Hello Everyone, First post - a troubling tale.
It was last July on a Saturday, and I had my 1988 Stinger 311 about 39 miles South of Freeport Texas, drifting some hot structure, with the engines at idle.
Suddenly the starboard engine quits. Primer bulb was soft. We replaced the Racor fuel filter thinking that the filter was clogged, but could not pump fresh fuel to get it running. Inspected all my connections, and it would not pump fuel. Port side was fine, so I ripped one of the nylon Tees out from the dash drain system and improvised a feed from the port engine fuel line to fuel both engines off of one pick-up. That worked well, and we brought it home at 40 mph.
Took it home, and found that the aluminum "straw" that is below the elbow out of the fuel pickup had broken off and fallen inside the tank. (not) running on fumes. My plumber friend fabricated a replacement out of a copper pipe and solder, and we ran many more trips.
Last Sunday we were returning from a 90 mile trip, and five miles from the dock I see the port engine slow down and then die. Could not keep it running for more than a few seconds, so we brought it up the creek on one engine, at about 7 mph. After cleaning all the fish, washing the boat, and sending my guests home, I popped the fuel gauge mount and look for the twin straws. I see the new copper one doing just what it should, and the original aluminum one is laying on the bottom of the gas tank. Same failure as in July; but isn't it odd that after 23 years, that these two critical components would fail in the same fashion within three months.
Both components rusted away with white, powdery oxidation just below the steel elbow that threads into the top of the fuel tank.
So today I am looking for a 1/4" NPT pipe that is about 15 inches long. Also looking for a reason why, and wondering if any of my Stinger brothers have faced the same breakdown? Is this an ethanol-related failure? I usually keep my tank full and ready for the next trip during the summer & fall fishing season, so more often than not, that connection has been immersed in fuel. The marina sells Valvetec 89 octane gasoline and they get refilled at least once a month, and sell about 5,000 gallons a week, so I don't believe its contaminated or expired gas. Anyone else face this trouble? How did you fix it and how long ago?