# Christmas Bay - Monday (08/04/08)



## Hendu3270 (Oct 2, 2006)

Took the wife and kids, (7 and 4), out to Christmas Bay on Monday to run the boat a little and get in some fishing, (first time to have it in the water). For some reason the motor would only run at 3/4 to full speed for 2-3 minutes and then sputter and almost die and then regain after a minute or two, (14' flat bottom with a Yamaha 15hp 4 stroke). Anyway, this issue kept me from venturing very far from the ramp.

The water was in very nice condition. I was thinking with all the westerly winds we've been having that the water would defintely be muddy but it was greenish with maybe 1-1/2' to 2' of visibility and winds were very light. We were at Ernies, (I believe that's still the name) around 8:30 a.m. and had planned on running across to the north shoreline to a couple of spots I wanted to hit, but once the motor started doing its thing I just stopped and threw anchor. We were fishing with live shrimp and were picking up a few fish here and there but nothing like I thought we would. Even trash fish would have been fine with me. I just wanted the kids to have alot of fun in the boat catching fish. We ended up drifting for awhile and did pick up a few decent size Gaftop, which did give some excitement. We also picked up a couple of small sharks which the kids got a big kick out of. Around 10:30 I headed over to the south shoreline not too far from where I go gigging occassionally and my 7 year old hooked on to the best fighting fish of the day, I needed to help him hold the rod up on this one. It ended up being a 20-1/4" Red and that one fish pretty much made everyones day. They're already asking when we're gonna take the boat out again.


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## txpoboy (Feb 27, 2008)

Great job Dad!! Keep em fishin'


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## llred (Jun 30, 2008)

sounds like your carb is gummed up, great catch too.


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## Porterhouse (Mar 10, 2005)

llred said:


> sounds like your carb is gummed up, great catch too.


That.....or you need to vent your gas tank.


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## Hendu3270 (Oct 2, 2006)

llred said:


> sounds like your carb is gummed up, great catch too.





Porterhouse said:


> That.....or you need to vent your gas tank.


Actually guys, the first time it happened I started looking at things and did notice the tank cap has a small center screw cap that was suppossed to be unscrewed to allow air in to displace the gas. I unscrewed that all the way and thought cool! it was just some little thing and now it's good....but it happened again 2-3 minutes later. I thought maybe I just needed to remove the cap, so I popped it off and still did the same thing. Maybe I'm wrong, but if my carb was gummed up, wouldn't it be apparent when starting and idling as well? and not just after running at near full throttle for a few minutes? I've run it for 10-15 minutes (idling) at the house with the water hose connected to it and it never missed a beat. I'm not overly familiar with all the ins and outs of it so any input on potential causes of this are greatly appreciated guys.


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## Mike77015 (Dec 27, 2007)

bad fuel. Dump it and start over.


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## DatDude (Oct 3, 2007)

Ditto.


Mike77015 said:


> bad fuel. Dump it and start over.


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## Hendu3270 (Oct 2, 2006)

Mike77015 said:


> bad fuel. Dump it and start over.


When I bought it a couple of months ago, it had maybe a gallon of gas in the tank and I went ahead and filled it up last weekend. I guess the gas that was already in the tank could have had some sediment in it however I didn't see anything in it when at the pump. But again, wouldn't that be apparent when idling as well? I mean, once warmed up it idles very nicely. I guess since I don't know how long the other fuel was in there I will go ahead and dump it to make sure.


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## Hendu3270 (Oct 2, 2006)

Oh, I just remembered. My fuel line from the tank has one of those inline glass filters, (before the bulb). Is that glass housing supossed to be 100% full of fuel? I can pump it up and there is always air in it and while running the fuel level in that glass housing slowly diminishes. Last night after work I pumped it up, (didn't start the engine) and just watched the glass tube. After a 20-30 seconds little tiny bubles started filtering up from the filter. Would this sound more like a fuel line issue? Once you prime the bulb, shouldn't it stay full of fuel for the rest of the day?


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## Buck110 (Jul 3, 2008)

Your high speed jets can cause that most of the time spray soome carb cleaner in the carbs and rev the idle u will notice that will help alot getting out the gunk and deposits in the carbs.


