Fuel issue??

[jono10]

Hi everyone.. We are very much enjoying the start to our season here be it very slow to start. Yesterday I had an issue with my 88 Advance, after about 5 mins of running it would shut down, still had all electrics. After a couple of minutes it would fire back up and continue to run until the same thing would happen again.
I took it for a run then when it shut down checked the carby to see if there was any fuel squirting into the carby while operating the throttle, there was minimal fuel squirting in. Just stumped as to why if a possible fuel pump issue would it come good after a few minutes rest?
Boat has new fuel water filter installed and was running fine until now. Also I do have trouble filling my fuel tank from a pump/bowser as it continually spits back up, thinking yesterdays issue may have been a blocked breather I loosened the filler cap which made no difference..
Any assistance would be greatly appreciated.
Boat 88 Advance running Indmar/Ford 351-830hrs, original fuel pump.

[backfoot100]

I would verify a few things:
1) Check to see that the fuel tank vent hose is clear. They can get plugged by insects that decide to build a nest in them.
2) Verify the anti-syphon valve at the top of the tank is clean. You need to remove the fuel hose and unscrew the anti-syphon valve from the tank fuel supply down-spout into the tank. It has a check on it that can get gunked up.
3) When it dies, look immediately at the carb and see if fuel is dripping down the throat of the carb (without touching throttle). If it is, the float is set too high, which probably isn't an issue if you haven't touched it. However, the float may have become saturated and is not shutting off the fuel flow. That would require a new float at very minimum. A  carb rebuild may be in order.
Or, the needle/seat are dirty or shot which again, isn't allowing the fuel to shut off. Replacing and/or cleaning is the fix for that.
A third option is the fuel pump is putting out too much pressure which, one more time, is keeping the needle/seat open and not shutting off fuel flow. Again, probably not an issue if you haven't changed the fuel pump.
4) If the pump shot is non-existent, you may be due for a good carb cleaning and rebuild.

I find it hard to believe that the fuel pump doesn't deliver fuel and then majically start working again. You could rtake a small can of gas with you and temporarily disconnect the fuel line from from pump and run it from the gas can. This effectively eliminates the tank to see if that's where the problem is.

Keep us updated.

[jono10]

Thanks Backfoot.. I happened to stumble across a thread on here with a similar issue of which the same advice was given. I removed the anti siphon valve to find it nearly completely blocked with insect debris???. I will re-install and run tonight after blowing out the main feed line. One further question, is the breather line supposed to have a loop in it? I am assuming that its to stop water entering the tank via the breather? I was just thinking that with a loop in it if water gets in and fills the loop the breather wont work?
 Thank you for your feed back and clever advice.

[backfoot100]

Yup. A pretty common find if you get some dirt in the tank. Especially on an older classic yet something that is pretty easily overlooked for maintenance.

Yes, the vent hose should have a loop in it. In fact, I believe that the loop should be routed such that it lays on top of the vent hose. In other words, the loop should be higher than the hose and the actual vent fitting in the hull. That way water should not be able to enter should the vent fitting get submerged. Even if it does, the water will then run back out instead of drain into the tank.

[RCoyne]

Had the same issue earlier this summer at my sister's lake house. After a full day of skiing in July I was low on gas and searched around their shed for some spare gas (very bad/dumb idea) I thought was safe just to get me to the end of the day. Well it didn't work out well. After 5 minutes the 88 Advance wouldn't have it. I would let it sit then give it another go; it would run for a minute or two with some coaxing then die. Pulled it out; drained the gas tank completely, replaced the fuel/water filter (good thing I had picked up a couple spare filters from Ron), filled with fresh fuel from a reputable local gas station and it fired right back for hassle free skiing the rest of the season