I have an 86' 302 SR1 and I am having problems putting fuel in it. When I try to fuel up I keep getting vapor locked and the fuel plashes up. I have tried blowing out the vents and they seem to be clear. Does anyone have any suggestions?

Either your fill hose and/or your vent hose is too long, and has a sag (low spot) that holds enough fuel to block the flow. Open up whatever panels that you have to to access the fuel and vent hoses and install some Adel clamps so that they both maintain a constant downward slope from the hull side. You might have to shorten them a few inches as well. Fixed the problem for me!

I cut about 18" out of my fill line to get rid of the sag

What you might have to do is to "hold back" the rubber ring that is supposed to seal against your filler neck on a car while you are tryingt to fill up your boat.

By pulling that "ring" back you can fill the boat with gas much easier.

It may not work for you, but it has worked on a couple other boats of mine.

I have the same problem. Keep us posted in your findings.

This would indicate that you vent is not working; that's the true problem.

Eliminating the sag solved my problems 100%. My hoses were close enough to the proper length that I did not have to shorten them at all, just support them.

Thank you all for the ideas. Unfortunately I have to wait at least another month before the covers from winter come off, but I will absolutely use your ideas to fix the problem.

Here's a previous thread on the same issue:

http://www.offshoreonly.com/forums/g...-question.html

Since my post in that thread, I found that my 242 sits differently in the water than the trailer. No fill issues on the trailer, but in the water, I have issues. Last summer I had my wife and kids get on the bow when fueling in the water and it caused an air bubble to release - you can hear it whistling out of the vent. After that, I can fill it without any issue. For me, PROBLEM SOLVED.