Fuel Pickup Tube Replacement

I

imspacemancraig

Member
Joined
May 24, 2009
RO Number
31301
Messages
543
Have an 86 Mariner 3297. Anyone replace the fuel pickup tubes in the 100 gallon tanks? If yes, where did you find replacements?

I posted here because I am not sure who makes the tanks so I can figure out what the right size is (outside of pulling one out and trying to match one up somehow).
 
Never pulled them on my Mariner, but on my 89 Santego, the pickup tube ran down about 3/4 of the way and rubber tubing on the end with a screen on the end completed the run to the bottom of the tank. I reused the aluminum tubing and just replaced the tubing with gas hose I bought at NAPA. I cut the end at angles to eliminate the possibility of lying flat on the bottom of the tank and eliminated the screen entirely. That may provide extra work for the filter, but what the heck-at $9 a pop.....not worth trying to reinvent the wheel.
 
That is what I am considering doing. In fact adding an extra inline filter right after the anti-siphon valve outside the tank that we can see into and monitor. Plus they are cheap as well and if it gets a lot of stuff in it, cheap to replace too. My only question, would that cause any problems/restrictions on pulling the gas through another filter?
 
I would rely on just using your main filter and keep spares handy in case you clog one while out on the water-no need to reinvent the wheel. If you do install another filter, make sure its in at least the 30-50 micron size so as not to clog up prematurely. Normal screw on filters are in the 10 micron range.
 
Update from the mechanic, just got off the phone with him. Not sure what micron size filters he added, but I know they are the clear ones you can seen into so we can monitor things for now.

He also pulled all 4 pickup tubes and found that each one had things wrong with them. One he said was bent like a horse shoe, one the rubber fitting for the screen on the end was restricting flow, one was pinched somehow and can't remember the fourth one. So, he fixed all the issues with each one and removed the screens from the ends. The inline filters will be there so we can see if we are picking up any crud for now. He would like to put on more durable canisters later on, but thought with this setup we can see things easier and monitor things.

He also put on a new set of canister filters I set out for him (were replaced last season too) and said he saw some sediment in them. So, here's hoping we are on the right track for things now. My only fear right now is what could be in the tanks. If there is crud in there, hoping we can just go through some of these cheap inline filters and clear it up after a while and not need to go down the path of having the tanks pulled...

So, test ride again this weekend...
 
Good luck, I think your are going in the right dirction.

Niles
 
If you find out that there is a lot of crud in the bottom of the tanks, you might want to contact a local fuel polisher to suck out the tanks once you get them as low on gas as you can. It might cost a few hundred dollars, but it is money well spent. If ethanol is common in your area, chances are the crud level in your tanks may be significant.
 
Well, we went for a test ride, port engine is back to normal, but starboard still having the same issue. I don't see any crud in the inline filters, so thinking its not in the tanks. I also tried switching over to the other tank on that engine and the problem still was there. So, my next thoughts are something has to be unique to that engine. The switch over valve (each engine has its own) could be an issue, the line from it to the filter on the engine, or the filter mechanism itself. The filters were replaced, but could it be possible the the filter thing itself be an issue? The fuel pump is new...
 
Yes, clean as a whistle... Simple enough to check and becoming a regular check before going out. The filter on the engine is not as easy to check, but with these inline filters we put on, those a much easier to visually inspect. I think once we get this problem fixed, I want to swap out the filter on the engines with one that we can visually look into. The one we have now is like a tin can around it and you can't see into it, and they are a pain to loosen and take off for any sort of regular inspection.
 
Actually on an inboard installation, CG regs. require the metal filters. The glass ones are strictly a NO-NO.
Al
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top