Won't stay primed

DC20

Petty Officer 1st Class
Joined
Dec 5, 2007
Messages
361
Yamaha 130 TXRZ, Replaced the primer bulb but it starts going soft just after a few moments of sitting. It works fine with the engine running. Recently replaced the fuel pump as maintenance. Do I have an air leak between the primer bulb and fuel strainer at the motor? No noticable leaks.
 

rodbolt

Supreme Mariner
Joined
Sep 1, 2003
Messages
20,066
Re: Won't stay primed

while an air leak is possible I doubt it,
you have to remember all that bulb does is insure the carburator fuel bowls,fuel pump and lines are primed before starting, after that its usless.
cars would have had primers if the got turned over for storage.
on motors that never get tilted we never use the primer bulb. I havent squeezed the bulb on my F150 in almost a year, I rarely tilt it and the VST holds a lot of fuel as compared to a carb fuelbowl. some larger boats dont even use primer bulbs, we simply wire in an electric pump with a momentary push button switch as there is no where to put a bulb that is esily accesible.
as its on the suction side of the pump it wont stay hard nor is it designed to.
 

rodbolt

Supreme Mariner
Joined
Sep 1, 2003
Messages
20,066
Re: Won't stay primed

you guys are nutz :)
what part of the fuel primer bulbs only function in life is to prime the engines fuel system before starting and after that it can be tossed overboard are ya having an issue with ?
trust me, prime the system, remove the bulb, splice the line back together and if the engine isnt broke it will run as long as fuel is in the tank without it.
biggest primer bulb issue I see is on the cheapie units the check valves fall apart and block fuel flow. other than that its rarely the problem.
 

DC20

Petty Officer 1st Class
Joined
Dec 5, 2007
Messages
361
Re: Won't stay primed

This is my first outboard boat, so I did not relize that it's normal for the bulb to get semi soft and still be primed (am able to squirt just a little more gas through after it's been sitting). The whole issue came up because I am having a hard time restarting. After shutting off for even a short time I was having to choke and throttle to restart. The carb adjustment screws were 1 1/8 out, I have been testing it on the trailer today and 1 1/2 out seems to help the restart issue. This may be a temporary band aid as I should probably clean and reset the carbs and change the Yamaha 10 mic filter as well. Specs from the manuel say 7/8 but it wont run well there. I might have 20 hours on the motor from when this was last done but the boat was sitting for a long time before I got it and drained most of the gas out of it.
 
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