Wow, thats quite a story Mark. I hope we can find a fix with a little less stress and aggravation. I think we shall pull the feed line from the tank as you did but I am pretty sure everything in there is clean, certainly no silicone. I am thinking 40 year old lift pump.
Regards,
Alan Steward
MagnifiCat
I would tend to lean in that direction in your case, my engine only had 50 hrs on it when I had this issue. We have a couple tractors on the farm with over 10,000 hrs that we have never had to do a lift pump on, but on others with less than 5000 hours have had to replace the electric lift pump twice.
The lift pump on that motor should just be 2 bolts, above the oil line and I would imagine an auto parts store would have a jobber that would bolt on. Tired lift pumps in my experience are usually related to a dried out diaphram or the arm that engages the camshaft has wore enough to limit the stroke of the pump. Only seen the camshaft drive lobe wore out on one in my experience.
Good luck.
Mark Richards
NS 30C, Hull#4
Beets Farming
Sarnia Yacht Club
Lake Huron Yachts
I’ve never seen a mechanical lift pump on a Westerbeke, Mark, only electric. Due to my Racor filter being 2 microns, I never get dirt in the lift pump filter screen. As I’ve preached before, every spring I pull the fuel gauge sender out and stick a rigid hose into the tank at it’s lowest point and pump into a clear glass jar. This gets anything on the bottom out and tells me what’s there. In addition, on this same fuel subject, if you have a screen on the pickup tube in your tank, remove it. I’ve never been a proponent of fuel polishing either.
Joe Valinoti
S/V iL Gatto NS30U #221
Sea Harbour YC
Oriental, NC USA
I made an incorrect assumption based on the age of the motor.
If too difficult to get at you can install an inline pump closer to the tank where easier to get at. Needs to be powered with key
Should push fuel through the bad pump. Have had to add an electric to a sprayer that had a weak mechanical low side pump.
I have made an annual practice of this step several weeks after spring launch to ensure that the tank is not too full when removing the fuel gauge sender. The first time, I pulled up a lot of black floating crude from the tank bottom but no water. It maybe that in the prior 26 years of boat operation before my ownership, it had never been done before. Last year, nothing came up from the take bottom. Seems to me to be the best possible and simplest preventative step one could take.
Ken Dakin
NS 33 # 7
Sashay
Collins BayMarina/ CBYC
Kingston ON
This is something I would like to do, but it seems like every time I remove the fuel sender assembly I end up with a leak when I put it back. It usually seems to come from around the screws used to hold the sender in place. Do you have to apply some kind of sealant when you put the sender unit back into the tank?
Ralph Bush
1983 N26C #104
“Hyggelig”
EYC, Toronto, ON
To Mark's point an electric pump near the tank also turns those really hard to find pinhole air leaks into quite easy to find tiny fuel leaks. A tiny fuel leak won’t stop you but an air leak can.
Paul M
NS30U #211, Sandpiper
Cowichan Bay B.C.
Ralph,
I recently replaced my fuel tank. The new fuel level sender came with a “rubber” gasket and screws that had “rubber” washers under the screw heads. The gasket was installed between the tank and sender flange. The screws hold the sender flange to the tank. Any fuel that comes up by way of the screw threads is stopped by the “rubber” washers under the screw heads. The instructions clearly indicated to snug the screws but not to over tighten.
If your screws do not have washers, you can perhaps find some o-rings at the hardware store as a substitute.
An air pressure test of the tank to 3 PSI and soaping the area will verify whether you have a leak or not. Rig a bicycle pump to the tank vent fitting to provide the air source. You can check the fill cap at the deck for leaks at the same time.
Ralph: If you get a chance, take a photo of the top of the sending unit installation. Maybe I can figure out why it leaks by the screws, as it should not. Also you can find plastic washers the fit. Sealer is not advised. My recollection is that the rubber seal around the sending unit should seal the sender and the screws.
Joe Valinoti
S/V iL Gatto NS30U #221
Sea Harbour YC
Oriental, NC USA
My new sending unit came with rubber washers installed on the screws, under the screwhead.