Gas tank conversion.

[rmacdesign]

Has anyone ever replaced there under seat gas tank with a portable tank? Having trouble with my tank on 1999 exciter 135.

 

[Julian]

Never heard anyone try that. These tanks are too big to be portable. I'll guess the 135 has a 30 gallon tank? That would be a BEAST to move (240 pounds?)

 

[biffdotorg]

99% of issues with a "tank" is the sender unit in the tank and not the tank itself. Fixing that equipment will be worth your while once you start using a 5-10 gallon portable tank. As you will then understand how quickly you can burn 5-10 gallons. Let alone tripping over it.

Dig into the real issue and fix it proper. I would bet the whole fuel sender parts would cost about the same as any external tank conversion you may consider. I could be wrong

 

[rmacdesign]

Never heard anyone try that. These tanks are too big to be portable. I'll guess the 135 has a 30 gallon tank? That would be a BEAST to move (240 pounds?)

Sorry I meant replacing tank with a couple of 12 gallon outboard tanks.

 

[biffdotorg]

The question remains, why?

 

[rmacdesign]

Marina gas really expensive. Would like to take tanks to gas station without taking boat out of water

 

[Julian]

Marina gas really expensive. Would like to take tanks to gas station without taking boat out of water

My marina slip lease forbids me from bringing in and filling my tank with external gas. Done in the guise of avoiding spills....but most likely to protect their fuel sales.

 

[Cobra Jet Steering LLC]

What problem are you experiencing and be very mindful of fuel leaks or vapor leaks inside a boat if you modify the fuel system

 

[Julian]

Marina gas really expensive. Would like to take tanks to gas station without taking boat out of water

I think I'd leave the boat's fuel system alone - if it ain't broke don't mess with it (especially the fuel tanks). I'd just get something like this:


assuming your marina is ok with you brining in your own fuel.....it would be hard to hide that!

 

[Cobra Jet Steering LLC]

just exactly is your issue ? is it just an issue fueling the boat at the gas station? or some other problem ?

 

[mark_m]

Marina gas really expensive. Would like to take tanks to gas station without taking boat out of water

How often are you filling up?

 

[Beachbummer]

Marina gas really expensive. Would like to take tanks to gas station without taking boat out of water

It totally makes sense to me that you are considering the use of portable tanks to get around the restriction of transferring fuel at the marina.

I have the option of filling from 5 gallon cans in my dry dock marina, as long as the boat is not in the water.

It is painful enough that I don't do it anymore. between filling them up, carrying to the car, carrying from the car to the boat, and siphoning the fuel to the boat. Also, something always spill just enough that there will a stink of fuel for a while in the car, or on me.

Perhaps for you it would be worth it, my recommendation would be to explore not a tank replacement but a way to use the small tanks as a "ferry" container that could be connected to the boat to be filled... It is hard to carry more than 10 gallons at a time by foot. Perhaps 5 gallon portable tanks that you could "hook" to the boat and power a pump to transfer the fuel to your main tank would fulfill your need?

Would that be "cheating" vs the current restriction that you cannot refuel at dock?

I think removing the main tank is a major undertaking that will affect the boat's value going forward, I'd make sure I was very comfortable with those consequences (and I personally wouldn't do it)

Good Luck on how you proceed, and make sure you are fully accounting for your time and effort against the expected savings.

 

[rmacdesign]

Thanks for info. Boat is at a private camp so no issues with marina. But I have a bigger problem. Pulled engine and found hole in crankcase (!@$$) sent out to get rebuilt. Am going to install oil block off and mix oil.

 

[Cobra Jet Steering LLC]

that was common if any of the oil feed lines fell off the engine

 

[rmacdesign]

HELP 1999 exciter 135, rebuilt engine 1200 npv ,rebuilt carbs. Oil delet. Have spent weeks trying to get it to run. Added primer would start until fuel tan out. Finally got it to run by covering up carburetor stacks. How do I fix this cant keep covering carb intake to start it? Does this mean there is an air leak in fuel system. Carburetor stacks really pulling a lot of air in?

 

[Beachbummer]

The answer is 99% of the time... The carbs.

If it starts when you add fuel, and keeps running while you cover the carbs, you are probably running very lean and it runs when you limit air which richens the mixture.

New carbs or good functioning ones probably will fix the problem.

Rebuilding carbs is an art. I could never do it well and bought new ones for my single carb two stroke every few years.

Best of luck!

 

[rmacdesign]

Thanks, going to try new gasket and if that doesn't work will rebuild carbs again. Boat not worth buying three carbs.

 

[I_squared_r]

FYI Covering the carbs is the same as putting the choke on and this adds fuel.
I'm almost positive that a new gasket isn't going to help you.
It sounds like you have a fuel delivery problem. Inspect the check valve on the gas tank by blowing into both directions. It should only flow air in 1 direction.
When you rebuilt the carbs, did you take apart all of the carb, including the pump side, and clean the little fuel filters?
Is there caps over the hi/lo screws? I hate that yamaha did these on some carbs so people can't tamper with the adjustment screws, but its really important to take those out and shoot carb cleaner through the hi/lo circuits.
Also, probably isn't your issue, but did you change the needle and seats with the original mikuni ones? This is often overlooked when people rebuild carbs because they're not included with the mikuni rebuild kits. But new needle/seats will really freshen it up and avoid a leaky seat in the future.

 

[rmacdesign]

I was thinking fuel delivery so I inspected tank and lines couldn't find anything. There is no check valve ?? But according to schematic there isn't one on the exciter. Yes i did pump side on carbs. YES THERE IS A CAP ON high/low screws. Didn't change needle. So where do I go from here. Drill out plugs? Add check valve? Will the oil delet have anything to do with it? Like no oil dripping into carbs or is my mixture right 50 to 1.

 

[I_squared_r]

I was thinking fuel delivery so I inspected tank and lines couldn't find anything. There is no check valve ?? But according to schematic there isn't one on the exciter. Yes i did pump side on carbs. YES THERE IS A CAP ON high/low screws. Didn't change needle. So where do I go from here. Drill out plugs? Add check valve? Will the oil delet have anything to do with it? Like no oil dripping into carbs or is my mixture right 50 to 1.

There has to be a check valve on your gas tank or else your tank would get too much pressure and blow up like a balloon lol maybe the schematic calls it a "vent". It probably looks like this https://www.partzilla.com/product/y...Sx5E8spu616Dx6Fb6lcLSrtPLSVVhwGxoCBBoQAvD_BwE

I would 100% pull out those carbs and drill out those caps on the hi/low. I think the best way is to drill it out a little, thread a screw inside, and then use a carpenter's hammer to pull them out. Be careful that you don't drill too far and hit the adjustment screw. But if you do, it's not a big deal as there are replacements available. Once the caps are out, thread in the adjustment screws and count the turns until it bottoms out, then mark them down. You want to keep the adjustment screw turns exactly the same. Then once the carbs are fully disassembled, take the carb cleaner straw and shoot the cleaner through all the orifices.

Since the caps were never removed, then I'm confident that no one has changed the needle/seats. You can try to find what size needle/seats that you need via google, but that could be challenging. I don't see a lot of information on the exciters. You may have to take apart the carbs and pull out the seats. There is small markings on the seat like "1.8" or "2.0" Be careful not to over tighten the little screws that hold the seats in. I had a friend break one years ago. Not fun.

As for oil mixture.. Idk. I always ran 32:1 on my superjet but I didn't really care how much the thing smoked. It was a performance ski and I figured more oil is better. 50:1 is like the minimum and probably is ok. I probably would run somewhere in between like 40:1 walmart oil (I'm cheap)