help me diagnos a fuel leak!?

[Wood Zeppelin]

I have a suzuki 4hp kicker with internal tank. It runs pretty well, but when I'm out trolling for about 30mins or more, it starts to (a) act like it's not getting enough gas and partially or fully stall and (b) leak gas. I'm usually too focused on fishing to mess with it, so I shut it down for awhile. After is cools, it seems to work again, until it gets fully warm again.

Any ideas what's wrong?

[SnowTexan]

Howdy Zepp,

Where is the fuel leaking? Does the motor fire up easily after sitting for a night? Could be a lot of things but before tearing into anything major I’d start with an inspection of the cheapest and most accessible parts that can stall a motor or leak: gas cap, fuel lines, filters and connections. If you are blowing fuel from the carb, then time to clean that puppy out. If still no luck, I yield the floor to my mechanical betters. They are many and wise in this forum.

[srbaum]

James,
Sounds like the carburetor is the problem. I was testing a 2.5 Yamaha last week and it did the very same thing.
To make repairs, I removed the carburetor, disassembled it completely, placed in in an ultrasonic cleaning tank, flushed it with water, blew it dry with air, reassembled and problem was solved.

[thataway]

I agree with Steve, the most likely place is a stuck float valve--and a good cleaning of the carb will take care of that. When you have the cowl off you can inspect the fuel Ines and filter under the cowl.

Do it now--not later

[Wood Zeppelin]

thanks guys!

Yeah, the float seems to make sense. I figure when it warms up something goes wrong, it floods too much gas, the carb sputters and the excess is leaking out.

Will tear into it soon!