1998 Force 90 Carb leak problem

moze229

Cadet
Joined
Jul 3, 2005
Messages
6
Hello everyone! You'll have to bear with me because I'm new at anything boat related. I recently purchased a 1998 Bayliner with 1998 Force that had been sitting for 3 years. Took it to a boat mechanic, he said everything looked great except the carbs being dirty. He took the carbs off, cleaned them, put back together and we went on a test run and everything was wonderful. So, I bought the boat. Went out about a week later and I couldn't get it started. I thought I may have flooded it. Opened the compartment to find fuel pooled in the bottom cowl. Soaked that up with a rag. I put the ears on with the hose and it started the first time, but fuel was slowly dripping from the bottom of the carb assembly. I removed the plastic air shroud and found that fuel was sitting in the areas where the butterflies are in all three carbs, and dripped down the plastic. No leakage around where the carb connects to the block. It appears to be a slow leak, but still a problem. Something I can fix myself or do I bring it back to the mechanic to look at? Why would it start for me and the hose, and not at the lake? Any suggestions would be wonderful! I've even read it's normal for this to happen with a flood, but I saw it leaking as it was running. Sorry for the post if it's too long. :) Thanks guys (And gals) : ) I didn't get to use my boat this weekend :(
 

eurolarva

Rear Admiral
Joined
Jun 24, 2003
Messages
4,182
Re: 1998 Force 90 Carb leak problem

YOu pushed the key in to choke it when you attempted to start it correct? When you prime the fuel bulb does it get hard? When priming with cowling off can you see gas dripping out of any of the carbs? When the mechanic took the carbs apart I hope he put new rebuild kits in them instead of just cleaning them The kits cost about 15 bucks a piece. If the gas is coming out high in the carb chances are the fuel seat is bad or the float is adjusted wrong. If it is leaking low chances are it is just a float gasket. Good luck.
 

moze229

Cadet
Joined
Jul 3, 2005
Messages
6
Re: 1998 Force 90 Carb leak problem

I did choke while starting, and the bulb does become firm when priming. When priming with the cowl off and the buld gets full, there is no fuel leakage at all. It was only dripping slowly while it was running - maybe once every three seconds. The motor is tilted somewhat however, as I can't lower it all the way or it will hit the ground. I also didn't have it all the way down at the lake, but it was down pretty far. Maybe I should take it back down there and try again while lowering the motor all the way this time. I've read a few posts suggesting bowl overflow when the engine is tilted because the float will not seat properly. I'd hate to get out in the middle of the lake with fuel dumping into the water though :( Thanks for the suggestions!
 

eurolarva

Rear Admiral
Joined
Jun 24, 2003
Messages
4,182
Re: 1998 Force 90 Carb leak problem

The carb should not leak if it is only up a few degrees. Can you identify where the leak is coming from?
 

moze229

Cadet
Joined
Jul 3, 2005
Messages
6
Re: 1998 Force 90 Carb leak problem

Well when I removed the plastic shroud that mounts in front of the carbs (air intake cover), it had fuel on it and you could see where it had been dripping down. In all three carbs on the air intake side, there was a small residual amount of fuel. As mentioned before, it doesn't seem to be coming from anywhere else. When I came back from the lake and opened the cover, there was a small pool of fuel in the bottom portion of the compartment. I suspected at first that if one of the upper carbs was leaking somewhere, it could have dripped down on the others. All three had some fuel on them on the inside as if they were overflowing. Perhaps the choke is stuck or something? There is no fuel coming out of any of the lines or on the side of the carbs that mount to the block. Also, although I could not start when i got on the water, it started for me in the driveway. That is when I began inspecting closely and saw the very slow drip from behind the air intake running down into the bottom compartment while it was running, and a short time after I turned it off. Weird :)
 

moze229

Cadet
Joined
Jul 3, 2005
Messages
6
Re: 1998 Force 90 Carb leak problem

I was thinking, maybe I should run the thing for a bit without the carb cover on there to see if there is a culprit carb in the mix (it would have to be the upper one if it was only one, because all of them had a slight residual amount in the air intake area). I'm not scared to work on the thing. I've seen sites mentioned before, but what are the best service manuals to buy? I went to Mercury's site and they wanted like $75.00 for theirs!!! I'm no mechanic for sure, but I have experience with small engines and working on them. I even know enough about car engines to screw them up as well : ) Perhaps better than bringing it over to the mechanic that was supposed to check the thing over in the first place.
 

moze229

Cadet
Joined
Jul 3, 2005
Messages
6
Re: 1998 Force 90 Carb leak problem

Thank eurolarva! I'll probably be ordering that one soon. At any rate, I took the boat back over to the mechanic, and from what I described to him, nothing sounded out of whack. He took a look at it, ran it, and everything worked great. We took it back down to the lake and he re-taught me how to start a 2-cycle engine : ) Choke + priming + slight throttle + ignition = start. Not Choke + prime + ignition. (I didn't really think about it being a 2 cycle engine even though I had just put fresh fuel and mix in. Afterall, I wasn't trimming weeds or cutting down a tree.) I was also a little jittery about getting on the water for the first time. The concensus is that I flooded the crap out of it. We ran it for about 30 mins. with no problems. Tilted the engine up after use and no leakage. He also stated that if starting the engine, revving it up, and turning it off slightly tilted it will sometimes overflow a little. I really appreciate the help, and I'll talk to you soon I'm sure. : ) Time to order the service manual and screw something up.
 

eurolarva

Rear Admiral
Joined
Jun 24, 2003
Messages
4,182
Re: 1998 Force 90 Carb leak problem

Glad to hear it was nothing. The service manual will give you piece of mind. Mine is so worn and dirty some of the pages are starting to wilt. Good luch and good boating.
 
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