# Yamaha 1998 200 Saltwater Series (carb'd)



## delta dooler (Mar 6, 2008)

Ran my 200 Yamaha yesterday in an attempt to go fishing, this is the 3rd time Ive run boat this year. (previous 2 trips, had no problems)

Yesterday, once i cleared the islands, i noticed a drop in RPM's while cruising at 3800 rpm (surging about 2-300 rpm) I shut it down and drained fuel/water separator, (i got maybe 2 ounces of water out of it). I also pulled filter on side of powerhead and it was 25% water. I pumped bulb up and started motor, it idled fine and soon as i put it into gear and throttled up, it would fall on its face and would not run over 2800-3000 rpm.

Again, I drained fuel filters and didnt see any water but did see dirty (cloudy) looking fuel. I went ahead and put new plugs in after draining fliters to see if it would help. (old plugs looked fine)

the motor never died, just would not pick up rpm's, finally I turned her north and limped back to the dock at WOT which was 2500 rpm. . . 

My 1st plan of attack, is to completely drain fuel tank, then replace water separating filter and replace fuel bulb, (I noticed it leaking while I was in the bilge)

It idles fine and cranks easily, what is the possibility of maybe high speed jets being clogged?

what do you recommend me to do 1st?
the carbs were rebuilt 3 years ago and I have always ran non-ethanol gas in it....

thanks in advance for recommendations and replies.


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## chad403 (Apr 20, 2008)

Have some one pump the bulb while your running. This would elimate diaphragm fuel pump. It could be sucking air thru the leaky bulb. IMO I think you might have condensation built up in carbs and your crabs jellied up..


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## Snagged Line (Sep 30, 2007)

I had that same motor on the Pro Line... There are removable plugs on the side of each carb bowl so that you can drain the water from the carbs. Use a New screw Driver of the correct size to keep from messing up the slot in the brass plug...


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## Chapman5011 (Mar 7, 2013)

I had a little split in a file line last time mine acted like that. Would crank fine, idle fine, but when you gave it gas, it would bogg down because it wasn't getting enough fuel. I fixed it under the perdido pass bridge by finding some tubing exess somewhere else on my boat. An hour later we were 15 miles offshore fishing.


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## jgraham154 (Jul 15, 2008)

Vst tank filter could be clogged... Mine did same thing and the vst filter was awful


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## chad403 (Apr 20, 2008)

*hmm*

I dont think the Carb'd yammys have a VST.


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## delta dooler (Mar 6, 2008)

Chapman5011 said:


> I had a little split in a file line last time mine acted like that. Would crank fine, idle fine, but when you gave it gas, it would bogg down because it wasn't getting enough fuel. I fixed it under the perdido pass bridge by finding some tubing exess somewhere else on my boat. An hour later we were 15 miles offshore fishing.


This makes a lot of sense the more I think about! Ill replace fuel lines and primer bulb 1st and see If thats the problem


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## pappastratos (Oct 9, 2007)

Are you sure its not running on 'safe mode' ? My Yamaha does that when the oil reserve tank gets low. (low level is when it is 1/3 - 1/4th empty) Carb rebuild 3 years ago ? that has been a while for a Yamaha, they are carb sensitive motors.


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## Chapman5011 (Mar 7, 2013)

delta dooler said:


> This makes a lot of sense the more I think about! Ill replace fuel lines and primer bulb 1st and see If thats the problem


I had a noticeable spray. I also had an issue with my pump bubble. I think it gets clogged up with what is left of ethonal break down. Kind of an orangish plastic texture. My filter always has it in it when I change it twice a year. When I took the bubble off, it had that stuff all in it not letting the fuel flow out right.


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## delta dooler (Mar 6, 2008)

pappastratos said:


> Are you sure its not running on 'safe mode' ? My Yamaha does that when the oil reserve tank gets low. (low level is when it is 1/3 - 1/4th empty) Carb rebuild 3 years ago ? that has been a while for a Yamaha, they are carb sensitive motors.


I dont think so, I didnt get an alarm and I checked both oil tanks and they were full.


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## Flounder9.75 (Sep 28, 2007)

DD 
Take your tank from your little boat and hook direct to motor( as long as you know it's good a clean) that will eliminate any fuel line or fuel tank issues.

Like snagged said drain carbs and try and catch so you can see what was in there.

Sounds like a stopped up high speed jet but with multi carbs you wouldn't think all of them would stop up at the same time but stranger things have happened.


