"DownTime" wrote in message
. ..
After a recent adventure to change the fuel sender, I had the misfortune
to have one of the 'sex-bolt'-like nuts on the inside of the tank break
off and fall into the tank. The only access is via the small opening when
the sender goes in. Unable to retrieve the broken nut, I called around and
heard from three hopefully reliable sources that there is a strainer at
the fuel line to prevent things such as this from entering the fuel line.

During the second trip out since the new sender was installed, we were
just about to the causeway bridge when the engine was acting as if it was
not getting enough fuel. Watching the fuel management gauge, I noticed it
going from its normal 11 gal at that speed, and slowly and consistently
drop to just under 6 gal and then started to buck and hesitate as if not
enough fuel. I was able to throttle down to idle and after a minute or so,
throttle up again. This was a consistent behavior during the entire
outing. Eventually idled home last last nite. On the positive side, it was
a clear nite, almost full moon and relatively no boat traffic.

All symptoms to me indicate the nut may be blocking the fuel line leading
from the tank. The main access hatch where the feel sender is installed is
NOT at the stern end of the fuel tank. It would be very difficult to gain
access to the tank.

The boat is just 4.5 years old. It looking at the other components, I also
noticed this is the original fuel bulb as when it was new. It did not feel
'hard' as it had been, and almost had a feel of simply being old rubber.
This is a sal****er environment and one thought is maybe an air leak or
some other scenario besides the extra nut in the tank. I plan to today
replace the bulb and any lines I can access which may appear dried,
cracked, old, or simply a possible candidate to the problem.

Any suggestions on maybe how to retrieve the nut from within the tank via
the maybe 2 1/2 inch opening into an 80-gallon fuel tank? Any other ideas
besides the nut which might help me resolve this issue?

Thanx in advance!!!

The chances of the nut blocking the pickup are very slim to none. I'd want
to get it out though as the combination of it, whatever metal your tank is,
and the sludge at the bottom of the tank might be a formula for corrosion.
Auto tool places have magnetic pickups on the end of a long flexible rod.
Get one of those.

Is the pickup welded in? Sometimes they come out like a sending unit. I
agree it sounds like fuel starvation. Replacing all the rubber is a good
place to start. Even if that's not the problem it gets old anyway.