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Won't start after sitting in the heat

mbhenry1955

mbhenry1955

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This is the 2nd year that this has happened! Our dealer is a little puzzled.


Symptom; It's HOT outside and after running/cruising around the lake, we'll stop for lunch or some swimming, or pulling a tube or skier and we stop to load back into the boat.


Either way it's hot and the engine is turn off for some time.


The engine won't restart!!


It cranks and cranks! I grab the priming bulb and it's soft!


So I pump it up and again, crank and crank and crank and finally it starts and runs fine.


2016 Honda 250. 2016 - 2250 Benny.


My dealer says that they are having some issue with the valves in the fuel vapor system.


Anyone else having anything like this happen?


It's frustrating and embarrassing!!


Thanks
 
No problem here, but sounds like air in the line somewhere.  Check for vapor leak in the fuel system/tank.
 
Not too many Honda's represented on here. Hopefully that gets figured out asap as that would annoy the heck out of me!
 
mbhenry1955 said:
This is the 2nd year that this has happened! Our dealer is a little puzzled.


Symptom; It's HOT outside and after running/cruising around the lake, we'll stop for lunch or some swimming, or pulling a tube or skier and we stop to load back into the boat.


Either way it's hot and the engine is turn off for some time.


The engine won't restart!!


It cranks and cranks! I grab the priming bulb and it's soft!


So I pump it up and again, crank and crank and crank and finally it starts and runs fine.


2016 Honda 250. 2016 - 2250 Benny.


My dealer says that they are having some issue with the valves in the fuel vapor system.


Anyone else having anything like this happen?


It's frustrating and embarrassing!!


Thanks
Click to expand...

This issue seems strange to me. The high pressure pump is inside a reservoir that has a float, under the engine cover. If it's starving for fuel immediately upon starting the fuel tank must be siphoning fuel back out which seems like an opposite affect that heat would have. I thought these all had check valves in them so maybe that has gone bad. Keep us posted.............this is intriguing. 
 
They may try adding a portable tank to try a process of elimination!


They have had issues with a valve near the fuel cap.
 
Carl has a Honda and he's a retired professional mechanic? He'll chime in..........
 
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mbhenry1955 said:
They may try adding a portable tank to try a process of elimination!


They have had issues with a valve near the fuel cap.
Click to expand...

This is a great suggestion, simple to do and will eliminate some variables quickly.
 
BigKahuna said:
Carl has a Honda and he's a retired professional mechanic? He'll chime in..........
Click to expand...

And it has always started for 11 years. We have an "older" boat without all the vapor recovery stuff on the fuel system. The idea of using a remote tank is a great idea to narrow down the possibilities. It's funny that our new explorer doesn't even have a fuel cap. Keep us posted. Somewhere the fuel pump is losing it's prime.
 
BigKahuna said:
Carl has a Honda and he's a retired professional mechanic? He'll chime in..........
Click to expand...

Are you questioning Carl's retirment plan, his mechanical ability, or the fact that he has a Honda? ;)  Just messin' with you.


OP I hope the process of elimination yeilds bountiful results!
 
Some things never change unfortunately.... my buddy has a 2000 Johnson 150 and has the same problem.  It's runs great when first started for a long as we cruise.  When we stop for an hour or 3  and then try and get going again he has to play around with the throttle a lot and if he goes into gear and gives it gas after it does start it will stall out.  If he plays around with it long enough (fast idle for 5-10  minutes) it'll start running ok again.   Sometimes trimming up the engine seems to help a little.  He's had his boat guy try this and that but he's getting tired of throwing 6-8 hundred bucks at a time at it. Last year we had several guys on the boat one time and it seemed even worse with a big load on-board.  Strange problem.
 
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Rockie69 said:
Are you questioning Carl's retirment plan, his mechanical ability, or the fact that he has a Honda? ;)  Just messin' with you.


OP I hope the process of elimination yeilds bountiful results!
Click to expand...

Man that one little misplaced question mark messed up the whole response! Ha!  


1) He has a Honda so I thought he might have some experience with this problem.


2) He's a retired mechanic so I thought he might have some experience with this problem.


3) Carl's been around for a while so I thought he might have some experience with this problem.......


Did I miss anything?!?
 
BigKahuna said:
Man that one little misplaced question mark messed up the whole response! Ha!  


1) He has a Honda so I thought he might have some experience with this problem.


2) He's a retired mechanic so I thought he might have some experience with this problem.


3) Carl's been around for a while so I thought he might have some experience with this problem.......


Did I miss anything?!?
Click to expand...

Ah, grammar... One little comma:


Let's eat Grandma!


Let's eat, Grandma!
 
Check the venting of the fuel tank, cap etc. make sure something didn't get added in a storage area that would of pinched something off. You may have enough pull when it's running but once it's off it enough to starve it. 
 
Did you try loosening the gas cap?


I had something similar happen once. I opened the gas cap and whoosh, about a gallon of air got sucked in.  Motor started right after that.
 
The tech at my dealer suggested the same thing about loosening the cap and listen for a vacuum or pressure release sound but when it happened last time out, I grabbed the priming bulb 1st. instead of releasing the cap and that move alone may have spoiled any test I was trying to do.


Next time I will loosen the cap 1st.....


P.S. There is nothing against the lines but there is a check valve near the cap that my dealer says there is a problem with. Mine is not the 1st that they have seen doing this!!!


Thanks
 
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Had same issue in ours last weekend after sitting couple hours in the hot sun. Couldn't get bulb to prime. Cranked for about 5-10 seconds and it finally started. I'm going to see if it happens again and talk to dealer and mention this  thread. 


Note: Boat in the past, after sitting in sun, bulb always lost its prime, but it would pump right up with no issue. This one just wouldn't re-prime itself. 
 
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Although I have a bulb too, my Mercury 150 manual says not to install one.  It has a fuel pump.  It may have been my old 115 motor that stalled.
 
Sounds like its likely either siphoning back into the tank or vapor locking.


Another thing to maybe try... Check to make sure the primer bulb is mounted in a vertical position with the outlet at the top. Our dealer said that was very important. We have a Yamaha but I wonder if so for others too.
 
Never had an issue with mine! That would be very frustrating. 
 
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