I have a 2004 Johnson/Zuki 115hp Four Stroke that is losing prime from time to time. I can cruise around and the engine will drop all of the way down to idle immediately or cuts off entirely.
I figured out that the primer bulb is dry and once I get the fuel flowing again by squeezing the bulb until it’s hard then I have no issues. After going through this process I can sometimes go for 30 seconds before it craps out…sometimes 30 minutes. Any suggestions on where to start looking?
ive been having trouble with my 2008 suzuki doing that. changed to fuel filter and it worked fine. I think the ethanol in the gas has something to do with it. Im currently running an additive in there and its helping. I hope someone can chime in and help us. I think it boils down to the governments falt! haha (fuel and gov… problem problem problem)
“My fish served a whole lunchon. Your fish look like a munchkin”
196CC Tidewater 2008
Suzuki 115 2008
2007 Toyota Tundra TRD 5.7L V8
Is the primer bulb going flat? If it is it could be the anti siphon valve sticking. Either replace it or knock the ball out of it.
“Hey this steak still has the marks where the jockey was hittin’ it!” ~RD
Process of Elimination
If it doe not run at 1. then might be fuel pump
Woodfloats?
Primer bulb is not going flat…it just does not have fuel flowing through it (sometimes) until I manually pump it in there and when a good flow is established the motor will run fine.
I appreciate the quick responses from everyone.
Sounds like your fuel is being siphoned back to the tank - probably a bad primer bulb ( check valve in bulb ) or you have the bulb oriented wrong.
We all know the arrow on the bulb points toward the motor ( fuel flow direction ) but make sure your bulb is oriented with arrow up or at least horizontal… Any other way and you’re apt to get siphoning back through. I was right in the middle of the same problem with loosing prime until I re-positioned the bulb to arrow up…no more siphoning or loosing prime.
Just hang over something or tie wrap it to something to get the arrow pointing up. If that’s the problem you’ll see an immediate improvement in priming.
You still might have a bad bulb…I’d change it out jsut to start new and make sure the new one is positioned correctly. I believe the instructions in the box even say to have the arrow pointing up if at all possible…( instructions are over rated ). Good luck.
2000 Sea Pro 255 CC
250 Johnson Ocean Pro
" Always have a plan. "
My 2004 Suzuki 115 4 Stoke is in the shop as we speak for the same reason. I changed all fuel lines and such to no avail. I will let you know when the repair is made. It is also being checked for excessive oil consumption. [2-4 quarts added between oil changes] This should be intresting since I have not heard good things about Suzuki and thier willingness to make good on their warranty.
Weird. If you’re ending up with no fuel in the bulb, but, can then pump the bulb enough to get fuel again…? Weird.
Check to make sure your fuel tank vent is clear. Maybe you’re sucking fuel until you get to much vacuum in the tank.
Maybe the pickup in the tank is out of place?.. sometimes pulling air instead of fuel?
17’ Henry O Hornet
w/ Johnson 88spl
I’ll take the advice and change out the bulb, and to be honest, I didn’t pay a lick of attention to the positioning as I suppose it’s just one of those things that you just take for granted. The problem is just so inconsistent that if this doesn’t work then I’ll go on to changing out the next part in line since the problem is probably not going to present itself in the driveway.
Scloer…please give me an update on what your mechanic finds and the final verdict. No loss of oil in mine however.
I didn’t think the primer bulb remained hard while the engine runs anyway. Hell, my old Johnson 115 fuel line won’t keep an in line filter fuel while she running WOT or at idle, but it’s worked that way for 9 years. The bulb has never primed super tight either. If the motor starts to cut out, pump the bulb real quick to see if it helps. Or hit the choke when it sputters. If it helps, it’s fuel. I like to check fuel flow with clear fuel line in sections starting at the tank to see if water/muck/air is sucking through. A buddy recently had similar problems with a Yamaha, warranty replaced FOUR fuel pumps…on a 2006 motor!! Two different large Charleston shops. New fuel lines/bulb from tank to engine didn’t help either. Ended up being an internal fuel line’s inner lining seperating from it’s sheathing and letting air in. Ethanol was the culprit. Like BSB said, process of elimination from the tank(cheap end) back to the motor(expensive end). Good luck and post the results
I just posted same thread and then read this one. I am having exact same problem on my Yammy 225 4 stroke. Starboard engine is fine and it is only happening on port engine. I am going to change the fuel/water separators first, then bulb to see if it corrects. Buddy of mine had same thing happen and once he changed the fuel/water separator it was fine.
