Help with 1998 Evinrude 8 HP

Had a problem with my 8 HP evinrude for the first time this weekend and I'd like some advice. Here's the story. We had a work tournament this past weekend at KY Lake. Got there Friday afternoon and took the boat out to scout some locations, covered 8-9 miles, used 1.5 gal of fuel and no issues. Got back to camp, disconnected the fuel line at the tank, pulled the tank out of the boat and filled it up from a portable 2 gal tank and reassembled (same fuel as run the day before). Tourney day, luanched the boat and parked, buddy pulled up to the bank to pick me up and off we went. Made it about 80 feet and motor died. I remembered I hadn't opened the vent on the tank, so I vented the tank and started the motor. Went another 100 feet and died again. I could keep the motor running if I would squeeze the primer bulb every 30 seconds, so that's what I did. I noticed though that when I'd squeeze the bulb some fuel was leaking from the connecting valve. The motor did run decent wide open, however, it did sputter later in the day and I had to prime to keep it going. My initial thoughts are to replace the fuel adapters (maybe the line too) and possible the fuel pump. If that doesn't work, move onto the carb. Sorry for the long post, I wanted to give enough background for information. Does anyone have any thoughts/opinions on this?

i had a 2000 8 hp merc that used to do that and somehow the fuel connector would always get messed up and thats where the gas would come out of, id have to prime the ball to keep it going, get a new fuel connector and try it out first. i cant tell you how many connectors i went through with that motor...

Sounds like it could be the fuel pump. Wouldn't hurt to tighten up all the connections too.

Also, if you have a really old hose, sometimes the primer ball get weird and messes things up. A new hose couldn't hurt.

I kind of doubt its the carb, but if the fuel pump, hose, and connections don't do the trick, might as well clean it and put in a re-build kit.

Thanks for the replies. I'll start with the fitings and go from there. Fuel pump looked to be around $90, a little more than I thought. Any other thoughts/comments would be greatly appreciated.

Ictalurus said:

Thanks for the replies. I'll start with the fitings and go from there. Fuel pump looked to be around $90, a little more than I thought. Any other thoughts/comments would be greatly appreciated.

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You can get a fuel pump re-build kit instead of the entire thing. Its basically seals, gaskets, and a screen.

Usually if the motor runs well when you pump the ball and then stumbles when you don't, its a bad fuel pump. Try the cheaper stuff first, but there is a good chance you will have to spend the $90.

Simple things first. You did a great job of describing the issue. Stands to reason that if, when you pump the bulb, fuel squirts from the connector that when running, air will be sucked in at that same point. The fuel pump doesnt care whether or not it is sucking fuel or air while the engine has enough fuel to run on. Check those fiirst.
Second. Since you added fuel to your onboard tank and the issue started right afterward check to make sure there was no water in the fuel you added. You can do this by depressing the plunger in the fuel connector at the end of the tank hose and squirting several pumps into a glass jar. Since all you had to do all day was pump the bulb I think you will find your issue with the first solution and not the second one.

My guess is the connector, so try a new hose assembly ( you need a spare anyhow!) and rule out the connectors, bulb and hose at the same time.. If the problem persists, it's probably the fuel pump..

everything described above is dead on, however I would do the sequence of events differently.

First thing I would do is to check the fuel for water. Easily achieved by removing the connector after the bulb and squirting some fuel into a clear container.... let it sit for a few minutes, then tilt it at an angle. If there is water, you will see it sitting on the bottom crease of container as the water is heavier than gas.

Secondly, either make sure you have a good connection at the fitting connecting the fuel line, or hook the fuel line directly up to the fuel pump. If you noticed fuel leaking, the pump is drawing in air instead of the fuel as air is lighter and easier to draw than fuel is. By connecting the line direct to the fuel pump, you are isolating your issues.

If this does not solve your issue, I would then look into the carbs. My gut instinct tells e the above will help you though.... 8)

Thanks for the help everyone. The issue was the O-ring on the female coupler for the tank, it was tore up pretty bad. I guess the last time I unhooked the tank to fill it up was the final straw. The local BPS didn't have a 5/16" connector, so I attached the hose via a nipple style connector to the tank, sealed it up very nice. Put the motor in a bucket and it idled just fine, I'm very happy it was such a simple fix. I've contacted the local Johnson/Evinrude dealer and will pick up a coulple extra female fittings just in case. I'll also eventually put a coupler back on the tank side of the line as I occasionally run a 6 gallon tank when cruising all day with the family.

Case closed \/ , thanks again everyone for the tips and pointers. =D> =D> =D>