Outboard fuel leak

[Tiny Dancer]

Hi all. I have a 6hp 4 stroke Mariner outboard, circa 2001 I believe. In very good, well maintained order but not run for a year+. So, at the weekend I tried to coax her back to life.Am unable to pressurise the primer bulb from the remote tank. There are 2 small (3-4mm)hose stubs on top of the carb, near the choke and throttle attachments. One gushes fuel when trying to start on choke, the other with no choke. I did manage to run the motor briefly but fuel going everywhere made me shut it off. I'm guessing maybe the float and or needle could be stuck, causing it to flood? Your thoughts and advice would be welcomed and appreciated. Also, are these two hose stubs purely overflows and can I just add suitable lengths of hose to drain excess fuel away? Many thanks

 

[VicS]

Hi all. I have a 6hp 4 stroke Mariner outboard, circa 2001 I believe. In very good, well maintained order but not run for a year+. So, at the weekend I tried to coax her back to life.Am unable to pressurise the primer bulb from the remote tank. There are 2 small (3-4mm)hose stubs on top of the carb, near the choke and throttle attachments. One gushes fuel when trying to start on choke, the other with no choke. I did manage to run the motor briefly but fuel going everywhere made me shut it off. I'm guessing maybe the float and or needle could be stuck, causing it to flood? Your thoughts and advice would be welcomed and appreciated. Also, are these two hose stubs purely overflows and can I just add suitable lengths of hose to drain excess fuel away? Many thanks

They are vents.

Any fuel flowing from them indicates that the float valve is not shutting off the fuel when the bowl is full.
As you deduce the valve may be stuck or there may be some muck on the seat or of course it may be defective in some way. Alternatively the float may be stuck.

A gentle whack might free up a stuck float. Other wise it's a float chamber off to investigate and rectify job......... but you may never actually find out what was wrong if it frees itself while you are taking it to bits

No you cannot add bits of hose to drain the excess away. Quite apart from the obvious hazards of an outboard dribbling petrol everywhere it goes it is never going to run properly while the carb is flooding.

 

[Spyro]

Had the same problem. Stuck float. Bowl was gummed up with crud. Easy enough to take the bowl off on mine without taking the carb off. Watch out for needles valves falling out.

 

[Tiny Dancer]

Thanks guys, I thought I was on the right track, but a second opinion is always worth having