Fuel pouring from hood?

[kbert1171]

I just came home from work and noticed fuel dripping quite heavily from the hood of my Yamaha 50ELJ (1986).
It used to do this when I lifted the motor when pulling it from the water, but hasn't yet this season. And then I come home to find it happening two days after we used the boat?
What could be going on? Floats sticking? That's the only thing I can think of.
Please help.

 

[99yam40]

to start out, you are going to need to pop the hood and inspect to see where it is coming from.
good chance your fuel tank is pressuring up (not venting)during the hot days
any leak in the fuel system will then be leaking fuel out because of the tank pressure

 

[robert graham]

If you have one of the new EPA approved ventless fuel tanks then pressure may be building up and causing the leak….try loosening the cap on the tank just about 1/4 turn to allow for venting…

 

[kbert1171]

If you have one of the new EPA approved ventless fuel tanks then pressure may be building up and causing the leak….try loosening the cap on the tank just about 1/4 turn to allow for venting…

It's the original 6 gallon steel tank. Still ventless, though. I unplugged it as soon as I saw the fuel and its stopped. But it's never done that before in all the years I've owned it. It did last year when we lifted the motor when leaving the lake, but it hadn't done it this year.

 

[kbert1171]

to start out, you are going to need to pop the hood and inspect to see where it is coming from.
good chance your fuel tank is pressuring up (not venting)during the hot days
any leak in the fuel system will then be leaking fuel out because of the tank pressure

I unplugged it when I saw the leak, and it has stopped, but it's never done that before. Well, not after sitting for a couple days. It did last year when we lifted it when pulling the boat after fishing, but never while it sat in the driveway.
I'm going to run some fuel system cleaner through it and see if that helps. If not, I suppose I'll go to the marina, as I don't feel comfortable messing with the triple carbs. I already have to swap the impeller, as it quit peeing this past Saturday on the lake. But those carbs are a whole different animal. A single, I can handle. The trips are a bit intimidating. Lol

 

[99yam40]

I unplugged it when I saw the leak, and it has stopped, but it's never done that before. Well, not after sitting for a couple days. It did last year when we lifted it when pulling the boat after fishing, but never while it sat in the driveway.
I'm going to run some fuel system cleaner through it and see if that helps. If not, I suppose I'll go to the marina, as I don't feel comfortable messing with the triple carbs. I already have to swap the impeller, as it quit peeing this past Saturday on the lake. But those carbs are a whole different animal. A single, I can handle. The trips are a bit intimidating. Lol

it does not take a lot of mechanical know how to look to see where the fuel is coming out of when it is leaking. so you know what needs to be done to fix it

 

[ct1762@gmail.com]

if you can do one carb, you can easily do all 3. just take plenty of pictures and count low speed needle turns so you put them back correctly (usually require a little adjustment after removal). only a couple linkages, fuel line to each carb, and the choke link to undo!