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Honda 225 fuel starvation issue

T

tritoon225

New member
Hi all,

I'm new to this forum and have searched around trying to find my exact issue, but can't seem to get it right. I am not new to mechanics, but am somewhat of a newbie in boat mechanics. I have a 2002 bennington tritoon boat with a Honda bf225. I bought the boat used in 2019 with only 200hrs on it. I have been running into issues with fuel delivery and would like to know what are all the filters and strainers are in the system. I replaced the HP and LP fuel filters, fuel line, primer bulb, spark plugs and drained fuel off of the VST and the water seperator bulb. My next mission is to either pull the VST and see it there is an issue in there. The boat only gets up to around 3500-4000 rpm cruising at 25mph... surges at WOT. From what I gather, it may be a fuel pump, but it idles fine and only happens at WOT. Any and all help is appreciated

Dave
 
Hi Dave,

I'm no 225 expert. Others here that are. I just wanted to say that you may be perfectly right about the VST but I know from hanging out here that the oxygen sensors also cause that type of symptom. Just throwing it out there.

Good luck.
 
Simple things first...

At WOT, feel the primer bulb and see if it is partially collapsed. If so, open the fuel cap and see if that clears up the issue. If so, you have a clogged air vent to the fuel tank. Run a long piece of weed wacker line (or similar) down the vent to clear it out. DO NOT USE WIRE - that cold puncture the vent line.

If opening the fuel cap doesn't help, but primer bulb still partially collapsed, the fuel pickup tube in your fuel tank may be clogged. Pull it and clean it.

If that doesn't help, rapidly pump the primer bulb. If that improves performance, you may have a failing low pressure fuel pump. Best just to replace it.

Hook up a clear plastic fuel line between your auxiliary fuel/water separator and the onboard fuel water separator, run the engine up to WOT and have someone look for air bubbles in the clear plastic fuel line. If so, you may have an air leak in your external F/W separator. It could be the drain cock, the sump seal, or one of the fittings.

If none of that helps, check the fuel pressure by connecting a fuel pressure gauge where the fuel pressure relief bolt sits on top of the cover to the high-pressure fuel filter. You will need a 6 mm adaptor. Disconnect the vacuum line to the fuel pressure regulator and plug it or clamp it. Run the engine at idle 600 RPM+/-. You should read 42 to 49 PSI. If too high, pull the fuel pressure regulator and clean it thoroughly. Then re-test. If still too high, then you will need to pull the port side fuel rail and clean or replace the little mesh fuel filter on it.

See item 4 at https://www.boats.net/catalog/honda...gj-1500001-to-bagj-1599999/fuel-pipe-injector

If none of that works, pull your VST, clean it, check the float needle valve and make sure it is very clean and seats properly, and make sure the float is operating properly and the swing is within specs. Since you have gone that far, pull the fuel pump and inspect the fuel screen on the bottom of the plastic holder the fuel pump sits in. You should have a replacement fuel pump holder on hand, since they often break when being removed. Bench test the fuel pump to be sure it is spec.

If none of that works, come back at us.
 
Thank you for the advice. I took the boat out and the primer bulb was solid and pumping it did not change the rpms on the boat. I will have to get a fuel pressure gauge and hook it up like you said. I will report my findings afterwards... do they make a VST rebuild kit that comes with the screen?
 
WOT simply stands for Wide Open Throttle.

VST stands for Vapor Separator Tank.
The VST is the device that acts sort of like a miniaturized fuel tank as on a car. It's where the high pressure fuel pump needed for fuel injection lives.

Because of the volatile and evaporative nature of gasoiline, the tank also provides a means for efficient fuel delivery, filtering and vapor lock prevention.
 
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