Turd Polishing

[MrGiggles]

An update:

New pump showed up today. No change, still just a trickle at best. Almost sounded like it was sucking air around the seal where the pump fits into the FSM, so I investigated. 

I plugged the pump outlet and blew into the inlet nipple. Leaked air like crazy. These friggin pumps have a hole drilled into the inlet housing. No way could it suck up any fuel or hold a prime with that hole there. Must be a manufacturing defect.

To test this theory, I smeared some epoxy over the hole and slammed it together. Worked like a charm until the gas presumably dislodged it. 

Might go ahead and order a new one from a different company, but I could probably just smear some JB weld over the hole and be just fine.

[fishinwrench]

You probably already know this, but just in case......☝️......  Electric fuel pumps must be able to purge any air from within them.  Trapped air inside an electric fuel pump can turn it into a hand grenade. 

Sooooo, be sure to do some research to confirm whether or not that "hole" is there for a reason.   👍

[MrGiggles]

1 hour ago, fishinwrench said:

You probably already know this, but just in case......☝️......  Electric fuel pumps must be able to purge any air from within them.  Trapped air inside an electric fuel pump can turn it into a hand grenade. 

Sooooo, be sure to do some research to confirm whether or not that "hole" is there for a reason.   👍

That hole is a lot better at introducing air than it is at purging any. Wish I hadn't tossed the original one so I could see what it had. 

Looking at other photos, looks like they have a hole there of varying designs. 

[MrGiggles]

Nothing new with fuel pumps, still waiting on a different pump to see what that does.

I started working on the transom brace. It'll go right up against the top of the splashwell, the upper engine mount bolts will go through it, the tabs on the side will be fastened to the sides of the rear deck to tie it all together. The splashwell is supposed to do the same thing, but because of it's shape, isn't very rigid.

I started with a chunk of aluminum I-beam from the scrapyard. Cost a whole $6. 

Cutting it down to size, and cutting the back of the flanges off, turning it into channel.

Notching for the splashwell drain, which turns out to not be perfectly centered in the transom, so I got to do it twice. I took a file to it after so it didn't look so much like I cut it with an angry beaver.

The finished product, before I brought it up to my brother to get welded. I don't have the equipment or skill to weld aluminum.

[MrGiggles]

Took a couple hours tonight and finished up the brace. It's pretty solid now, there was a lot of bounce before. 

The splashwell drain kind of bugs me, but there isn't much I can do about that, except start over.

Putting the rivnuts in the rear deck support.

The finished product.

Fitting and getting ready to drill the holes and trim the tabs.

[MrGiggles]

So I guess it's time for an update.

The Merc runs beautifully, for short periods at a time. I'm still having fuel pump problems.

I tried another aftermarket part which still had that bleeder hole. Worked better but would still quit after running for a while. 

I ordered the Walbro pump last week and put that in. This pump has no bleeder hole. Holds prime much better but still, same problem. Runs like a champ 2-3 miles out to the first spot, fish for a while, start it up and it won't pump after that. Back to priming. 

I've got a small LED light back probed into the lift pump power/ground wires that will show whenever the PCM has it powered up, and another wire going into the float switch signal. I will leave them coiled up on the deck, so when it acts up I'll be able to see what's going on. For some reason I don't think the lift pump is running after a short while.

[snagged in outlet 3]

Bummer I thought you had it fixed.  

[MrGiggles]

32 minutes ago, snagged in outlet 3 said:

Bummer I thought you had it fixed.  

The fishing and weather have been so good I've just been putting up with it. 

Troubleshooting this stuff without the Merc CDS software is difficult to say the least. You don't have that stuff do you, @fishinwrench?

[fishinwrench]

56 minutes ago, MrGiggles said:

The fishing and weather have been so good I've just been putting up with it. 

Troubleshooting this stuff without the Merc CDS software is difficult to say the least. You don't have that stuff do you, @fishinwrench?

No I don't, and I have no plans to get any of that BS until the time comes that I have no more work coming in.   Currently I have more work coming in than I could possibly get done, so if some jobs have to be turned down......let it be the "computer programmer" jobs.   I'm a MECHANIC, not a computer technician.

The dealers brag about that technology and pretend that it's just the greatest thing ever.....So I deal with mechanical and CDI issues, and I send folks to THE DEALERS to diagnose and repair the ignorant computer controlled BS.  

I've seen dealers with a whole team of "factory certified" techs 🙄 spend 3-9 days fussing over some weird computer controlled issue........just to end up profiting 60.00 - 120.00 in the end, and not even actually FIXING the issue.      I can't afford to get sucked into that type of stuff. 

 It's dealing with that kinda crap....and then trying to financially recover from it..... that gives places a bad name.  

[MrGiggles]

15 minutes ago, fishinwrench said:

No I don't, and I have no plans to get any of that BS until the time comes that I have no more work coming in.   Currently I have more work coming in than I could possibly get done, so if some jobs have to be turned down......let it be the "computer programmer" jobs.   I'm a MECHANIC, not a computer technician.

The dealers brag about that technology and pretend that it's just the greatest thing ever.....So I deal with mechanical and CDI issues, and I send folks to THE DEALERS to diagnose and repair the ignorant computer controlled BS.  

I've seen dealers with a whole team of "factory certified" techs 🙄 spend 3-9 days fussing over some weird computer controlled issue........just to end up profiting 60.00 - 120.00 in the end, and not even actually FIXING the issue.      I can't afford to get sucked into that type of stuff. 

 It's dealing with that kinda crap....and then trying to financially recover from it..... that gives places a bad name.  

That's fair, I knew you don't mess with four strokes but I thought you may use it on Opti's and the newer 2 strokes. Looks like there's a guy in Bolivar that does it and could help me out if I needed it. 

It would sure save a lot of time, instead of back probing and running two or three meters, just plug it in and verify that the float switch is open, vent switch status is satisfactory, and see that the lift pump is supposed to be running. Then back probe the connectors at the ECM for the lift pump to eliminate the harness. Looks like the PCM handles both power and ground for the lift pump, the high pressure pump has a relay. Should be the other way around since the lift pump is the one being modulated constantly.

Call me weird but I'd rather diag electrical than fool around with itty bitty screws and linkages on a carburetor.