Water in tank possibly

[Daveroo]

I am suspecting I have water in my fuel. Here is what happened this morning. My boat has been sitting idle in my garage for about a year. I did add fuel stabilizer. It has about 2/3 full tank. This morning, I decided to take it out for the first time this year for a test run. The main engine started up no problems. I slowly motored out of the launch area at MacDonald Beach. Just as I get clear of the jetty into the river, the main sputters and dies. It won't fire back up. I go to my kicker and pulled that to life. It started up and ran for a few seconds, then it too sputtered and died. After that neither motor would fire up again.

Big shout out to the guys that motored by and gave me assistance and towed me the short distance back to the dock.

First, does my prognosis should reasonable? Can anyone think of other possibly causes for my problems this morning? I had tested my kicker a couple of weekends ago. I had made up a mixture of fuel cleaner in an auxiliary tank and ran it through the kicker and I did not have any issues then when hooked up to the auxiliary tank.

What I want to do is change the fuel filter and drain all of the existing gas in the tank and put in fresh tank. Do I simply siphon the gas out? And after I do where can I dispose of it properly in Vancouver? What is the best way to ensure there is no more water in the fuel tank?

 

[sudsy]

Do you have a fuel/water separator installed on your boat prior to the fuel getting to your motor? If you do, you can see if water is the issue as the filter would be so full of water that It would be passing that water to your engine.

What year/type of motors do you have 2 stroke/4 stroke, carb/injected)

 

[Daveroo]

May have to rethink this. I got the kicker going and it appears to run. However I still can't get the main to fire up. Yamaha 4 stroke 115 HP, 2002 model.

 

[SpringVelocity]

You need to diagnose all of them fuel, spark, and compression.

 

[Foxsea]

May have to rethink this. I got the kicker going and it appears to run. However I still can't get the main to fire up. Yamaha 4 stroke 115 HP, 2002 model.

It could be other things, too but... We had a water in the fuel issue a few years back - there are 3 internal filters on that motor: one with the separator bowl, one in the VST and one on each injector. If water made it past the first filter, the injectors may need replacement, which is what we had to do. If you have a good, external primary filter, the element should block water. Try changing it first.

 

[Daveroo]

I removed the fuel water separator filter and this is what came out of it.

 

[Daveroo]

It could be other things, too but... We had a water in the fuel issue a few years back - there are 3 internal filters on that motor: one with the separator bowl, one in the VST and one on each injector. If water made it past the first filter, the injectors may need replacement, which is what we had to do. If you have a good, external primary filter, the element should block water. Try changing it first.

Is this one of those other filters?

 

[Drink]

Is this one of those other filters?

If the red "O" ring is at the bottom of the clear chamber then no water is in the fuel. Likewise if the O ring is floating or near the top you got water contamination in the pictured filter. Careful unscrewing the chamber. You probably already know this but suggested anyway.

 

[Daveroo]

The red O ring is at the bottom. One thing I noticed is that the fuel level in this filter is only half way up the container. In this picture you can see that the fuel level is just below the bottom of the filter inside. Does this mean anything or is this normal? I'm going to see if

 

[Foxsea]

The red O ring is at the bottom. One thing I noticed is that the fuel level in this filter is only half way up the container. In this picture you can see that the fuel level is just below the bottom of the filter inside. Does this mean anything or is this normal? I'm going to see if

The bowl should be completely filled with fuel.

 

[Daveroo]

The bowl should be completely filled with fuel.

I am thinking this might be part of the problem. Is the chamber is half empty then there is no fuel exiting from it . The fuel does not appear to be getting to this point. What I don't know is what is the mechanism to pump fuel? In a small outboard I can follow the fuel flow a bit better, but on this large outboard, I am not sure how it works. Does the cranking of the engine cause the fuel pump to run and draw in fuel? Or is there another part that pushes the fuel into this half empty? I'll do some more reading on the Internet, but I haven't found put what my next step is yet.

 

[CIVANO]

Can you press the bulb enough for the filter to fill or does it have a bulb?

 

[Daveroo]

Can you press the bulb enough for the filter to fill or does it have a bulb?

No bulb

 

[CIVANO]

Does the fuel to the kicker go through the filter? If so does it have a bulb?

 

[Foxsea]

I am thinking this might be part of the problem. Is the chamber is half empty then there is no fuel exiting from it . The fuel does not appear to be getting to this point. What I don't know is what is the mechanism to pump fuel? In a small outboard I can follow the fuel flow a bit better, but on this large outboard, I am not sure how it works. Does the cranking of the engine cause the fuel pump to run and draw in fuel? Or is there another part that pushes the fuel into this half empty? I'll do some more reading on the Internet, but I haven't found put what my next step is yet.

The engine has a fuel pump that brings fuel to the VST and the high pressure pump. There should be a bulb to prime the fuel line from the tank to the fuel pump.

 

[Daveroo]

I stand corrected. There is a second primer bulb just for the main engine, it was deep in the recesses if the transom, I had never noticed it before. I squeezed it and I heard fuel flowing through. I checked the chamber and it is filled up now. Unfortunately, when I tried to start it the crank and flywheel turned but still no ignition. I read somewhere that a kill switch short can also cause this problem. I am going to remove the kill switch out of the circuit and see what happens. But first, I need to charge up the batteries a bit, the last couple of cranks were a bit weak on the electrical juice.

 

[CIVANO]

I believe if the kill switch is defective the engine would not turn at all. With the batteries charged have someone gently press the full bulb as you try to start it.

 

[silversands]

Your starter can crank but still have no ignition. They are separate circuits. So perhaps pull a plug and ground it against the block while someone turns the starter and see if you actually have spark at the plug...

 

[Daveroo]

The engine has a fuel pump that brings fuel to the VST and the high pressure pump. There should be a bulb to prime the fuel line from the tank to the fuel pump.

So as far as I know and can see, the path of fuel is this:
Gas tank hose goes to fuel water separator
Next it goes to the primer bulb in the bilge
The primer bulb pushes it along the hose going into the engine and to that semi-clear chamber in my previous pictures which has a small inline filter in it
Coming out of the top of that chamber is a hose that pushes the fuel to what I think is the fuel pump.
From here it disappears into the VST and I can't follow it anymore.

Am I missing anything?

Here is my engine back

I also just watched this video. This is the exact engine I have. The procedure in the video is just beyond what I am comfortable doing on my own.

 

[Daveroo]

I believe if the kill switch is defective the engine would not turn at all. With the batteries charged have someone gently press the full bulb as you try to start it.

When I pull out the kill switch lanyard the engine still turns. It behaves exactly like the problem I am having. Engine cranks, no ignition. I'll test removing the kill switch as soon as I get a bit more juice in the battery.