QC
Supreme Mariner
- Joined
- Mar 22, 2005
- Messages
- 22,783
Probably an SHT, but I'll share here . . . I set fire to my 23 Carrera 6.2 Merc a week ago last Friday. It was the last hour of vacation, so I was tired and getting ready to put her on the trailer, not using my brain completely (or maybe too much etc.) I am posting this here as it relates to an MPI I/O and fuel priming. I am finally a little bit over the embarrassment, so I thought I'd share in the hopes of helping others not make the same mistake and to discuss better methods of priming . . . 
I have twin fuel tanks and I didn't like the fuel valve that came with the boat, so I switched a couple of years ago to one that could run either or both tanks. I simply left the old valve in place as the new one would not fit in the old spot (Mistake #1).
Anyway, my 19 YO was running the Carrera around doing some last day sightseeing as I was piloting the rental Houseboat in towards the Marina. I knew he was getting very low in the port tank, so I told him to switch over to the starboard tank by radio. I wanted to tow her home as low on fuel as possible as it is a 500 mile tow, so I didn't put any additional fuel in her that day (Mistake #2). Anyway, he radioed back that he switched tanks and kept puttin' around.
A little later he pulled up to the houseboat to drop off some passengers and I heard her sputter and miss a little . . . and then she died. Doh!! After asking him if he had switched tanks and farting around over the radios as he drifted away I figured out that he had "switched" the dead valve instead of the new one . . . (Mistake #3). He then switched the correct valve, and tried and tried to get her to fire but nada, so I grabbed my tinny and headed over to "help".
I got aboard and kept cycling the key hoping that it would prime. You can hear the electric fuel transfer pump go for a few seconds each time, and I am guessing we're getting closer and closer to a decent prime. My fuel filter is a major bear to get to, and I figured she'd go, so I didn't do the obvious thing (Mistake #4). I was reasonably patient and let the starter cool down often and left the battery switch on one etc. No electrical issues, she would crank like no tomorrow, but would never light off.
I finally was getting near some rocks and getting tired of the whole deal, so I thought, "Hey, you have fuel right there in the tinny, why not drip some into the intake to get her going and see if that'll do the trick." Well I didn't want to cut my OB fuel line to get rid of the fuel connector shut off deal, and I didn't want to spill gas all over the place, so I came up with the brilliant idea to use a paper towel to carefully drip fuel into the intake (Mistake #5). Well, it honkin' worked as it would start and then die as it ran the little drips out, so if a little is good, then a lot is better, right? . . . (Mistake #6)
Well with more fuel, she backfired, caught the towel and my hand on fire and then I threw the rag down right into the engine compartment, right next to the little tinny tank. The only good news is that I didn't panic although I could've chucked the rag into the water that was just as close as the engine compartment . . . Doh!! (Mistake #7) Like I was saying, I didn't panic and got my hand out by slappin' it on my wet T-shirt (no, I was not in a wet T-shirt contest, I had dropped my T-shirt in the drink and it turned out to be the smartest thing I did all day . . .) and I calmly grabbed my fire extinguisher and gave two short blasts and all that was left to do was clean her up and somehow figure out how to get her started and catch up with the houseboat.
BTW, I was right in front of a large Marina, about three miles from the one we were heading to. Big billowing smoke from the Extinguisher, and I had my engine hatch up for around a half hour at this point, and not one person stopped or checked on me or nuttin' . . .
Well to add insult to injury I got towed in by one of our PWC's that we had along, PWC, then Carrera then tinny, in a neat little row. Tied her off just inside the breakwater tires, cussed up a storm, then told the three 19 YOs what I had done wrong that they witnessed (Mistake # 8). And then . . . I tried the flippin' starter for the heck of it and she fired. She missed on and off, even after I ran for 20 minutes towing the tinny back to the Houseboat. Not sure about that, but maybe I picked up some carp from the bottom of the port tank. I'll change the fuel filter in the next week or so and see if that clears that up . . .
