Honda BF75 and avoiding carb problems

I have a 1996 Honda BF75 and after purchasing the boat it is on about 10 years ago I had to have the carbs replaced due to gumming up because it had sat for so long at the former owners without use. I currently use non ethanol gas with stabilizer and drain the carbs for the winter. This year circumstances have been such with health that I have only been able to get the boat out sporadically. It is a little bit of a pain to remove the boat cover and engine cover and then drain the carbs just in case the boat MAY sit for longer than intended. I have another option but need some advice as to whether it makes sense. It is easy to reach under the cover occasionally and squeeze the fuel bulb a few times to keep the carb bowls full which should minimize fuel evaporation carb bowls going dry and creating a problem. Does this make any sense?

Makes no sense to me.----------When you are done boating disconnect the fuel line and let the motor run till carburetors are empty.----That keeps them clean !

My experience is more related to off road motorcycles, but without StaBil I was absolutely screwed after 6 months. Definitely had to pull the carbs, clean pilot jets and wash out the tank. With Stabil I just add fresh gas and go ride. I hope this translates to outboards as well cause carb cleaning sure eats up time...

Keeping the bowl full seems like a good plan, but I'd definitely add a fuel stabilizer as well.

racerone said:

Makes no sense to me.----------When you are done boating disconnect the fuel line and let the motor run till carburetors are empty.----That keeps them clean !

Click to expand...

Thats what i have always done with bikes, but still had problems. Read recently that the engine will die long before the bowl is empty. Draining the bowl and using stabil seems to be the ticket, the gas is just soo bad these days...

I know that on a friend's BF 50 that I work on occasionally, they have drain hoses on the bottom of the carb bowls, which makes it very easy to drain. I wonder if there is a way to fabricate that kind of setup on the smaller Honda engines.

edited

I drain my carbs every time I'm sitting up for more than a few days. As long as you can still remove the engine cover it's dead easy. The fuel these days does not have the preservation additives it used to. Running the motor with the fuel disconnected is fine but will not completely empty the float chamber. An aditive is an option but I don't think it gives the same guarantees as removing the problem/ fuel.

Not sure which stabilizer you use. But using Stabil Marine, running the engine out of fuel (if you can), then draining carburetors is best.

In your situation, find some strong young person to help you with the cover and the hood and drain those carburetors. You only have to put forth the effort once until you can get well enough to go boating again. If you get the right helper, you could just talk them through everything and not even lift a finger.

Once it is done....then you don't have to worry about the boat.....just get better!

Mike

I feel ya. Just had surgery and it's taking a while to get mojo back. But, like the guys already said, you really need to find a way to drain the carbs. Otherwise, you're going feel a different kind of sick when the carbs need cleaning again in a short time.
Here's wishing you to get better quickly and sustained good health when you do.