Fuel line blockage helpppppp please

[OlivernLola603]

Good very early morning to ya’ll. I have a Cajun 160 Pro that has been sitting for a few years. There seems to be a blockage in the fuel line somewhere. I tried siphoning the gas initially and it clearly did not help. The boat will not start and it seems very clear to me that the line is blocked somewhere. I say this because when I run the outboard directly to an external fuel container it starts right away. Can I blow the line out with a compressor? Does anyone have a diagram or a way to explain to me how to follow the lines all throughout the boat? Anyone know of a better way to empty the tank, rather than trying to siphon? Thank you sooo much for any help.

[Ryno 615]

Have you tried running the boat switched to reserve? I had a similar issue where mine would shut down as soon as you gave any throttle, but ran fine at the mechanics on his gas. Come to find out mine has two siphon tubes and one was not working. I run my fuel tank on reserve instead of main.

[kkelley]

I have a 178 Pro Sport my fuel tank is under the seats. The fuel line starts there the runs to the connector coming out near splash well. The other side of the well has the vent for the fuel tank. If the boat has been sitting a while your pick up in the tank may be clogged. The vent line may be clogged. Do you have easy access to your fuel tank?

[OlivernLola603]

Hi! Thank you all for the replies. I am quite honestly very in-knowledgeable on boats. I have no idea how to acces the tank. I am going to take the info you gave me and hope I can figure out how to follow the lines. It is surely clogged though, I put a compressor to the line that goes in to the boat from the engine and it is clear as day that it’s clogged.

[CatFan]

Don't ever apply compressed air to a fuel line unless you are 100% sure it is empty. Vaporized gasoline spewing around a room is not a good thing. Change the fuel lines to the new ones with the blue stripe. The old ones will fall apart internally if used with ethanol gas.

[OlivernLola603]

This makes total sense. I’ll atop being lazy and cheap and just change the lines. Shouldn’t be so difficult. Thank you very much.

[316jughead]

You may have a anti siphon valve fitting on the tank, it could be clogged.

[OlivernLola603]

That actually may be a great idea because when I tried siphoning from tank I got nothing.

[316jughead]

That actually may be a great idea because when I tried siphoning from tank I got nothing.

That valve is in the supply line, to keep fuel from siphoning out of the tank in that line.

[rocknemo]

Hate to say but there is a good chance that its the old ethanol gas that has phase separated, there ends up being a clear gel that sits on the bottom of the tank. Will totally plug your fuel line. Only way to know for sure is pull the tank.

[06 SB]

Here is a thread from the Mercury boards but pertains to all boats...especially older ones. Old fuel lines were not ethanol resistant and EVERY SINGLE INCH needs to be replaced.

http://www.bbcboards.net/showthread.php?t=22490