Sorry for the long story, but it has a certain Murphy's law thing going, and I though that being brutally honest might save others form similar stupidity :redface:
P.S. My hand has just about stopped peeling from the 2nd degree burns . . .
I have twin fuel tanks and I didn't like the fuel valve that came with the boat, so I switched a couple of years ago to one that could run either or both tanks. I simply left the old valve in place as the new one would not fit in the old spot (Mistake #1).
Anyway, my 19 YO was running the Carrera around doing some last day sightseeing as I was piloting the rental Houseboat in towards the Marina. I knew he was getting very low in the port tank, so I told him to switch over to the starboard tank by radio. I wanted to tow her home as low on fuel as possible as it is a 500 mile tow, so I didn't put any additional fuel in her that day (Mistake #2). Anyway, he radioed back that he switched tanks and kept puttin' around.
A little later he pulled up to the houseboat to drop off some passengers and I heard her sputter and miss a little . . . and then she died. Doh!! After asking him if he had switched tanks and farting around over the radios as he drifted away I figured out that he had "switched" the dead valve instead of the new one . . . (Mistake #3). He then switched the correct valve, and tried and tried to get her to fire but nada, so I grabbed my tinny and headed over to "help".
I got aboard and kept cycling the key hoping that it would prime. You can hear the electric fuel transfer pump go for a few seconds each time, and I am guessing we're getting closer and closer to a decent prime. My fuel filter is a major bear to get to, and I figured she'd go, so I didn't do the obvious thing (Mistake #4). I was reasonably patient and let the starter cool down often and left the battery switch on one etc. No electrical issues, she would crank like no tomorrow, but would never light off.
I finally was getting near some rocks and getting tired of the whole deal, so I thought, "Hey, you have fuel right there in the tinny, why not drip some into the intake to get her going and see if that'll do the trick." Well I didn't want to cut my OB fuel line to get rid of the fuel connector shut off deal, and I didn't want to spill gas all over the place, so I came up with the brilliant idea to use a paper towel to carefully drip fuel into the intake (Mistake #5). Well, it honkin' worked as it would start and then die as it ran the little drips out, so if a little is good, then a lot is better, right? . . . (Mistake #6)
Well with more fuel, she backfired, caught the towel and my hand on fire
and then I threw the rag down right into the engine compartment, right next to the little tinny tank. The only good news is that I didn't panic although I could've chucked the rag into the water that was just as close as the engine compartment . . . Doh!! (Mistake #7) Like I was saying, I didn't panic and got my hand out by slappin' it on my wet T-shirt (no, I was not in a wet T-shirt contest, I had dropped my T-shirt in the drink and it turned out to be the smartest thing I did all day . . .) and I calmly grabbed my fire extinguisher and gave two short blasts and all that was left to do was clean her up and somehow figure out how to get her started and catch up with the houseboat.BTW, I was right in front of a large Marina, about three miles from the one we were heading to. Big billowing smoke from the Extinguisher, and I had my engine hatch up for around a half hour at this point, and not one person stopped or checked on me or nuttin' . . .
Well to add insult to injury I got towed in by one of our PWC's that we had along, PWC, then Carrera then tinny, in a neat little row. Tied her off just inside the breakwater tires, cussed up a storm, then told the three 19 YOs what I had done wrong that they witnessed (Mistake # 8). And then . . . I tried the flippin' starter for the heck of it and she fired. She missed on and off, even after I ran for 20 minutes towing the tinny back to the Houseboat. Not sure about that, but maybe I picked up some carp from the bottom of the port tank. I'll change the fuel filter in the next week or so and see if that clears that up . . .
Sorry for the long story, but it has a certain Murphy's law thing going, and I though that being brutally honest might save others form similar stupidity
:redface: P.S. My hand has just about stopped peeling from the 2nd degree burns . . .
