Carver Owners Forum

I am having a problem with both engines on my 405. Both engines start and run perfectly. However, if I run them for any extended period of time and cut them off, neither engine will start when it is time to return to shore. I am losing the fuel prime on both engines and am able to start them only after manually repriming both engines. Any suggestions?

I have a 97 405
What engines? I have crusaders xli with tbI injection. What's your definition of manual priming mean? Pouring gas in tb? With tbi when you first turn on the key the fuel pump should run for 2-3 seconds hAve you verified whether you can hear this happening then? You should be able to cycle the key on a few times to prime it at least right now.until the problem is found. Maybe pressure regulator or check valve in fuel pump? Fuel pump relay? Low fuel pressure maybe. Vapor lock maybe on carb engine. Really strange both engines are having this problem

Soggy Dollar; Got to know what engines we are dealing with. If they are gas, I would guess fuel pumps bad or as g36 says vapor lock! Mike

if both engine act identical, I would think it is a heat problem after a long run. It does get hot down there!!!!
My merc motors have the "cool fuel" set up with fuel pump being cooled by raw water. I don't think the crusaders have this. My guess is they (fuel pumps) are hot and don't want to run, maybe even have a high temp switch? Try putting a couple cool wet rags on the fuel pumps about five or ten minutes before you are ready to start. If they start, at least you know what the problem is. How to fix it, different story.....Keep the blowers on, add extra blowers on a t-stat????

More info would help. I assume these are carbed engines and that temps are normal, if so, this applies. How long after stopping are you trying to restart? If it's a few hours, it's not likely to be vapour lock. If you try to restart shortly after shutdown and you can't, vapour lock is a possibility. If this happens after say an hour or more, it may be that the fuel in the carb bowls is boiling off. Depending on the application, there is probably a heat/exhaust crossover in the intake manifold, and the gaskets have an insert to block off most of the port leaving a small opening on either side as some heat needs to get through for the carb especially in colder climates. Some are completely blocked off if heat isn't needed. If the gasket fails here, too much heat will get through and boil off the fuel in the bowl after shutdown. Once these burn open or burn out completely, the ports are wide open. This can happen from age and multiple overheats. You can see an example of this in the middle of the gaskets shown here http://bpi.ebasicpower.com/shop/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=583_584_589_606&products_id=14282&zenid=985c3ed580a4f326cbe56740e731e787

Are you sure it's a lack of fuel that is causing this issue? When you say you are losing the prime, how do you know? And how are you priming?

Just noticed the boat is an 1989. If the engines are original, it would have a mechanical fuel pumps and carbs. My input is useless if this is the case as it would only apply to fuel injection. I would look into vipers suggestion.
Sorry.

I dont think it will be a 405 if 1989. I believe these were made in 1997 and part of 98 before becoming a 406, and if crusaders would be 454xli tbi like my 405. If so it has return line back to the fuel tanks. Hopefully he will post some more info.