Why does my primer bulb get soft and the motor run out of gas

After anchoring for a while, we pull up anchor, start the Merc 150 and about 2 minutes later the engine runs out of fuel. The primer bulb must be squeezed till hard and then the engine will start and run normally until we anchor and go through the same thing again. The boat and engine are only 1 month old, but if it is a simple fix I will do it myself rather than take it across town to the repair shop.

Re: Why does my primer bulb get soft and the motor run out of gas

I'm no expert, but it seems that it there could be a hole in the fuel line allowing air in. This could also be caused by something not correctly adjusted in the carbs. Or it could be that the gas tank is not vented correctly or that your fuel pump diaphragm has a problem.<br /><br />I had the same type of problem, mine ended up being the Carbs needed a good cleaning and rebuild. I am sure there is someone else that will answer with more information on this.<br /><br />You may want to post more information about the engine such as model number, year, and history of the engine if you know it (unless its brand new).<br /><br />Hope this helps.<br /><br />Thanks,<br />Bryan Cox

Re: Why does my primer bulb get soft and the motor run out of gas

Thanks Bry for the help. The engine is brand new and it started this on the 2nd outing. Maybe someone else has a good idea of what it could be.

Re: Why does my primer bulb get soft and the motor run out of gas

If everything is brand new, it is more likely to be due to tank venting, as Bryan sugjested. There will be a small button on the fuel tank's cap (if it is one of those 6gallon plastic tanks).This must be opened to allow air to replace the gas in the tank as it is burned. The pump is drawing the gas it needs,and creating a vaccum inside the tank, but still getting enough fuel to run on.When you shut it down,the pump stops "pulling" the fuel it needs, and the vaccum it put into the tank,now sucks all the fuel out of the carbs and fuel line.<br />If you have a built-in tank,with no visable vent, you have a permanent vent,and it is probably plugged-up somehow.<br />To check this, try cracking the filler cap,so air can get into the tank.If it solves the problem, the vent is iether not open,or plugged up.

Re: Why does my primer bulb get soft and the motor run out of gas

G'Day, Mercury had a problem with some of their primer bulbs that gave similar problems to yours. They came out with primer bulbs with new check valves. To check if your primer bukb is correct it should have a yellow check valve. you don't have to pull the old one apart, you can see the yellow valve easy