Interesting b/c you would think both engines would have the problem if it was ethanol. Also, I just had the boat serviced in April and they changed the fuel/water separators. Maybe a bunch of water from ethanol was in fuel from sitting up over the winter. I put that ethanol treatment and run the boat pretty much every other week in winter.
Been there done it ethonel is the promblem eating up the rubber
quote:
Originally posted by AllularI didn’t think the primer bulb remained hard while the engine runs anyway. Hell, my old Johnson 115 fuel line won’t keep an in line filter fuel while she running WOT or at idle, but it’s worked that way for 9 years. The bulb has never primed super tight either. If the motor starts to cut out, pump the bulb real quick to see if it helps. Or hit the choke when it sputters. If it helps, it’s fuel. I like to check fuel flow with clear fuel line in sections starting at the tank to see if water/muck/air is sucking through. A buddy recently had similar problems with a Yamaha, warranty replaced FOUR fuel pumps…on a 2006 motor!! Two different large Charleston shops. New fuel lines/bulb from tank to engine didn’t help either. Ended up being an internal fuel line’s inner lining seperating from it’s sheathing and letting air in. Ethanol was the culprit. Like BSB said, process of elimination from the tank(cheap end) back to the motor(expensive end). Good luck and post the results
Bubba can we go Fishing?? Can I drive the boat
Hhhmmm… Do you have a canister style water separating filter?
Having read your post a few days back, I begin to remember my motor doing exactly the same thing when my fuel filter was nearly completely full of water. It would crank, idle, and get up on a plane like it was supposed to, and, then, at nearly random intervals, it would drop nearly to idle, carbs would get hollow sounding like they were starving and it would either cut off of, if I throttled it back to idle and choked it quickly, it would stay running. It it cut off, I’d pump the bulb, thinking it had run out of gas (it had) and it would run for a minute or 10 or so and do the same thing.
When I pulled the filter, it was about 90% full of water, leaving very little filter media clear to allow gas to pass through. When I would ask the motor to run at 3200-3500 or so, it would use fuel more quickly than it would pass through the compromised filter. Changing the filter worked for about 15 minutes when I came to the conclusion that I had a decent amount of water in my tank (thanks to ethanol carrying it along for the ride).
I ended up pumping the tank, getting a fuel filter conversion with a sight bowl on the bottom, and rebuilding the carbs, again.
For a few months, as I used the boat, I’d have to drain a little water out of the sight bowl. But, for the last year or so, everything has worked nicely.
17’ Henry O Hornet
w/ Johnson 88spl
Don’t have a fuel/water separator so it looks like it may be time to install one of these as well. I appreciate the responses from everyone…I didn’t realize so many folks were having close to the same issues.
quote:have a 2004 johnzuki, same problem, replaced all hose and bulb and put in a new fuel pick up at the tank wothout a check valve... did the trick
Originally posted by easton405Don’t have a fuel/water separator so it looks like it may be time to install one of these as well. I appreciate the responses from everyone…I didn’t realize so many folks were having close to the same issues.
Replaced fuel hose and bulb and installed fuel/H2O separator. Also threw in some Startron for good measure. Ran a couple of miles this evening with no issues…don’t feel like I’m out of the woods yet since the issue appeared randomly but I feel a lot better as the motor ran as smooth as could be. A big THANKS to everyone for some sound advice.
the fuel water separator should hopefully catch it next time before anything happens. I replaced mine(fuel water sep) over the weekend, and everything is running fine. I wish I could find somewhere that has non-ethanol fuel on the water.
I am currently having the same issue. It ran great this evening for the first 20mins and then it cut out and I could only get it started back up for a few seconds each time. This has been progressivly getting worse over the past few months. I’ll give the fuel line/bulb and filter a shot as well. Anyone have any other thoughts if these steps do not work?
Replace the fuel line and bulb with an original equipment manufactured fuel line and bulb. Not the cheap crap that Wally world sells. Bet it solves your problem. I’m betting you have a bad bulb or an air leak in your fuel line. Good luck!!
Rog
“Double Trouble”
2001 Sea Fox 230
2001 Merc 200
Im going with ethanol in the gas. Hell mine works some days with no problem. Some days it happens from time to time. I am getting ticked though because if im out with a new crowd and the motor stops. They start saying ohhhhhh shi** when they cant see land??? hahahaha
“My fish served a whole lunchon. Your fish look like a munchkin”
196CC Tidewater 2008
Suzuki 115 2008
2007 Toyota Tundra TRD 5.7L V8