Fuel delivery 5.7L 1996 Mercruiser Bravo III with 220 throttle body injection.

[wakina]

I am having trouble with fuel delivery, need advise on where to start looking for the problem. Boat quit running a short way from the marina, fired up the kicker to head back in, then the kicker quit running. Both the 5.7 and the 9.9 four stroke kicker run off of the main tank. Both get fuel from the fuel water separator. First thought was the fuel water separator filter may be plugged, so I changed it and the old filter was full as it should be.

. After several attempts to start the big engine and the kicker I remove the new fuel water separator canister. The new fuel water separator filter was empty. In the past I have ran that kicker for 6, 7 and even 8 hours with no problems without ever starting the big engine. This time it quit running on a full filter. Before this incident the kicker was able to pull the needed fuel from the main tank and keep the fuel water separator full.

Yes the tank has ample amount of fuel in it. The tank holds 130 gallons and is resting on the 3/4 mark and that is after just adding 30 gallons of fuel less than a hour before all this took place.

Suggestions.

 

[alldodge]

There is several threads on folks hooking up kickers in the OB section on this topic. The issue is just as what happened to you, the filter is sucked dry. When one pump is drawing from a filter air can be drawn in from the other motors fuel system. You need valves to shut off the fuel line to the other motor when in use. Never did this my self, just what I picked up from reading.

Do some searching on kicker, you will find plenty

 

[wakina]

I do appreciate your response, but I am having difficulty believing this reply as a viable answer. The reason is that I have been using this same setup for four years and probably well over 200 hrs on the kicker alone. It was professionally installed. I have never have had a problem with this setup until now. Yes there is a shutoff valve between the fuel filter and the kicker that I had to open to start the kicker just before it also shut down for lack of fuel it runs fine off of the portable tank which I tried once back to the marina, the 5.7 had already stopped due to lack of fuel.

 

[alldodge]

Yes there is a shutoff valve between the fuel filter and the kicker

With having valves, disregard previous

Check your anti-siphon valve it's probably sticking

 

[wakina]

Taking a 6 gallon portable gas tank and hooking it up to the inlet on the fuel water separator filter and see if the boat will run with this temporary fuel setup. If it does then I will replace the fuel line from the fuel water separator fitter to the gas tank, as well as the AS valve. If that does not cure the problem I will install a new pickup tube in the gas tank. The fuel hose from the filter to gas tank appears to be the original rubber line from the manufacturer.

 

[harleyman1975]

I'd replace that too then. It can break down from ethanol fuel and collapse. Remember in front of the pump it is a suction line (cars use steel lines for suction lines). A rubber suction line can collapse.

 

[Bondo]

Ayuh,.... Sounds like a fuel Tank problem, possibly just the line from the tank to the filter,....