Those who follow this blog will know recent tribulations with my outboard. A 2011 four stroke MFS 3.5B Tohatsu outboard, it developed a slow seeping leak of fuel from around the cap area when tilted upwards on its bracket.
Infuriatingly slow seepage but enough than a tank would empty over a four hour trip. It wasn't the loss of a litre of fuel that infuriated me rather than the pollution issues. I hadn't noticed it until the last trip so I can't honestly say how long it has been like that - not long I think.
You can see from the photos below where the problem is - initially I thought it was the tank cap seals had rotted away but evidently not! Around the neck of the cap area are three hairline cracks. Now what has caused these cracks is probably age. It could be I have unwittingly over-tightened the cap on occasion as well.
A new tank duly arrived - the company I got it from kindly took it out of a new outboard they had. They have another fuel tank on order from Japan and it is currently in transit - so they were reducing my wait by a few weeks, which was good customer service in my eyes.
Initial inspections showed that the swap out should be simple - three bolts hold the fuel tank and there is only one hose attached. And that is it. The tank is attached to a black plastic base.
Removing the fuel in the tank posed me some thinking. In the end I tipped the outboard up to as steep an angle as I could and drained the fuel into a kitchen jug. I stuffed lots of paper towel under the fuel hose area where it attached to the tank and then slipped the clip down the pipe with pliers. The fuel pipe was wriggled off and the last remnants caught by the paper towel and absorbed.
The three screw bolts were removed and the tank was wriggled off gently and separated from its black base. One brass tube bush surrounding one of the screw nuts shot off into the lawn but I found it!
A few minutes were needed trying to work out what way the black base should be attached to the new tank - I was never that good at jigsaws or tessellations in maths! But we got there in the end.
Tank and black based assembled, it was easy to put in place and secure with the screw nuts. The tube went on easily and was re-secured with the clip. A quick wipe around with paper tool of the base of the engine compartment and all that was left was to put over the neck of the new tank the foam cushioning and then insert the new cap off the old tank. The outboard cover was put back on and that was it.
Back on the outboard dustbin full of water, the engine started first time and chugged away quite happily. After closing the fuel tap the engine continued for a little while longer and then ran out of fuel. The carb is now dry for winter.
Having gained some confidence on this simple task, I am considering draining and replacing the engine and gear oil over winter, along with changing the spark plug as well.
Infuriatingly slow seepage but enough than a tank would empty over a four hour trip. It wasn't the loss of a litre of fuel that infuriated me rather than the pollution issues. I hadn't noticed it until the last trip so I can't honestly say how long it has been like that - not long I think.
You can see from the photos below where the problem is - initially I thought it was the tank cap seals had rotted away but evidently not! Around the neck of the cap area are three hairline cracks. Now what has caused these cracks is probably age. It could be I have unwittingly over-tightened the cap on occasion as well.
A new tank duly arrived - the company I got it from kindly took it out of a new outboard they had. They have another fuel tank on order from Japan and it is currently in transit - so they were reducing my wait by a few weeks, which was good customer service in my eyes.
Initial inspections showed that the swap out should be simple - three bolts hold the fuel tank and there is only one hose attached. And that is it. The tank is attached to a black plastic base.
Removing the fuel in the tank posed me some thinking. In the end I tipped the outboard up to as steep an angle as I could and drained the fuel into a kitchen jug. I stuffed lots of paper towel under the fuel hose area where it attached to the tank and then slipped the clip down the pipe with pliers. The fuel pipe was wriggled off and the last remnants caught by the paper towel and absorbed.
The three screw bolts were removed and the tank was wriggled off gently and separated from its black base. One brass tube bush surrounding one of the screw nuts shot off into the lawn but I found it!
A few minutes were needed trying to work out what way the black base should be attached to the new tank - I was never that good at jigsaws or tessellations in maths! But we got there in the end.
Tank and black based assembled, it was easy to put in place and secure with the screw nuts. The tube went on easily and was re-secured with the clip. A quick wipe around with paper tool of the base of the engine compartment and all that was left was to put over the neck of the new tank the foam cushioning and then insert the new cap off the old tank. The outboard cover was put back on and that was it.
Back on the outboard dustbin full of water, the engine started first time and chugged away quite happily. After closing the fuel tap the engine continued for a little while longer and then ran out of fuel. The carb is now dry for winter.
Having gained some confidence on this simple task, I am considering draining and replacing the engine and gear oil over winter, along with changing the spark plug as well.
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