[Rhodes22-list] Engine gremlin discovered

[J Cook]

My Yamaha 9.9 ran great, then died.  After cooling down, it ran great then died again.

I did all the regular trouble shooting and fixes. Filters, plugs, thermostat, Seafoam, blah, blah blah.

Ran great, then died again. I was about to resort to testing the thermal choke (an expensive piece for and engine with only  78 hours) when I found the culprit.

The fuel line is routed through the cowling and tucked underneath the incoming battery cable.  The line takes a hard turn to starboard.  By lifting my motor up and down, the battery cables were intermittently pinching the fuel line when the engine was down in the water.  But it took me a long time to realize this because whenever I check for fuel flow, the engine was up and the pressure from the battery cables was not kinking the fuel line.

So I guess I need to find a 90 degree fitting for my fuel line.  It's tight in there.

This is one of those times I feel sort of clever for discovering the gremlin but incredibly stupid for letting it avoid my detection for so long and allowing it to put a damper on my sailing.  The sailing, by the way, has been incredible for the past couple of months.  Day after day of 10-15 kt, 70-85 deg and clear sky.  It's great to be a Florida Gator!

Joseph Cook