scrisp
Active Member
I have a low hours '95 SPX that has always ran great and only minor issues since I bought it in 2012. I changed out the tempo fuel lines but then parked if for many years (7 to be exact).
I started working on it a few weeks back, trying to get it back on the water. I sucked as much old fuel out as possible. It looked like orange Crush, it was so bad, and smelled horrible. There was a little bit left in the tank, I'm guessing maybe 1/2 gallon. I added 3.5 gallons of fresh rec fuel today, put in a new battery, and got it running. It runs a bit bad, almost like the idle is too low, and I have to hold the choke on much longer than it ever did before. I thought that maybe it just needed to be run on the boat launch in order to get the new fuel through the system. I also changed out the fuel filter that was really bad looking.
So, it starts and runs out of the water, on a garden hose. I will rev but needs to be feathered in order to get it over 2500 or so RPM, but it will rev fully eventually. I took it to the lake, it started right up and the idle seemed better, but when I throttled up, it reved to around 2500 - 3000 RPM and absolutely would not go any higher. I held the throttle fully open and it just stayed at that RPM and kinda wanted to bog down. My worst fear was that I had damaged the engine somewhere along the way and possibly lost compression (since it ran better with no load on it), but I checked both jugs when I got home and they are both right at 150psi with the throttle fully open. I checked each cylinder 3 times and they were consistent. So, that was a huge relief.
I noticed that when it was running, the clear fuel filter was not filling fully, it was just trickling fuel through it, so that leads me to believe that the problem is fuel related, or an air leak some where, causing he engine to not draw fuel. But it could be other stuff, which is where my questions come in. The filter is way below the tank, so I'm wondering why gravity is not even helping.
1. Is there a "sock" on the fuel pickup tubes in the fuel tank? Just thinking that there might be a clog somewhere before the fuel filter.
2. How hard is it take the fuel tank out? It looks really tight up in the front.
3. Would the fuel left in the system mess up the rubber fuel lines if it was left for 7 years?
4. Does this seem like it might be a fuel issue, or should I be looking elsewhere first?
Thanks everyone, I'll probably have more questions as i got through the process with this one. I bums me out, as this machine has always been the one that starts right up each spring and has never left me swimming to shore, it's always been so reliable.
I started working on it a few weeks back, trying to get it back on the water. I sucked as much old fuel out as possible. It looked like orange Crush, it was so bad, and smelled horrible. There was a little bit left in the tank, I'm guessing maybe 1/2 gallon. I added 3.5 gallons of fresh rec fuel today, put in a new battery, and got it running. It runs a bit bad, almost like the idle is too low, and I have to hold the choke on much longer than it ever did before. I thought that maybe it just needed to be run on the boat launch in order to get the new fuel through the system. I also changed out the fuel filter that was really bad looking.
So, it starts and runs out of the water, on a garden hose. I will rev but needs to be feathered in order to get it over 2500 or so RPM, but it will rev fully eventually. I took it to the lake, it started right up and the idle seemed better, but when I throttled up, it reved to around 2500 - 3000 RPM and absolutely would not go any higher. I held the throttle fully open and it just stayed at that RPM and kinda wanted to bog down. My worst fear was that I had damaged the engine somewhere along the way and possibly lost compression (since it ran better with no load on it), but I checked both jugs when I got home and they are both right at 150psi with the throttle fully open. I checked each cylinder 3 times and they were consistent. So, that was a huge relief.
I noticed that when it was running, the clear fuel filter was not filling fully, it was just trickling fuel through it, so that leads me to believe that the problem is fuel related, or an air leak some where, causing he engine to not draw fuel. But it could be other stuff, which is where my questions come in. The filter is way below the tank, so I'm wondering why gravity is not even helping.
1. Is there a "sock" on the fuel pickup tubes in the fuel tank? Just thinking that there might be a clog somewhere before the fuel filter.
2. How hard is it take the fuel tank out? It looks really tight up in the front.
3. Would the fuel left in the system mess up the rubber fuel lines if it was left for 7 years?
4. Does this seem like it might be a fuel issue, or should I be looking elsewhere first?
Thanks everyone, I'll probably have more questions as i got through the process with this one. I bums me out, as this machine has always been the one that starts right up each spring and has never left me swimming to shore, it's always been so reliable.
