Trojan Boat Forum

Left the marina Sunday around noon for a quick loop around Kellys Island with the wife and kid. Well on the way back, the port engine dies! Had about a 20 minute ride into the marina with one screw. After several attempts I was able to manuver her into the dock without incident.

Now to why the engine died???? I think that I have narrowed it down to no gas!!!! When I bought the boat last fall, I was told that both tanks were full. and the gauges indicated this, so I never thought to double check. But Im thinking that neither gauge is working.

On the ride to the marina, I made several attempts to fire the engine and It would run for a second and die, so I think it would get enough fumes to fire.

once back at the dock, I took off the spack arrestor and had the wife pump the throttle and crank the engine....no gas from the jets.

Now, I have duel tanks.. each engine runs from each tank. but they are connected at the fuel/water seperator filters with a shut off valve. The handle of the valve is perpendicular to the fuel line, so Im assuming that the valve is in the off position so the engines cannot share a fuel tank. Is this correct??

Normally should I operate with this valve in the open or closed position???

I guess its a good thing that it was closed, so that I didnt completey run out!

When I go back to the lake Friday, Im gonna pull the tank floats to see if they are stuck in the full position and to stick the tanks to see how much gas is in the tanks.

I really hope that it is empty for the quick fix!

But I must emphasize that it is a scary situation trying to dock with one engine down and a crowd of people watching!!

gofish103 wrote:Now, I have duel tanks.. each engine runs from each tank. but they are connected at the fuel/water seperator filters with a shut off valve. The handle of the valve is perpendicular to the fuel line, so Im assuming that the valve is in the off position so the engines cannot share a fuel tank. Is this correct??

Normally should I operate with this valve in the open or closed position???

I guess its a good thing that it was closed, so that I didnt completey run out!But I must emphasize that it is a scary situation trying to dock with one engine down and a crowd of people watching!!

Yes leave that lever perpendicular for normal use, so not sharing tanks.
What I would have done in your situation would be to turn the share on once I was just outside the marina and run both engines off the good tank to get me back to the slip easily... that way one can still look like an expert.
I would also close the valve coming from the bad/emply tank, so both engines can only suck from tank with gas.

have you ever bought gas for her? did you switch the gas tank selector to the other engine and try starting it? i keep mine in the closed postion so each engine runs on its own tank. have you opened the fuel filter cartridge to check or replace the filter? maybe clogged. is the fuel needle on the guage on full or way over passed it. if so check to make sure ground is good at tank.

No, I have not put gas in her, I was under the understanding that both tanks were full. and yes the gauges read past full. And there should be some variations in the gauges because we have run some.
Another petpev that I have is there are no fuel gauges on the fly bridge, the gauges are only on the salon station.

So from what I have read on another post is that could be sending units are bad??

I honeslty did not know that there was a separator valve in line with the tanks until I was back at the marina.

i only have fuel guages in my salon on f32 and none on the flybridge i guess i have become accustomed to checking them perodically and figured if i ever put flow guages on the boat they would be on the flybridge so this will take care of that. if the ground on the fuel sender on top of the tank is not making a good connection it will cause the needle problems. all though i guess anything is possible it seems that both senders being bad might be along shot. here is some troubleshooting that may help. its for a car but apllies here http://www.chevytrucks.org/tech/gasgauge.htm
again you might also check if you have fuel filters and whether it may be clogged. at least you will now learn about your fuel system on your boat

G: hey thanks for the info, printed a copy and taking it with me tonight. Work on the gauges in the morning.

gofish, that's EXACTLY what happened to us when we took possession a couple of weeks ago!!! Turned out to be the fuel pump was shot. Replaced that, and we're good to go... of course, that was when the carburetor on the starboard engine crapped out... so we're replacing that this weekend