Utopia 185 w. 200 optimax engine, fuel issues?

[kwalsh24]

Hey all, been a while since I posted. Still a n00b to the boating world as life has thrown a few curveballs that's kept me from using my boat. That and it's being a stubborn sob.

In having an issue with the fuel system. I had the boat back out on the water yesterday for a short period as my fueling issue still persists.

The boat ran fin at idle for 10min, then I went to power it up and the engine reved up, sucked back the fuel then died and now won't fire back up. Like it's not getting fuel any longer.

The boat ran fine when I bought it, the only thing I've done to it is change the fuel filter. Is there some sort of priming sequence that needs to be done in order to have a good steady fuel flow?

Is there a way I can test this issue out without being out on the water? This is the second time I was left stranded waiting for help with this thing and it's getting kinda old lol.

Thanks for any tips you can provide!

 

[Tim75]

Hey all, been a while since I posted. Still a n00b to the boating world as life has thrown a few curveballs that's kept me from using my boat. That and it's being a stubborn sob.

In having an issue with the fuel system. I had the boat back out on the water yesterday for a short period as my fueling issue still persists.

The boat ran fin at idle for 10min, then I went to power it up and the engine reved up, sucked back the fuel then died and now won't fire back up. Like it's not getting fuel any longer.

The boat ran fine when I bought it, the only thing I've done to it is change the fuel filter. Is there some sort of priming sequence that needs to be done in order to have a good steady fuel flow?

Is there a way I can test this issue out without being out on the water? This is the second time I was left stranded waiting for help with this thing and it's getting kinda old lol.

Thanks for any tips you can provide!

Start with checking fuel pressure. Not sure of the spec for Opti.
Check air pressure, too.

 

[cymertony]

Did you resolve your issue?

 

[kwalsh24]

Sorry, I haven't had time to deal with the boat and it's honestly become a land anchor. I now have an issue where I'm getting little to no fuel flow. Not sure what the issue could be. I did change the main fuel filter before all this happened. Maybe a bad filter or a Bad pump? How would one know if the pump is engaging? I can hear the low pressure fuel pump come on for 5 seconds at key turn but that's it.

Seems like the system just won't prime up.

 

[cymertony]

I had two fuel issues with my Opti 200. The first was that it seemed to run ok but when I turned it off I could not restart... it acted like it was flooded. If I waited a few minutes, it would restart. This turned out to be a tear in the regulator that has air on one side and fuel on the other side, with fuel about 10psi higher. The tear caused fuel to go to the air side and caused the flooding type situation. You can tell by connecting a clear tube to the air schrader valve and if you see fuel through the clear tubing that is the issue. There are three regulators that have rubber diaphragms, air reg, fuel reg, and tracker valve that minimizes oscillations. If this is the case then you should change all three. I think they are like $300 each for the kits.. I had mine done by a mercury authorized mechanic. Mine were 21 yrs old when I replaced them and only one had failed, and it was a small crack/tear.

The other case I had was a couple years later. When throttling over 4000 rpm I started getting hesitation/hiccups which got worse over a couple trips out. In my case I changed the fuel filter/lift pump assy and also the low pressure fuel pump at the same time since I wasn't sure which it was and they were super old. That fixed the issue. I used pumps from Quantum Fuel Systems which were about $200 for both vs about $800-$900-ish from Mercury. They were plug and play and I've never had an issue since.

Not sure if this will help, but good luck... let us know how it turns out!

Tony

 

[kwalsh24]

Thank for your info Tony! So it just seems like the system isn't getting fuel pressure to prime up, either that or there's air in the system. I'm very frustrated with this boat as I've never had a chance to enjoy it and I've honestly lost all interest in it. However I need to get it running once more.