Fuel Pump or Mechanical Failure??

Question

I have a 1997 Evinrude 60 HP 3 cyl 2 stroke outboard boat motor. Symptoms are as follows:

Engine stalls after several minutes

Priming ball loses pressure, will run if ball is manually pumped

These are additional symptoms that may or may not be related to the ones above:

At cruising speed fuel and oil spit out and causes a puff of white smoke

After shutting off and restarting motor it smokes briefly and then returns to normal.

I am afraid to keep running it like this as I do not want to blow the motor. I am not a boat mechanic and any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you!!

Answer 1

The fuel/air mixture may need to be adjusted. It sounds like a bad plug, thus the fuel and oil spitting out. A good tune up and new spark plugs will help. Take it to a reputable boat service center and have them look at it. Do a compression test while you are at it. Happy boating!

Answer 2

Two possible causes- fuel line and bulb need replacing, or the diaphragm has a small hole in it and it needs replacing.- borrow someones fuel hose and connect it on your motor- if that is not the problem, inspect the diaphragm  for a hole in it

Answer 3

change the hose, the priming ball and the connector for the motor. and the problem will be solved

Answer 4

Restricted fuel flow, check all filters and screens, check for leak around the tank fiiting, check fuel flow from fuel pump. possibly fuel pump diaphram failure. These new ethanol fuels are really hard on ruuber parts! good luck.

Answer 5

the connector to the fuel tank might be loose. i have a johnson/evinrude fitting on my outboard and i somethimes have similar problems. just ahve your child or neighbor's child come to the fuel tank on the boat and hold the fitting on the tank while you and your freinds enjoy a day of problem free boating.

Answer 6

you wont blow the motor but check the vent make sure is clear change the fuel line with bulb and check the fuel filter especially if you have a water sepperator

Answer 7

engine runs only when primer bulb is pumped indicates one of three possible problems:

1.  weak fuel pump

2.  faulty primer bulb or fuel fittings.

3.  sticky carburetor float valves, which can be overpowered with the primer bulb.

Try punching the push-to-choke primer system when the engine stalls.  If that makes the engine run better, it points away from fuel pump and toward carb rebuild.

The primer bulb and fittings are fairly inexpensive, and do wear out after awhile, so replacement isn't a bad idea and might solve the problem.  I recommend a name brand bulb (BRP, Merc, Yammy, they all work the same) - maybe $12 more, but the aftermarket bulbs don't have a good reputation for reliability.