Thread: Fuel lines

So I tore into the whole thing today before the rains came. This engine is a 1995 Mercury XR6 150HP. The previous years of ownership had never ran ethanol fuel but I have run only ethanol fuel and that has been 1 year and 2 months and no telling how many tanks full (boat holds 28 gallons) Ended up changing the line from the connector on the hose that goes to the tank selector to the engine connection and changed all hoses going to and coming off of the pulse pump. Now in my system I had 4 types of hoses on this thing-- 5/16 regular black hose no liner, Gray Merc line with orange writing with liner, Gray hose no liner, and 3/8 double wall reinforced black hose and of course the bulb. The 5/16 reg. black hose was from the engine connection to the pulse pump (all hoses) and from the engine filter out to the carbs. The section from the engine connection to an original T the went to the pulse pump and went to the oil tank (the auto oiling has been taken off of this engine so that side was blocked off). This section of hose was junk--the inside was cracked internally all along it's length from connection to the T and from the T to the pulse pump. I did away with the T with the new hose and went straight from the connection to the pulse pump. The hose from the pulse pump to the engine side filter was the same hose and was in perfect condition--I changed it anyway due to length after cutting for inspection. The hose from the pulse pump to the black same hose--again was in perfect condition. The hose from the filter out to the carbs again perfect condition. So of the same types of hoses only the hose that was prior to the pulse pump was bad--can't figure that one out. The next type of hose was the Merc line with orange writing from the pulse pump to the filter--and it was junk as we all know. The next type of line was the gray line from the tank selector hose to the engine connector. Not sure what the manufacture is on this hose but it was in perfect condition. I think one key thing with this hose is that it had no liner. Originally I had a filter in line from the bulb to the engine connector but left it out on this install (they normally don't have them anyway) As for the bulb it was junk which is the reason for the little black specks in the filter. THe thing though is that only the bottom side of the bulb was bad (the side the fuel sat in when not flowing) the top side was not coming apart--very interesting. Now the final hose was the 3/8 that is from the tank fittings to the thank selector--now this hose is marked with the date--it is 1990--23 years old. This line was again perfect--could not believe it--as with the other good black hose it looked like new-wow. Pictures in the next post.

Oldie but an update. I had to change my bulb due to a cut in it. Found it when loading the boat last time. Cut it open and was in perfect condition. Now it was a thicker rubber then the previous one and the new one I got but that really doesn't mean a thing I guess. The new one I got is blue and pretty pliable but is for ethanol. Again I only use ethanol wit half a bottle of seafoam in each 14 gallon tank and about 1oz of marine stahbil in each tank. So almost two years and the system is rocking. That reminds me--I need to pick up a new fuel filter