Daddy Mackarel
Active member
- Joined
- Dec 23, 2009
- Messages
- 33
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- 4
I have had a rough year and wasn't able to get out much and now my Parker is jacked up. I think my fuel went bad and that started a cascade of issues. It is powered by a 2008 Parker 250 with around 1200 hours on it. Always took care of it and usually have used Ringfree. Ran great until the last 6 months or so. I was quite convinced it was caused by old ethanol-laden fuel that we dealing with here in California. I had a fuel service with new plugs, etc, had my fuel system cleaned, tank polished, dumped most the fuel (now I wish all!) but had the rest professionally run through filters, replaced my Racor fuel filter and water separator twice and even replaced the fuel filter on the motor and the associated water sensor. Fuel is mostly new and now looks good. It runs great at low speeds and then, if I run fast for a while, it gets throaty and the check engine light comes on. After this happens, it loses a lot of power but can still keep RPMs on the upper ranges. I then have to turn it off but can immediately restart it and it runs OK. Once this happens, I can only go one to maybe five minutes of running fast before it happens again. However, I can troll all day with no problem including after this happens. The weird thing is that it initially runs great for about 45 minutes even at high speeds. I don’t know if it is a heat related issue or what but certainly seems to be a lack of fuel, air or vapor lock. Before I throw more money at this, I am going to try a T valve to switch over to a separate fuel tank after it happens once. This will confirm it an engine issue vs something up stream. Not sure how else to figure this out. I am working with a mechanic but he now isn't sure why this is happening.
some ideas that I've come up with: fuel pump, air leak at the Racor, bad fuel, bad anti-siphon check valve, fuel injectors.
Any input would be appreciated! The tuna are far right now and I can't do the run until this is sorted out!
some ideas that I've come up with: fuel pump, air leak at the Racor, bad fuel, bad anti-siphon check valve, fuel injectors.
Any input would be appreciated! The tuna are far right now and I can't do the run until this is sorted out!