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Fuel Tank Pick Up Plugged

  • Thread starter Thread starter Bowering
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Bowering

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Jun 24, 2008
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  1. OWNER - I own a Hatteras Yacht
Hatteras Model
36' CONVERTIBLE-Series II (1983 - 1987)
I just bought a 1984 36C - Gas Engines run great but Port pick up keeps getting plugged - When I lift the pick up 2" it starts - put it back down and no gas - Any ideas? Thanks
 
Sounds like there may be a non combustible liquid in the bottom of the tank. (water?). If that is the case, pumping the bottom 2 or 3 inches out may solve the problem.
 
Has the exact same problem with a CC fishing boat I bought....

Ended up having all the gas pumped out, Tanks cleaned and zero problems after that. It was pretty easy to figure out as the water separator filters kept getting full of water when the tanks got low....

Also helped that my neighbor at the time owned a gas station where we could do all the work.... Only costed me a 12 pack and take out BBQ dinners while we did the work.
 
If you can get a 2 5/8" wrench, pull the gage unit. You now have a good size hole. I would put a stick in there to the bottom. If you can get some water test paste from a local gas station, put that on the end of the stick before lowering it into the hole. The fuel pickup tube is large and is soldered directly into the 90 degree elbow that you see on the fuel tank's plate. If you wrench that fitting out, the tube will come out with it. I can't imagine that anything could be wrong with that pipe. If you do find water from your water stick test, you can either have just the water pumped out, or do the whole tank. Doing the whole tank is the safest way, but make sure that water is the problem. Our '86 36C had junk stuck in the check ball on the feed line to the stb. engine. That little gadget is between the tank mounted shutoff and the flared copper line. I would take all those fittings and the shutoff valve out, take them apart from each other, and make sure they are clear.:)
 
I had a similar problem with my diesel gen set. Genny ran out of fuel, checked Racor filter for water and noticed fuel line had a vacuum because instead of draining water/fuel the canister sucked in air. Suction on the pickup line indicated 100% blockage. Applied a small amount of pressure to the pickup line and the blockage came loose indicated by bubbling heard in the tank. Symptom has been resolved but the cause still exist in the tank. I suspect the problem will occur again......any ideas short of draining entire tank and filtering?
I would add that I did this about a year ago because the fuel was getting old and got very little contaminants.
 
Sounds like there may be a non combustible liquid in the bottom of the tank. (water?). If that is the case, pumping the bottom 2 or 3 inches out may solve the problem.


Thanks for the info. I will do an inspection and let you know.
 
Well it doesn't look like the pick up tube. We cut an inch off the tube and it worked for a day. Then we pumped about 20 gallons of gas out. First 5 gallons was pretty bad. We replaced the fuel pump as well.

Today I replaced the filter and filled it with gas but after cranking there was no smell of gas and I think the gas is not getting to the carb since there was gas still in the filter.

Could it be the solenoid in the fuel line stopping gas from getting to the carbs? Any ideas?
 
as Maynard suggested, check the anti syphon valve at the top of the pick up, just outside the tank...
 
The carbs may be full of water. Drain them and try to save what comes out in a glass container. After it settles water if in there, should be easy to see.

If the carbs are empty, it would have to be a pump or blockage issue.
 
O.K. first thing to do is get a gas tank with a hose hook it directly to the carbuerator (both need to be clean with clean fuel)so it can gravity feed the carb. Start and run the engine. Then hook it up to the intake of the fuel pump start and run the engine. Then hook to up to the fuel filter start and run the engine then hook it up to the first joint after the tank pickup and start and run the engine.

Where ever it stops thats your problem.

I remember once on a 33 bert, where I brought a guy a fuel pump, the mechanic hooked it up and it still wouldn't go. He said hold on and ,get this, goes to the fuel pump the one you get your fuel from at the marina. He turns it on sticks the nozzle in the carb and says fire it up which I do. He keeps the engine running by squeezing the handle of the fuel pump nozzle and moving the throttle butterfly LOL.

He then says ok tell me if the fuel pump is pumping air out of the intake. I feel for the inlet to the fuel pump and sure enough its pumping air out the intake. He swears under his breath grabs the fuel pump mumbles something about those idiots and walks off. About ten minutes later he shows back up with the same fuel pump reinstalls it and says try it now, a turn of the key and it fired right up.

He says that the fuel pump was set up backwards and that he has come across that from time to time. LOL He was about 50 dark blue very dirty cloths and dirt under his fingernails probably been there for 5 years. But he knew his stuff this whole thing once I arrived on scene took only about 1hr and 30 minutes total. If I remeber correctly this was manasteec MI, a very small town on Lake Michigan.

garyd
 

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