Bad gas?

[Guest]

I'm having a problem with my '95 Yamaha 50 HP tiller. It will start, (after about 20 tries) but if I try and run it at more than an idle it will kill. Also it idles very ruff.

Last fall I put a can of sea foam in with about 1/2 a tank of gas (8-9 gallons) and sprayed fogging spray until it killed then put it in storage.

It’s seams to me that the gas is bad so yesterday I added 8 gallons of new gas and 2 bottles of Isopropyl alcohol. Then I took out a can on carb cleaner with me. After I got it running I spraied the carbs with the cleaner. Right after that it would run up to about 25 - 30 RPM's but it didn’t seam to have much power. After I slowed down it started to act just like before I cleaned the carbs. I did this 3 or 4 times and got the same results every time.

Do I need to take the motor in to get serviced or would draining the tank and getting new gas be worth trying?

Thanks of the help.

[Surface Tension]

Let the boat set for a while. Try to get a hose to the lowest point in the tank and siphon it into a clear gallon container.
Let that container set for a while to let and water in there to settle. If theres any water you will see it on the bottom after an hour.
About cleaning the carb, all you did is clean the outside of the carb. Seafoam in the gas wont properly clean a carb either. Its got to be taken apart and soaked in a carb cleaner. Then all the jets and passages have to be cleaned out.

Do a visual inspection of hoses, wires, squeeze bulb. Replace spark plugs and fuel filter. If this dosent work I would clean the carb.

[Guest]

I'll give that a try. I forgot to mention that I put in new plugs also.

How hard is cleaning the carbs? I've done it on lawn mowers and wasn't too difficult but I'm guessing that an outboard is a lot more complicated

[Scott Steil]

Did you take the Fuel filter out and dry it out? Empty the reservoir by the fuel filter and let the fuel filter dry. Check the plugs, and treat the fuel with OMC 2+4.

Then run the motor for awhile. You should notice impovement if fuel is your problem. That 2+4 is good stuff!!

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Mille Lacs Guide Service
www.millelacsguideservice.com

[Kevin Turner]

To be on the safe side, I suggest new gas. 2 bottles of fuel additives and sea foam might be a little much for 18 gal of gas. It might not solve your problem (check the other things mentioned) but either way better safe than sorry....

[This message has been edited by Kevin Turner (edited 04-28-2003).]

[Guest]

Any suggestions on how to dispose of 18 gallons of gas?

[marine_man]

Depends on how bad it is... if you have a vehicle with a remotely large tank (20 gallons +) put half in there and fill the rest of the tank up with good gas... most vehicles (pickup, etc) will run fine on old gas, as long as it's diluted.. it may smoke a bit more.. but it's better than dumping it on the ground I guess...

[WallEYES]

For my bad gas, I take a couple of tabs of alka-seltzer and feel fine in a hour or two... sorry, I just had to sneak that one in there.