, and pretty much put a dent in my days enjoyment. At the marina, as he was walking away, a casual thank you was thrown over his shoulder... and that was it.

To this day, that was all I ever got from him or any of the people that were with him and it resulted in a change in my rescue procedure which is..... If you're not in a life threatening situation and if you're still there on my way back, I'll catch you then.

Most dealerships can supply you with an assembled emergency kit (flare gun, first aid items, etc), and a important item to have is a cell phone and the numbers of the nearest marina and Coast Guard.

 

[eaganboater1]

Re: Vaporlock in a 100 HP johnson?

great answer, thanks for your help. i suspect then that i flooded it. i'll add the coast gaurd to my contact list. they mystery boater refused any type of repayment, cash or beer, he simply said pay it forward, which I hope to do some day. cheers!

 

[Joe Reeves]

Re: Vaporlock in a 100 HP johnson?

the mystery boater refused any type of repayment, cash or beer, he simply said pay it forward, which I hope to do some day.

I suspected as much (your offer). Let us know if the engine problem returns.