Bad batch at BRP? Fuel line parts; don’t assume

[Alan]

Hello to all;
Fourth lake failure of a long-term project boat. Motor ran great in the past. Fuel starvation issues among other things; hmmm.
I think it’s been leaking at the fuel line connectors. Both, (if not all four) of the new BRP fittings I got this last Jan.
They leak fuel out, and air in, on both of the set-up. I see the gas, and finally heard them sucking air when I pump the primer bulb. Both fittings, on three different tanks.
But I have the cleanest carburetor in town. Wasted time and money, because I assumed that new, brand name parts would work.
And, both primer bulbs are very soft rubber. I see one has a 5/8" split in it, after this last attempt. Softest ones I’ve seen / felt. Less than 6 months old. Same e-bay seller, with 99.something positive feedback.
I’ll take the blame for assuming, but suspect these parts haven’t helped.
When I look at the Atwood Wallymart fittings, they seem to have smaller openings. Can’t really tell, though. I tried to include pictures which are comparable, w/ questionable ability, (my BRP fittings have yellow). The Atwood primer bulbs are firmer, and guaranteed for 2 years.
Anyone have fittings which were loose?
I’m gonna try out a couple of the ‘mart fittings and report anything useful.
All opinions welcome.
Many thanks, and happy motoring to all.
Alan

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[david-bartlett]

Alan,

I feel your pain. Nothing worse than fixing something and making it worse. I have had bad luck with the Wally-World/Atwood stuff, but who knows where any of it is made any longer?

I recently "Fixed" a long standing fuel issue with a Yamaha outboard, by making my own hose using Yamaha fittings. The Atwood gas line would cause fuel starvation issues at random times. The homebuilt hose has fixed the issue. With the Yamaha fittings costing $15 each, I still consider it a bargain.
Hope you get your issue resolved.

On my OMC stuff, most of it is double line, but I have some old single line hoses with the original OMC fittings that still work well.

[PugetSoundBoater]

I had bad experiences with aftermarket fuel connectors also.Think the brand was Mueller? I finally bought a nice new BRP real rubber fuel hose and have had no problems at all. Works just like it is supposed to. At $75 i would hope so.

"Some people want to know how a watch works, others just want to know what time it is"
Robbie Robertson

[frankr]

There are Yamaha fittings that look exact;y like OMC but are different size. Easy to grab the wrong one off the shelf at the big box store.

[billw]

But he is saying his BRP fittings are the ones giving him the problems, now. That is discouraging news. They could put a man on the moon in 1969 but can’t even make a lousy fuel line fitting in 2018. I used a couple of BRPs a few years ago and they were good. I have more, NIB, in the basement. Who knows…..

Long live American manufacturing!

[fleetwin]

Unfortunately, even BRP is not above saving a nickel by using lesser quality stuff.
But, I usually have to ask ebay sellers directly if the piece I’m interested in is OEM or aftermarket. Many sellers assume/don’t know, but insist their stuff is OEM. Others just do what they can to let you assume their stuff is OEM, without actually making that claim.
The BRP stuff comes with a pretty generous warranty, so I am hoping any substandard fuel system parts get returned for replacement. But, I realize that BRP isn’t going to cover stuff sold over ebay….

[Alan]

I appreciate the replies.
All fittings came in sealed packs, with what looked like genuine BRP packaging. I would not be shocked if these were mislabeled, and were intended for a Yammy or some other motor. Cheap knock offs maybe; who knows.
Even so, I shoulda figured this out earlier.
As long as I’m coming clean, I’ll also admit I assumed my spark wires were OK since they bench tested as fine, and looked great. Eventually I moved them to mimic twisting of the distributor while testing, and they showed how very broken they were. Maybe this explains why my troubles varied, with different throttle positions.
Onward!
Many thanks, and happy motoring to all.
Alan

[lyks2tinkr]

IMHO the Atwood stuff is a waste of money.
It may work at first but my experience with them has been you may get 1 season out of them as they get hard as a rock probably from the ethanol in the gas.

[jerry-ahrens]

I have had a couple motors where the connector prong on the motor itself is worn or damaged… it caused the fuel connector to have a vaccume leak intermittently when the outboard was steered back and forth. It took me forever to find it. I eventually installed a a piece of clear tubing on the vaccume side of the fuel pump, then ran the boat around on the lake. When the motor would malfunction, here came the air bubbles through the fuel stream. A new connector did not fix it, rather it took the new receptacle on the motor where the fuel line connects. I certainly hope that BRP connectors aren’t going bad, cause were screwed if they are. I haven’t found any other brand that works. I’ve replaced a truck load of the ones from the big box store.

[outbdnut2]

Those Yamaha fittings with the larger (metric) hole also fit a lot of Mercurys made as early as 1986.
Dave

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