Running out of fuel - Fuel pump has been rebuilt - What pumps the pump?????????

I am in need of HELP on this one. I have a 1993 Johnson 150hp, TJ150GLETR, V6 2 Stroke Looper mounted on a 1993 18' Nitro bass boat. The motor has run good for the last 23 years with normal maintenance. Due to medical issues I was not able to use it for the last 5 months. I just recently took it to the lake and it seemed to run just fine. I had drained out all of the fuel and filled the tank with fresh fuel on the way to the lake. I ran it off and on to different spots for 5 hours and used 10 gallons of fuel. A week later I take my son with to the lake and we run for a hour to get to our fishing spot. The motor ran fine. We fish for a couple of hours and go to move to another spot and the motor starts missing and sputtering and stops. Crank it and nothing. I pump the in-line fuel bulb and it starts and runs, but sputters and after about 10 minutes stops. Crank it and it won't start. Pump the bulb and it fires up. This happens again. I then have my son sit on the back deck and pump the bulb as we slowly head back to the dock and load the boat on the trailer. So i figure the Fuel Pump has taken a crap. In the yard hooked to the garden hose it will idle for 3 minutes and run out of fuel. So I get a VRO fuel pump rebuild kit and go through the pump. Put the rebuilt pump back on the motor, hook up the garden hose and now the motor will idle for 3 minutes and run out of fuel. So the question is - WHAT PUMPS THE PUMP? What drives the pump? Does it operate off of vacuum and if so where does it draw the vacuum from? How many inches of vacuum does it require? What do I need to replace to resolve this issue.

The fuel pump runs off of crank case pulses. Do a compression check on the motor and pay attention to the cylinder that the vro gets its pulses from.

Thanks for the info Boobie. I will do a compression test and note the results. Any clue as to which cylinder pulses the VRO?

Follow the pulse line from the vro to the crank case fitting and that's the cylinder.

Compression is as follows:

103 107
102 105
104 106

What does the compression tell you? 4#s is the maximum deviation and that should be good, should it not?

Which line is the pulse line? Where does it connect to the VRO and is it a big hose or a small hose? There is a 3/8" hose from the bottom of the VRO that connects to the brass Pulse Limiter which goes into the bottom of the crankcase, is that the pulse line you refer to? It is hard to follow if I don't know which one you refer to as they are not marked. Again, thanks Boobie.

Any additional help or comments??

Somebody must know what the corrective action is?????

All I can say is make sure the pulse line and fittings for the fuel pump are all open and clear. If that's alright maybe try another fuel pump.

Boobie,
A fuel pump is a $500.00 expenditure. Pretty costly to try another fuel pump. I have replaced all of the hoses from and to the fuel pump and there is still no difference. Can anyone tell me what the vacuum reading should be?

Is this a VRO that is $500.00 or a regular fuel pump ??

Sounds like air motor problem in VRO.....test it.

Thanks Faztbullet. I don't have access to specified test equipment but I will check around and thanks for pointing me in another direction as I had heard nothing about the air motor. Also, there is a pulse limiter connected which I will check out.

You can use a mightyvac available at autozone/advance/carquest/wallyworldharbr freight/northrn tools/etc...

Well, what's the latest ??

Did you ever put a vacuum gauge on the pulse limiter and see what you get ??

Went to town this morning and bought a Mityvac, neat tool. Ran the tests that Faztbullet posted, Thank you for that post, it was most helpful. Tests indicated that the housing was bad. Took the pump apart again and looked over all parts and pieces, put it back together and re-tested the pump. Again the test indicated the housing was bad. All housing mating surfaces are flat and level so I have to assume that one or both of the internal popet valves are bad. Ordered a new pump. Now waiting for delivery. I will post results once the pump has been received, tested, installed and the engine runs. Again, Thank you for your assistance and knowledge. It is appreciated.

Is this the $500.00 fuel pump we discussed earlier in this post ??

Problem resolved! I replaced the rebuilt VRO pump with a new OMC VRO pump and the engine fires and runs like it used to. I would surmise that 23 years of use was just to much for a couple of little popit valves built into the housing.
Yes Boobie it was the VRO fuel pump that lists for over $500.00 I was able to locate one for $329.00.
Thank you all for your direction and knowledge.

Glad to hear you got it Cactus. Once in awhile you'll run into a motor that will really give you fits. Been there.