Pontoon Boat & Deck Boat Forum

While on vacation after the 4th I replaced my fuel hose assembly with a new one from Attwood. Squeezing the bulb until my forearm hurt never built any pressure in the bulb. It sounded like the fuel was just shuttling back & forth through the rubber bulb. I returned it and got my $50 back and bought new ends for my old hose--which works fine and gets hard when squeezed just like the instructions we've all read. A couple days later I spotted a different brand (Invincible?) in a different store that claimed to have 2 checkvalves to pump faster so I bought again. Again no pressure. I tried poking the ball in the engine end to let fuel out to purge the air but even this didn't get gas to flow.

What the hell is wrong with these new stiff, "crunchy" feeling primer bulbs--or do they NEVER get firm? I'd be happy as a clam continuing to use my old hose & bulb but it's really shedding rubber due to UV exposure.

Rule #1: Only use OEM primers, (Yamaha, BRP, Merc etc..) buy the whole assembly with the good Oetiker clamps on the hose, not hose clamps, never have a chance of sucking air.
Rule #2: A little known fact, orient your primer bulb slightly upwards, (with the arrow to engine of course) as you pump, the top portion of the bulb stays filled with fuel, and helps pick the prime up for the following pumps, this reduces the amount of times you'll be pumping.

Check every single clamp and hose condition, just a little air being sucked in will kill the vacuum. If you have a newer fuel injected 2 stroke or a 4 stroke with the VST (Vapor Separation Tank) the only time you should have to use the primer is after you change the filter, the tank stays full as the electric fuel pump keeps it that way.