Engine surges and runs out of gas

[jorgeinmiami]

Went out today by myself to try out the new Garmin and it works great and reads at a fast speed.

Now the engine is still doing the same thing. Starts and idles fine, get up on a plane and runs great.
A minute or two the engines bending to surge and runs down like it's out of gas. Checked the bulb and it was flat. Tried to pump it but being alone it's tough to do. I recently changed the favor filter and the filter in the VST. I'm running fresh Rec90 and added ring free plus so I don't think the gas is the issue.

Plan on getting a external gas tank and running it off there to see what happens.

Any other ideas ????

[Kwaugh5p]

If the bulb is flat sounds like it isn’t getting fuel. Is your vent working. Is there a restriction somewhere in the fuel line fuel filter is not plugged

[jorgeinmiami]

Tomorrow I'm going to start at the tank and work my way back to the engine checking to make sure all the hose clamps are good and no kinks in the hose. I didn't think of the vent so I'll look at that also. It probably something simple but takes time to go through it . I pretty sure it's not the tank since I cleaned it out pretty well before I reinstalled it. Glad I haven't sealed the tank lid yet

[bumpdraft]

Originally Posted by jorgeinmiami

I pretty sure it's not the tank since I cleaned it out pretty well before I reinstalled it. Glad I haven't sealed the tank lid yet

Could it be that a lot of crud was loosened up and didn't come out. Maybe clogging a screen in the pickup (which I don't see what its purpose is) , or clogging up the fuel filter, which I assume is ahead of the bulb.

[FLexpat]

Some pickups have a check valve in the elbow on top of the tank - they can get screwed up easily.

[bmajvi]

Does the pickup tube have a mesh screen over the intake? Crud floating around in the tank can get sucked into the pickup and cause that starvation issue. I think trying the external tank is the right next move. Good luck.

[Fr. Frank]

Originally Posted by bmajvi

...I think trying the external tank is the right next move. Good luck.

What he said.

[jorgeinmiami]

Went to the boat today and the 1st place I looked was the hose to the vent . Sure enough it was kinked. Removed the straight line vent the goes thru the hull and will replace it with a 90° angle one tomorrow. Hopefully that takes care of that.

[jorgeinmiami]

Sealed out the vent to a 90° fitting and ran the boat ....still surging. Went to a external tank and it works great. I'm done in islamorada this weekend so I'm going to get a 6 gallon poly tank till I get back home.

[Capt Terry]

Jorge-
After I put a Racor filter and vacuum gage on my ETEC I found I was at or near the vacuum limit even with a brand new fuel filter. I had replaced the fuel tank a few years before and had used the original 90 degree elbow on the top of the tank. I discovered it was also an anti-siphon valve. So I drilled out the elbow to remove the ball and my vacuum dropped in half. I routed the fuel line with an increase in elevation so it would not siphon if there was a downstream leak. I did not experience your problem, but thought it was worth mentioning. Good luck