Home › Forum › Ask A Member › Grey gas line problem
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crosbyman.
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September 19, 2016 at 2:13 pm #5300
Took a 100 mile trip on the Suwannee River this weekend only to have made it to the 75th mile.
Motor bogged down and finally quit. After towing the boat back to the starting point I starting searching for the cause.
A former marine mechanic walking by stopped to inquire as to the trouble and as soon a he saw the fuel line said "Grey Death". What it turns out to be was my store bought grey fuel line and bulb was lined with a plastic coating that had dissolved even always using non-ethanol gas. When I cut the line along it’s length and separated it I found the plastic had broken into a million small pieces that had plugged the fuel filter on my Merc 500.
Another Merc technician confirmed the grey fuel line problem and told me to look in the future for grey fuel line with 2016 printed in blue on the hose. In the future I will use black NAPA fuel lines to avoid the problem.
Moral of this is to check your line and get rid of any grey lines.September 19, 2016 at 3:31 pm #44309that’s what happens when your turn grey… you fall apart 🙂
Joining AOMCI has priviledges 🙂
September 19, 2016 at 3:36 pm #44310Was this an actual Mercury Marine line or one of the aftermarket ones? In recent years the aftermarkets have had so many problems that they are just not worth messing with. Of course the costs of an O.E. Mercury or Evinrude/BRP line these days is real sticker shock, so a lot of people learn the hard way. If it was a Mercury or BRP line, I’d take it back to your dealer and gripe about it – at what they get for them they should stand in back of the product.
I always carry an extra fuel line with me when I do long distance runs or go off-shore. Many years ago I had someone in another boat toss me a line (the rope kind!) that got fouled around the fuel line. He yanked it back and it broke off the fuel fitting. Fortunately I was able to jury rig a direct connection to the fuel pump, otherwise I would have been stranded far from home. I also carry an extra end-fitting, just in case…
September 19, 2016 at 4:24 pm #44313This was probably one of the pre-made ones from WalMart
September 19, 2016 at 4:38 pm #44315I had a generic fuel line that did this plugged the carb up real well, did not realize where it came from until it happened a second time. Then changed the fuel line never had another issue with that motor.
Doug
how is it motors multiply when the garage lights get
turned off?September 19, 2016 at 4:55 pm #44319quote ddwilson:I had a generic fuel line that did this plugged the carb up real well, did not realize where it came from until it happened a second time. Then changed the fuel line never had another issue with that motor.What did you change it to? Did you use the "approved" solution of using the hose with ‘2016’ printed on it in blue? Let us know what line you switched to.
September 19, 2016 at 11:58 pm #44343My opinion. No will fit parts (after market – Sierra, Attwood, Sea-Sense (Walmart) just to name a few.) That includes the fuel line(of any color), primer bulb or connectors. They are made out of inferior products. That being said the OEM stuff is sky high (pre made). I make my own hose assemblies. That way they are the length I want them. I use Gates hose (black, reinforced, ethanol resistant.) I use BRP primer bulbs and connectors. I would assume Mercury stuff is of good quality, but haven’t used them.
I keep the primer bulb and as much of the hose out of sun exposure as possible. Other than that just plan to change the hose out every few years if stored in the sun & using ethanol fuel.Dan in TN
September 20, 2016 at 12:23 am #44346That silver line has been bad for quite a while. It has now been redesigned and is now blue in color.
If you have the silver colored line on your engine…..get rid of it. Another high quality Sierra part.
We have had an example of this line and how it crumbles internally by our parts counter for several years now.
Glad to hear the engine was not damaged as a result of the fuel starvation. There will be another Challenge…..September 20, 2016 at 9:42 am #44371I’ve changed out a truck load of those Wal Mart gray hose and primer bulb assemblies! The sad part is that they are not that much cheaper in price vs. a Mercury Quicksilver part! I replace them all with the merc blue print hose and bulb assembly. Sierra used to have a bright white colored fuel line [maybe still does] that was the worst one you could buy! That being said, if you have the older generation Mercury hose with ”red ”print, replace it now, because it will fail. I always use OEM stuff here and never have a problem.
September 20, 2016 at 12:26 pm #44375I once had a problem fuel line but it did not fail in the same manner as JDunn’s. His crumbled internally. Mine had a liner problem.
My motor would run for a while and then quit, then run for a while after much effort at starting.
I removed the connector and saw what looked like cellophane inside the fuel line. Using a pair of needle nose pliers I pulled a length of this material from inside the fuel line equal to the length of the line. It was quite an eye opener and an obviously smoking gun. Motor ran fine after that. I believe most of the problem arose from the fact that I had changed end connectors and had failed to get this lining up onto the hose barb. I disposed of that line and now use NAPA auto fuel line.
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