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## Custom Flat (Dec 21, 2007)

*Motor problem*

That happened to me before and it was a loose spark plug. If that or none of the other suggestions don't work, get a new gas tank and hose. Sounds like it may be loosing pressure. Check the fittings and replace if necessary. Don't get stuck out in the middle of nowhere with the kids.


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## Jay d (Sep 22, 2007)

I too am inclined to think it is more the gas line or gas supply rather than carbs gummed up or plugs. If it runs good, gets to rpm and with power, then after a few minutes it dies down, I believe it is a fuel supply issue. If the gas tank fuel line with the squeeze bulb is old, try a new one. You could try it and keep squeezing the bulb to keep it filled and sufficient gas being supplied and see if that is the issue. 

Sounds like squeeze bulb or fuel line is deterioated and/or partially blocked and will not let sufficient gas through. For me when I had a motor that had set up for awhile and the carbs got gummed up, the motor would not be able to handle any load or higher rpm.


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## Hendu3270 (Oct 2, 2006)

Yeah I was kind of thinking the carb should be fine since it really purrs at idle and when it wasn't sputtering, I was really pleased with how this 15hp pushed the boat. I think this weekend I'll start with the tank and fuel line and go from there. So should the fuel line have any air in it at all? Like i said in an earlier post, even after pumping the bulb, the glass filter is half full of air. Does that sound right? It just seems like there should not be anything but fuel in the line. thanks for the help guys. 

Chris


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## The Machine (Jun 4, 2007)

nice red


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## Hendu3270 (Oct 2, 2006)

Oh and I live in Pearland and I'm not sure if I'll be able make it to the coast this weekend. Would I be hurting anything if I removed the prop and put a steel trash can full of water under the motor to run it at full throttle to test all this out?


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## surfgrinder (May 18, 2008)

it may be different on the 4 strokes but on the 2's i was told not to run the motor at high rpm with no load as it will cause you to throw a rod. I am not a mechanic - just some advice i got.


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## boashna (May 28, 2004)

BECAUSE OF NO LOAD RED LINE WILL BE REACHED FASTER SO DONT GO TO RED LINE , TRASH CAN DEAL IS FINE . LOOK IN CENTER OF PROP AND SEE HOW MUCH DISCHARGE HOT WATER COMES OUT OF IMPELLER (WATER PUMP) . MAY BE OVERHEATING


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## 188tredfin (Jul 6, 2007)

It appears that you have water mixed in with the fuel.This has happen to me before.You will need to use your prime bulb to pump it into a bucket to get the milky mixture out.The ethanol in the fuel tends to capture moisture with time.Hope this helps.


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## Mike77015 (Dec 27, 2007)

Best bet is to get new fuel tank, hose, filter and primer bulb. Do not use regular unleaded fuel. Usually where the fuel line goes into the carb, there is a screen that might be clogged up also. This would allow plenty of fuel to enter the carb at idle, but when you crank up the RPM's you will need more of a fuel supply and once the resevoir is empty in the carb, which will take a minute or two, your supply is no longer sufficient.


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## Mike77015 (Dec 27, 2007)

Another possibility is the fuel pump. Even these small engines do have a fuel pump inside the carb, and excuse the term, but it will look like a small condom. If there is a puncture in this even a pin hole it can can cause a whole lot of problems in either application for that matter.


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## Mrs Backlasher (Dec 19, 2004)

The smile on that young man's face says it all. Wonderful photo.

I'm a kayak fisher, so can't comment on the boat problems. Sorry.


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## Hendu3270 (Oct 2, 2006)

Mrs Backlasher said:


> The smile on that young man's face says it all. Wonderful photo.


Yeah, he didn't want to show all his teeth in the picture for some reason, so he was "fighting" to smile with his mouth closed....silly kiddos.


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## Hendu3270 (Oct 2, 2006)

Well got a new tank, new fuel line and new gas and she ran like a charm. No problems whatsoever. Thanks for the input guys.


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## dtmcdani (Jul 28, 2008)

*over heating*

if you can run it for 2-3 minutes then it looses power where you have to idle for a while then it does it all over again the engine may simply be over heating. We had the same thing happen with our 25hp 2 stroke yamaha a few years back. It would run great for about 5 min or so then shut off. It would easily crank back up but only idle for 10min or so then do the whole thing over again. we replaced the fuel tank and lines before taking it in. They tested the temp sinsor and replaced the empeller. we haven't had a ploblem since.


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