After doing a Seafoam de-carb on the motor, how did it go?
The answer is no change. Throttle up and it chokes. Throttle back and it dies. It idles just fine.
So, next thing to check is fuel. I looked at the SELOC manual and a few online videos and the fuel pump didn’t seem to hard to rebiild. The parts kit was under $20, so might as well rebuild it.
The pump came off easy. Too easy. So easy, in fact, that I didn’t need tools. The bolts holding it in were loose and could be turned by hand. There were a couple of zip ties holding the fuel lines on and a couple of snips later and they were gone.
The pump is powered by compression of one of the cylinders. The pressure squeezes a diaphragm and moves the fuel past a check valve. A spring returns it to position, and pulls fuel into the chamber. This pump has two diaphragms. One for the tank side and one for the carburetor side.
Since the pump is powered by air pressure, a tight seal with the engine block is important. This pump didn’t have that. Perhaps that was the fix? Just tighten the bolts? I could do that, but I already have the rebuild kit, so might as well rebuild it.
I cracked it open and it looked pretty good inside. There were no cracks in the rubber diaphragms and gaskets. It looked like it had recently been rebuilt. Well, I might as well continue with it. I already had it apart.
I carefully peeled the gaskets off and same with the diaphragms. I had to scrape just a little to get some stuck gasket material off the housing. It didn’t take much effort to get it ready.
Next, check valves. There are clear plastic discs, held in with a keeper. I decided to do these one at a time. For the first one, I used a small Allen key to push the keeper apart to get it loose. It popped out easily, and the disc was free. It was yellowed just a little. Not clear like the new ones. It had the same “feel” between the new and old ones.
I put one of the new discs in place and started to push in the keeper with a punch. It went sideways and snapped off. I had a moment of panic, but then realized they provide two spare keeper. Apparently this is a common issue. I was way more careful with the next one. Snapped. Tried a different way to apply pressure on the third one. Snapped.
Ok, there is one final keeper, and it means that I will not be replacing the other check valve. Super careful, a little push, a little tap. Snapped. Some words were said. I guess I will need to order another set and give it four more chances.
Then I realized I still had the original one I had pushed out from the pump. I carefully lined it up, and it went in with a pop. It wasn’t perfect, but it was in there. It looked like it would seal. Fine. I guess we will go with that. If it doesn’t work, then I’ll get another kit. $20 more for the education fund.
The remainder was just reversing the steps I did to take it apart. New gaskets replaced old ones. New diaphragms replaced the old ones. It bolted onto the block right were it was supposed to go. I zip-tied the fuel lines back on.
I gave the fuel bulb a few squeezes and started it up. It ran normally. Of course, it runs normally at home. It doesn’t show it ugly side until its on the lake.
As an additional step, I also replaced the fuel bulb a few days later. The old one felt like the check valves within it were not working all the time. It was too easy to squeeze at times and would just not get pressurized.
(This article was intended to be published in Fall 2020, but things got away from me.)