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2004 225 intermittent fuel leak

R

ROBERTJFERNA

New member
Hello, I have a 2004 bf225 Honda with a intermittent fuel leak. I was told it could be the high pressure pump float that is sticking. I took the cover off and ran the motor with no luck finding any leaks. The only thing I found was a a clear fuel line that wasn't hooked up at one end. Is that for the vst drain? new to Hondas and don't much, thanks
 
Yep, that clear hose is the VST drain. If look down at the base where it hooks into the VST, there is a small set screw. To drain the VST, you open that set screw and hold a clear 1 quart jar under the end of the hose. It's best to briefly activate your HP fuel pump just before doing that in order to pressurize the VST.

How do you know you have a fuel leak?

A very likely place for a leak to occur is the O ring on top of the high pressure fuel filter. It's hiding behind a vacuum diaphragm on the back of your engine, just below where the bottom of the engine cover sits. Shine a light in there and have someone turn on the key switch to activate the HP fuel pump and see if there is any leakage behind that diaphragm. If so, you need to remove the two Philips-head screws holding the diaphragm in place, set it aside, then remove the three screws holding the cover to the HP fuel filter. There is a flimsy O ring that seals the cover to the filter body. If you are replacing the O ring, do yourself a favor and replace the filter while you are at it. A new O ring comes with the filter.

Other likely places and the fuel hose connections to the on-board fuel/water separator and low pressure fuel filter on the starboard side of your engine. Another possibility are the hose connections to the low pressure fuel pump. Follow the hose coming from the low pressure fuel filter. The next junction is the low pressure fuel pump on the opposite side of the engine.

After that, it can get a little complicated.

The link below shows you all of the fuel line connections.

http://www.boats.net/parts/search/Honda/Outboard Engine/2004/BF225A4 XA/PIPING/parts.html
 
chawk_man said:
Yep, that clear hose is the VST drain. If look down at the base where it hooks into the VST, there is a small set screw. To drain the VST, you open that set screw and hold a clear 1 quart jar under the end of the hose. It's best to briefly activate your HP fuel pump just before doing that in order to pressurize the VST.

How do you know you have a fuel leak?

A very likely place for a leak to occur is the O ring on top of the high pressure fuel filter. It's hiding behind a vacuum diaphragm on the back of your engine, just below where the bottom of the engine cover sits. Shine a light in there and have someone turn on the key switch to activate the HP fuel pump and see if there is any leakage behind that diaphragm. If so, you need to remove the two Philips-head screws holding the diaphragm in place, set it aside, then remove the three screws holding the cover to the HP fuel filter. There is a flimsy O ring that seals the cover to the filter body. If you are replacing the O ring, do yourself a favor and replace the filter while you are at it. A new O ring comes with the filter.

Other likely places and the fuel hose connections to the on-board fuel/water separator and low pressure fuel filter on the starboard side of your engine. Another possibility are the hose connections to the low pressure fuel pump. Follow the hose coming from the low pressure fuel filter. The next junction is the low pressure fuel pump on the opposite side of the engine.

After that, it can get a little complicated.

The link below shows you all of the fuel line connections.

http://www.boats.net/parts/search/Honda/Outboard Engine/2004/BF225A4 XA/PIPING/parts.html
Click to expand...
I can see fuel seeping out of the engine cover in the middle front where the two side covers come together. Its not pouring out but enough to notice and leaves a small puddle about 8 " in diameter on the ground. the thing that baffles me is that it doesn't do it all the time. I did just replace the filter and o ring yesterday. it has those cheesy little clamps on the fuel lines. I don't think I would even consider them clamps. they just look like a piece of thin wire. could the float be an issue if it doesn't seat in the clear bowl on the side where the filter is? Thanks again
 
Check to see if that fuel is coming from the top of the VST as gis514 described in his post. If so, then see my reply to him. If the fuel leak is coming from someplace else, please be more specific of where. You need to find out exactly where it is leaking. You may need to remove the upper cowlings to do that.
 
Thanks for the replies. I couldn't find a leak at the time and it actually stopped. I think I might have a sticking float in the vst? It only seems to leak when I have the motor out of the water at the dock. I took it out yesterday it ran fine but fuel was leaking worse then ever. I did checks in the driveway for leaks beforehand and had none. if the float is sticking and the screw is tight on the drain where would it vent from?
 
Do you actually see or smell the fuel? Or do you see a sheen on the water?

If you only see a sheen, it could also be motor oil or gear lube leak.

Mike
 
Sounds like a faulty needle and seat in the vapor separator and is more than likely coming out of the vent hose which fits a barb fitting through the mount case plate which discharges the fuel inside the lower cowl.
 
Yes I did see fuel and smell it as well. Last year it would only stain the cowling a little but now it was definitely leaking. I checked it over this afternoon and looked down from the top of the motor. I found one screw that was hidden behind a diaphragm that you wouldn't be able to see unless you were looking down from the top. It was very loose not even seated on its shoulder. had to loosen the cowling up in back by a few bolts and tightened it up. I think it was to the fuel pump. took it out for a few hours and came back with no fuel odor and no leaks! So hopefully that was it. I still think it may be the float like iang6766 said because it didn't do it all the time. I guess we'll see this weekend. Thanks for your input I really appreciate it:cool:.
 
I hope you found it.

For some reason, I am not visualizing what you tightened. Is there any way that you can take a picture of it, so the rest of us will know for future problems?

If you can't, I am sure I will be able to sleep without knowing......LOL

Mike
 
For what's it's worth i had the same issue. Thought it was water pouring out! Was a filthy vst with the muck stopping the valve from closing properly. After a good clean with carb cleaner it was fine. Don't know how many hours you have but if it loads it could be wear i guess. In the ship manual there is a dimension check i seem to remember.
 
Thanks guys for all the help. I think I may have figured it out. I took the fuel pump off for the high pressure side the screen wasn't completely blocked but it was pretty filthy. I also checked the float bowl as someone suggested and there were some small bits of trash like little pieces of Teflon tape possibly that were floating in there. probably was getting stuck in the seat from time to time and was causing the fuel to vent after the engine was shut off. I was also having a surge at 48-5200 rpm at wot. I'm hearing this should be up to 5500-6000 at wot. blocked screen might be to blame. I'm taking it back out next weekend and see how she goes after I change both filters and put her back together. Also, I failed to mention the water separator was very bad. I changed that and didn't have any change in performance. so hopefully I should be good after finding the stuff I did today. I will post an update after another sea trial. Thanks again
 
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