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Jfreeman1412

Regular Contributor
Hey Guys I just purchased a 1973 Trojan F-30 with the Twin 318's. Here's a little background behind it, the guy I bought it from hadn't had it in the water for a couple years, he thought the fuels was empty but when we went to fill it up it was half(half of 90 gallons) full still. Took the boat on a test run and seemed to run fine for 15 minutes, then we took it also ran fine for 15-20 minutes and then the motors started starving for gas, to the point of vapor lock. We went back and change the fuel filters that are in line before the carb and put new plugs in. Didn't realize that there are other filters before the fuel pump until we got out the second time. When the engines started starving again we pulled the plugs on the bowl style fuel filters and the engines would run fine again for a while. We then had to put the boat in the slip and leave it because we were out of time and had to make it home.
We live in Minnesota and went to to the east side of lake michigan with the intentions of driving this boat across the lake to the wisconson side. So the boat is still on the michigan side and we are heading back out there at the end of this week to turn some more wrenches. I guess i was just looking for some advice and things to look for when we are trying to trouble shoot this engine. I have learned a ton from reading other posts on this site and appreciate any help you can give.

I'm sure the canister filters need to be cleaned or replaced, when we would take the plug out of the bottom a tiny bit of fuel would come out and sometimes that was with the engine running. Also could it be the intake in the tank? Although does have a newer tank in it(5-6 years). This would happen to both engines but at different times. It has one tank and is tee offed with canister filters on either side of the tee before the fuel pump. So I know I need to change the canister filters for sure, but was looking for any other advice so I can be prepared as possible. One engine has 1300hr and one has 940hrs.
 
well sounds like you are on the rite track buddy!! personally I would get that old gas out of the tank,because it has been in there for a long time.Gas gets old after a while and will not burn good.Purge and clean out the fuel system,put new filters and spark plugs, then put fresh gas in it and fire it up and see what it does on 100% fresh gas.Good luck!!Let me know how it turns out.If you need anything else,let us know.There are alot of good people on this forum that can help.
 
Thanks.....I would love to get rid of the old gas but have no where to put 90 gallons of Old/new gas mixture. Unfortunately I am 12 hours from home out there and don't know many people. Talked to a guy at the marina and he said that they just took about 55 gallons out of a insurance claim boat and it costed $800. Forum seems good, I will keep you posted. I am leaving Sunday to head out there. Thanks again.
 
TWO filters BEFORE the fuel pump? That's Russian roulette with 5 bullets in your revolver!

With old, cruddy fuel and two filters before the pumps to plug up, you are nearly sure to have trouble (and likely to burn a piston on such a long trip).

You can do what you like, but if it was me I'd bypass all but the water separators (hopely with a coarse, 30 micron or more) strainer (not filter) and add a fine filter AFTER the fuel pumps. I'd also take several new filters along since they will probably plug up and need changing (until the crud works its way out). Plan on regular draining of the water separators as well--and for heaven's sake, make several, hours long sea trials before taking that long trip.

Jeff
 
Jeff
Sorry Let me clarify, It is only one per engine. The Intake out of the tank comes up and Tees off to both engines. There is one fuel filter on either side of the tee or one for each engine. It sounds like I have what you are describing but I must have done a bad job describing it the first time.
TWO filters BEFORE the fuel pump?
Click to expand...

So yes but only one per engine, please tell me this is normal.
 
Assuming that is a water separator strainer (coarse filtration) then that is an excellent set up. You still need a good in-line filter after the fuel pumps, however. Some carbs come with a tiny filter built in, but it gets neglected and is too small in any case.

Jeff

PS: If there's one in your carbs, it will be hiden behind the fuel inlet fitting.
 
The fuel is deffinately an issue after that long. Also, make sure the fuel tank vent on the side of the hull isn't one big mass of spider webs after two years. Spiders just love spots like that. If the tank doesn't vent properly, you'll starve the engines after running a while, they'll start again and run after pressure equalizes then stall again. You may also want to pull the vent line off the tank and blow through it to ensure the line is clear. It should also be looped above the vent and run down hill only to the tank. Good luck and a safe trip.

By the way, after two years, for safety's sake, there are a lot of things you should be checking before venturing out!
 
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Thanks Guys for all your help. We made the trip today after a short period of wrenching. What we ended up doing was changing the fuel filters before the pump and cleaning the small ones in the carb. After that we were still having problems not getting gas. I then took off the Fuel supply line from the tank where it spits to go to each motor and blew back into the tank, I could feel the resistence and then you could feel as if something had released from the pick up in the tank. We then took it out and test ran it for an hr and made the trip. All was good for about two hrs and then one of the engines started to run hot, check out my newest post please. We trolled in and made it safe and I am now writing this from the boat on the other side of the lake. It's new home! Thank you so much for your help guys and I hope you can lead me in the right direction with this overheating issue.
 
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