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Automotive Fuel Cell / Gas Tank installed installed in boat?

I installed aluminum 15 gallon aftermarket automotive fuel cell in my boat and thought it would work well but no. With the fuel cell outboard motor performance was reduced by about 2/3. Switching back for testing, with the 6 gal plastic marine fuel tank motor runs at 100% again. Something about the automotive fuel tank seems to be restricting performance, restricting fuel flow is my guess. I read that auto gas tanks are pressurized and marine tanks are not. Ok, so I still don't know why the tank will not work unpressurized. And can the tank be made to work with some modification?

The tank has three plumbing connections. Fuel supply to motor (there is an open dip tube under this fitting that I assume reaches the bottom of the tank), fuel return from motor (nothing under this fitting and I capped this fitting off), and a vent (there seems to be a check valve inside, I assume this allows air in but prevents fuel from going out).

I tried switching the switching the fuel supply and vent connections to see if I might have that incorrect but the motor stopped running after a few minutes. I tried leaving the gas cap off to see if there was a airlock or vent issue and that made no difference.

I hope someone can help me understand what is happening and if this fuel cell can be properly adapted for marine use.
 
without knowing how big and old the outboard is and who's cell you have its hard to say what the issue is...the EPA mandated 'closed systems' a while back but only for 'newer' engines....

First thing I'd do is check with the fuel cell OEM and see if they will tell you is their product is being used properly....if they say NO, then there's a potential liability issue...

It may be as simple as one of the supply connections is not tight and is leaking air...and it doesn't take much of a leak to reduce the fuel being supplied to the engine...you can always 'T' in a vacuum gauge to the supply line to see what's going on...
 
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