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!!!

"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!!!

Wonder what metal that nut is made of??
If it's something magnetic, you should be able to find a long flexible wand
with a powerful magnet on the end for 'fishing'....

On Sun, 20 Jul 2008 11:50:46 -0300, "Don White"
wrote:


"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!!!

Wonder what metal that nut is made of??
If it's something magnetic, you should be able to find a long flexible wand
with a powerful magnet on the end for 'fishing'....

They also make wands with a cable operated claw. Heard them called
'bolt retrievers' You buy them where you get the magnetic ones, that
is, any decent auto parts house.

Casady

"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!!!

Easy to tell if your problem is tank related. Take the small fuel line off
the top of the tank and feed it into a portable tank full of fresh gas. If
this fixes it you got tank problems. Clogged vent or collapsed vent tube.
Clogged pickup screen. Bolt lodged in pickup tube(highly unlikely). Pinhole
in pickup tube. (also highly unlikely).

DownTime wrote in news:
:

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.

That bulb is your best friend for fuel system troubleshooting.

Put the engine down but don't start it.

Pump the bulb.

Does the bulb remain flat and refuse to fill when you release it?

If no, and it fills up, the tank intake is clear as the bulb sucked gas
out of the tank fine.

If yes, is the tank shutoff valve in the OPEN position. (Don't tell us,
it's too embarrassing in a group like this.)

If the valve is open and the bulb won't refill, something is blocking
the line....or the anti-siphon valve the tank is supposed to have in it.

Ok, so the bulb refills and it's not the tank plugged up....now what?

Pump the bulb until it gets hard in a few squeezes.

If you can't make it pump up hard, two things....stuck float valve in
one of the carbs or hole in the fuel pump rubber diaphram (or the line
fell off the engine I suppose in the absurd department).

Assuming the motor is in the water tied to the dock and in
neutral....crank the motor. Do all the cylinders run or is one of them
rough as a cob, the one the pulse fuel pump runs off of? Fuel pump
ruptured...filling crankcase with gas if you pump the bulb while it's
running.

Does the motor smooth out when you pump the bulb while it's running?
Maybe the fuel pump's pulse hose has cracked or is hanging loose so it's
not pumping the crappy rubber diaphram....

When the motor runs a while, does the bulb collapse? That could be a
clogged vent in the tank....Open the gas cap while watching the bulb to
see if the bulb fills back out....from the clogged vent.

The bulb does lots of logical troubleshooting for you, just how it feels
and pumps and its collapsed condition.

Put a magnet to one of the other nuts to see if it sticks to the magnet.
it shouldn't as stainless steel is non-magnetic, but that doesn't stop
boat companies from using cheap nuts we can retrieve with a magnet.

If the nuts stick to the magnet, hang a magnet down into the tank on a
piece of small fishing line so it lays on the bottom. It will soon
collect all the nuts, tools, missing sockets, cotter pins, etc. everyone
who had the tank open dropped into it....that's magnetic, that is...(c;

Small fishing line can be run out of the tank beside the rubber gasket
without hurting it. Leave the little magnet in the tank permanently for
the next idiot who drops something into the tank to use....(c;

Hell, some scammers are selling fuel line magnets that improve mileage
by 30%! If you leave the magnet in the gas, the tank may fill itself
and we'll have to pump out the excess or leave the motor running all the
time to keep up!

......sure it will. It says so right in the ad!....(c;

"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.

DownTime wrote:

Thanx to the responders so far. I've decided to replace all the rubber
from the top of the tank to the intake to the engine. Next is to replace
all filters as well.

While in the local neighborhood marine supply store, in talking to the
very helpful clerk, he mentioned he's heard recently of quite a few
people having problems more related to the latest shipments of ethanol
enhanced gas.

In speaking with a local tank cleaning company, who by the way are
coming tomorrow morning to clean the tank, he mentioned that ethanol is
really more like a solvent and will work to strip away any built-up
sludge or deposits from inside the tank. Even in speaking with my
regular mechanic, the nut in the tank is more a coincidence than the
problem. Once the tank is cleaned and everything back together, I'll
post an update.

By the way, I had also recently received an email notice from the BMW
dealership stating that use of ethanol products in my M3 could
contribute to invalidating the warranty.

Stay tuned...

On Jul 21, 10:45*am, DownTime wrote:
DownTime wrote:

Thanx to the responders so far. I've decided to replace all the rubber
from the top of the tank to the intake to the engine. Next is to replace
all filters as well.

While in the local neighborhood marine supply store, in talking to the
very helpful clerk, he mentioned he's heard recently of quite a few
people having problems more related to the latest shipments of ethanol
enhanced gas.

In speaking with a local tank cleaning company, who by the way are
coming tomorrow morning to clean the tank, he mentioned that ethanol is
really more like a solvent and will work to strip away any built-up
sludge or deposits from inside the tank. Even in speaking with my
regular mechanic, the nut in the tank is more a coincidence than the
problem. Once the tank is cleaned and everything back together, I'll
post an update.

By the way, I had also recently received an email notice from the BMW
dealership stating that use of ethanol products in my M3 could
contribute to invalidating the warranty.

Stay tuned...

Odds are good the tank cleaning will also remove the offending nut.

It's pretty easy to get most of the water/sludge out with one of those
hand oil pumps on a lot of tanks yourself. Remove the sending unit.
Then lower or raise the trailer so that the end of the tank that the
sending unit goes in is the lowest point. If you look down into the
tank with a flashlight you should be able to see the water layer on
the bottom of the tank. With a helper holding the flashlight put the
oil drain hose down into the bottom and watch as you suck up the layer
of water and sludge on the bottom with the hand pump. Stop when you
start pumping gas.

wrote in news:0f0b01dd-f97f-4a8b-a0f3-
:

If you look down into the
tank with a flashlight you should be able to see the water layer on
the bottom of the tank. With a helper holding the flashlight

AAAAAAAAAAAKKKKKKKK!k!!!!!!!

BOOOOOOOOOOM!!!! The flashlight isn't explosion proof!!!

The empty tank is FULL OF EXPLOSIVE FUMES...GAS MIXED WITH AIR!!

Larry wrote:
wrote in news:0f0b01dd-f97f-4a8b-a0f3-
:

If you look down into the
tank with a flashlight you should be able to see the water layer on


the bottom of the tank. With a helper holding the flashlight

AAAAAAAAAAAKKKKKKKK!k!!!!!!!

BOOOOOOOOOOM!!!! The flashlight isn't explosion proof!!!

The empty tank is FULL OF EXPLOSIVE FUMES...GAS MIXED WITH AIR!!



Righto...a flare would be mo' betta'!