Gas Tank Problems

[Tahiti Tiger Mark]

I am having problems getting gas to flow from my left side tank. I replaced all the fuel lines and I can blow through the line and hear bubbles. But when it comes time to run off that side it runs for about 5 seconds and chokes from fuel starvation. It will do this even with the gas cap off the tank. Trying to suck gas out of that side does not seem to be too easy either. What is inside those things that could be the problem?
Thanks,
Mark

[hboldno7]

Is it possible there may be some debree in the bottom of the tank?

[DogHouse]

Sometimes there are check valves installed in the pickup fittings that can cause problems. Is the pickup a tube that installs through a fitting on the top of the tank? If you can get to the pickup, you might pull it out and make sure everything looks ok.
-brian

[Squirtcha?]

Are your tanks feeding from the bottom or the top?
If your tanks are feeding from tubes at the tops of the tanks (not gravity from the bottom) it will help to keep your line lengths between the tanks and the T the same length.

[Tahiti Tiger Mark]

My tank is feeding from the top. I actually shut the other tank off because it was empty and it still didn't want to suck from that side. The shitty part is I can't get to the fitting with the tank installed. They are fiberglassed in. Sucks! I don't want to have to cut the thing out but it is not looking good.

[sleekster]

i had the same problem, my tank feeds from the top thru a tube that goes to the bottom of the tank which in turn has a screen on it, i could blow air thru mine also but when you run it, debri
would clog the screen and starve it out. i had to cut my tanks out and have them flushed and new pick-up tubes welded in, this time with no screens i run fuel filters at each tank. i hated to go thru this ordeal but not as much as being towed in by a pontoon boat!

[Squirtcha?]

Tahiti Tiger Mark:
My tank is feeding from the top. I actually shut the other tank off because it was empty and it still didn't want to suck from that side. The shitty part is I can't get to the fitting with the tank installed. They are fiberglassed in. Sucks! I don't want to have to cut the thing out but it is not looking good. So, if the one tank that seems to be feeding correctly is shut off........will it then pull from the other tank? Or will that tank not feed no matter what? Are the hoses the same length? I believe It'll pull from the side with the shortest hose first due to less resistance. That's why I was asking about hose length and why I made sure to make mine the exact same length when I plumbed my tanks.
I hope ya don't have to cut the tanks out of her. Mine were a pain in the ass.

[skeepwerkzaz]

Sounds to me like you have a bad hose. Replace the hose on the "bad" side and see what happens....Could have failed mid stream with a flap in it, sort of like double walled exhaust tubing, looks good from outside, bad in da middle,
clay

[Tahiti Tiger Mark]

I am going to try and get that piece of crap out of there without taking out the tank. The hose is new, it is most likely a clogged screen. I have a phat fuel filter to catch the crap. I am sick of being towed with half a boat of fuel too!

[Max_182]

If you have an electric pump, flow test the tank. That is, put a hose on the outlet of your pump and run it back into the tank filler neck so you can watch it. Turn the pump on and see what happens. The "flap in the hose" thing is a killer when it happens. But it could be any restriction. All it takes is a slight restriction on the suction side of the pump to boil the gas. It might be that you have a restriction and the suction from the pump is collapsing the hose.
Rk

[HOSS]

Same setup. Do this once. I did. Drain tanks and FLUSH thoroughly with water! Have an insert welded(tig) in. Install plug. My tanks are aluminum. This can be done easily with ss as well. I did not remove tanks. FLUSH thoroughly!
I have run an inline filter from each tank into a single water seperator. Every single piece of hose was measured to insure EXACTLY the same length. This is the only way to regulate the flow rate out of each tank. I`m sure it can be done with valves and multiple pumps but why be an asshole if you don`t have to.
The drain holes were the best thing I install. I had acorns in both tanks from painting hull. You will be flushing the hull so this will clean it. I used a pressure washer inside also. Car wash will be fine. Good luck. `75 Southwind 20'

[sleekster]

i still beleive your screen or pick-up tube is getting plugged, when you blow thru it and clear it, it will run a short time then choke out. just like mine did. run the electric valve between the two tanks, dont worry about hose lenghts being exactly the same lenght. i have a sending unit on each tank, hooked up to one gauge, when i flick the switch up i draw off only one tank and read the gas level of only that tank. then flick the switch down and draw/read only the other tank. this is great when you want to know exactly how much fuel you have and one tank acts like a reserve.

[Tahiti Tiger Mark]

Thanks for the tips, I will update on what turns out to be the fix. I am going to do it this week sometime. I just put all new hose on the thing so I don't think that is the problem. I have manual valves on each tank so I am not worried about hose length, plus I have two fuel gauges so that is all good. There is probably a lot of shit in the tanks like you guys said. I'll see if I can't get that stuff out somehow.

[HOSS]

I have a 45 gal tank on each side. 1 gauge. Why use 2? Both will draw the same if hose lengths are equal. You WANT both tanks to draw equally. Your boat WILL ride on edge if you draw from one at a time. But if lop sided is your gig then go for it.

[Mike G]

Okay, I just thought of this and have NO idea if it'd work, but...
If it IS your screen that's plugged, you could take a big canister style fuel filter and connect that before an electric fuel pump. Connect the pump so it draws fuel out of a line put down the fill tube and pushes it back in the fuel line. This way any crap from the screen theoretically should come free when blown the opposite direction and hopefully will get picked up by the intake line from the pump and caught in the filter. You'd probably have to run the pump for a while circulating the fuel, but would be a lot easier than cutting out the tank.
Hopefully you have a spare Holley blue pump lying around. :-P
Like I said, I just pulled this out of my ass, and have no idea if it'd work or not, but sounds good in theory.

[Moomawnster]

I had the same problem and it plagued me for a year before I found the cause ...... small fragments of rubber hose had wedged into the ball check valve and would starve the carb when running hard but would work fine at "normal" speeds ... physical extraction was the only way to clean it .... no problems since . Good luck ! :rolleyes: