Accessing 2003 188 fuel vent and full lines

[A6113mech]

Fueling my boat is a real pain the butt. I’ve tried the upside down nozzle and slow and every other trick I’ve found on the forum. Today I couldn’t get it past 3/4 and it took me 25 minutes to do that. I’m convinced there has got to be something wrong with the vent line. I’d like to inspect the situation but have no idea how to begin getting access. The perko fill cap I can only pull out maybe an inch. It’s either to short to move it further or a hose is hitting the fiberglass inside. Either way I know I need to look from the tank side.

[STLBassBuster]

Probably need to remove your seat base. You have to find the screws buried in the carpet. Once removed you will good access to the fuel vent and you can check the angle of your fill line.

[Striperaddict]

I have the same issue with my 04 188. I finally found a station that the concrete slopes away from the pump and she fills fine there. Anywhere else its very slow and backs up on me. Im 99% sure its the fill pipe is very slight angle to the tank that causes the issue.
Hope you figure a fix and pass it on to us

Good luck

[sodaksker]

I have an 2006 188 that I picked up last year. I was having the same issue. I would have to hold the gas handle as far away from the edge of the gas tank opening as possible (while still touching the opening) and it would seem to help. Then, this spring I had a fair amount of old gas in the tank, so I decided to pump it out and put new gas in. While pushing the siphon hose down into the gas tank I hit an obstruction about 18 inches down the fill line. After fighting with that a little bit, the hose finally pushed through with a little extra force and re-alinging of the hose. I siphoned the old gas out and added new. Since then it seems to fill much better with less backsplash. I do not know what it was that was restricting it but, it now fills much quicker and easier. I still can't squeeze the gas trigger full blast but I can squeeze it over half to 3/4 speed without a problem.

[A6113mech]

I finally got to dig into this. I had a low spot in the vent line but I also now have a better understanding of how it’s setup and why the fill side being higher helps so much.

[Lea]

If possible, carry a small piece of 2x6 and use it under the fill side wheels when fueling.

[Tx Champ]

I finally got to dig into this. I had a low spot in the vent line but I also now have a better understanding of how it’s setup and why the fill side being higher helps so much.

Yeah, not an optimum design ... I got the low spot out of my vent and it fills better, but I still stuff paper towels around the gas nozzle.