One of the reasons I like sailing so much is that I hate engines.
First, what I had thought was a pump handle on the Racor primary filter was just a bleed/venting screw. So I left this filter alone and proceeded to change the upper/secondary filter. I then tried to bleed the air out of the system but the manual lever on the lift pump got me about ten drops of fuel per 100 pumps.
Does this mean that the lift pump is toast? And, does this primary/lift pump serve any other purpose than priming/bleeding? It does not look mechanical to me, but posts above suggest otherwise.
In the end, I filled the bowl of the secondary filter with fuel an and left it, planning to come back here to the forum and ask for advice. The boat's on the hard, but I need to get the engine running within two weeks to pump out antifreeze prior to launch in mid April.
My big question is will the other fuel pump eventually be able to reestablish fuel flow, or do I need to replace that lift pump? There is definately some air in the system, but only because of the filter change (I think). If I need a new lift pump, how do I get one?
I should also add that the engine had always been hesitant to start, that it smokes a lot when it does, and has cacked out or varied its RPMs when underway in a seaway. So I'm changing filters as a first step.