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## BlaineAtk (Jun 8, 2010)

Wirelessly posted

Ugh....... Good luck! I have a1998 Yamaha 200 that I have a similar problem with that I have been fighting for almost two seasons now..... 

Mine fouls all the plugs though when it does that. Hopefully it will be sorted out when I get home.


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## delta dooler (Mar 6, 2008)

well, I chjanged fuel lines, primer bulb and fuel filter again, sounded good on muffs, went and dumped it in tha water and the same ol thing, will not run over 3000 rpm when under load.

next thing im gonna try is what flounder suggested. (run motor off separate portable tank.) before I do that , Im gonna drain carbs and fuel line.


I pulled sending unit last night, I have to round up a pump to pump out tank, figured it would be a good idea to get rid of old gas and whatever water has built up over the years.

if motor still not running like it supposed to after running on separate tank, I guess I'll change the fuel pumps. . . .


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## delta dooler (Mar 6, 2008)

making some progress I guess. . . .:whistling:

last night I was able to siphon all but the last inch of gas from the fuek tank through the sending unit hole, I got to round up a pump to get the last bit out.

also I drained the carbs, they looked pretty good except for the bottom one, it had some white crusty buildup in it, I got what i could out by busting it up with a small pick and using shop vac to get it out. 

tonight when I get off work Im going to blow fuel lines clear and possibly get remaining fuel out of tank.

Ill be heading out of town for a week Sunday night so hopefully when I get back in town I'll be ready to fill er up with fresh fuel and with fingers crossed, it'll run right.


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## Snagged Line (Sep 30, 2007)

You might consider Sea foam or some other fuel system cleaner in your test tank to try to dissolve any thickened tcw3 oil or varnish that might be plugging the carb passages. I have squrted carb cleaner through the bowl drains before with the plastic straw. Not sure if it did anything useful, but I was grasping at straws at the time...
Whenever I need to completely drain the tank on my waverunner, I get the last of it out with a Rag on a string to mop up the gunk in the tank...
You might have better access through the sending unit opening and raising and lowering the bow to mop up as it passes by... Good luck...


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## delta dooler (Mar 6, 2008)

Snagged Line said:


> You might consider Sea foam or some other fuel system cleaner in your test tank to try to dissolve any thickened tcw3 oil or varnish that might be plugging the carb passages. I have squrted carb cleaner through the bowl drains before with the plastic straw. Not sure if it did anything useful, but I was grasping at straws at the time...
> Whenever I need to completely drain the tank on my waverunner, I get the last of it out with a Rag on a string to mop up the gunk in the tank...
> You might have better access through the sending unit opening and raising and lowering the bow to mop up as it passes by... Good luck...


thats a good idea (sea foam), I wish I had a larger access hole to work with. I pulled the sending unit and the hole is only 1.5" 

for the life of me, I dont understand why in deck tanks are provided with some kind of drain, it sure would make it easier.:thumbsup:


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## SHO-NUFF (May 30, 2011)

delta dooler said:


> making some progress I guess. . . .:whistling:
> 
> last night I was able to siphon all but the last inch of gas from the fuek tank through the sending unit hole, I got to round up a pump to get the last bit out.
> 
> ...


 I would pull the carbs and clean them. If you take them apart carefully, usually you can reuse the gaskets again and wont have to buy any parts. The carbs are easy to work on.


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## chad403 (Apr 20, 2008)

Are your fuel pumps leaking? If they are they need to be rebuilt


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## delta dooler (Mar 6, 2008)

I went and bought a inline fuel pump from Advance and rigged up some hose to pump tank empty. Got tank empty (quite a bit of water), replaced fuel lines, primer bulb, and put 100 gallons of fresh non ethanol gas and the proper amount of sea foam and went and dropped it in the water. SHE RAN LIKE A NEW ONE! 

Thanks for the replies, got a lil peace of mind now knowing all water was removed from tank and everything from the tank to the motor is new.


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## SHO-NUFF (May 30, 2011)

Glad you got it going and thank you for the Update!!


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## Flounder9.75 (Sep 28, 2007)

Glad she's back to normal 
Now where did all the water come from?


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## delta dooler (Mar 6, 2008)

Flounder9.75 said:


> Glad she's back to normal
> Now where did all the water come from?


The last time I got fuel was from a Exxon station on the corner of Market street and hwy 90 in Pascagoula, (only time I have ever bought fuel from there) boat ran fine up until then. I have been told that during heavy rain events, that market street floods and overruns into the area where there fuel tanks are. 

I called and asked if they have had any complaints with water in their fuel and of course they said no. I will make it a point during the next heavy rain to go down and look at it myself.


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