Trouble starting 242 SS
 

Been awhile since I've been here as my boat has not been used for 3-4 years. I'm at the point of selling it but having issues getting it to run. I'm getting zero fuel pressure at the fuel rail but I can clearly hear the pump running as I turn the key to 'on'. The boat starts right up with starting fluid so it's not compression or spark.

It has the cool fuel setup plus 3 year old gas in the tank. I did add stabil and ethanol treatment when I winterized it. Is there a pump in the tank that could fail? Can I pressurize the fuel rail through the schrader valve to eliminate the pump & regulator? With the SS its a PITA to reach the cool fuel setup. I think the exhaust manifold needs to come off for me to even test it.

Has anyone had a similar situation? Oh by the way motor is a 1999 7.4 MPI.

It sounds like something is clogged in the fuel system. You could try putting on a new fuel/water separator and taking the line off the fuel tank and putting it into a fresh can of gas.
Start there, and if it starts you may have to pump out the old gas. Even treated, 3 year old ethanol gas isn't good and may have separated into a sludge mess

Id get all that old fuel out immediately, don't try to burn it, maybe take the line off at the fuel rail and blow backwards to the water filter to see if air comes out, you could really have a major job on you hands with the bad fuel being in there that long, good luck

Thanks for the responses.

Couple more questions.
Is there a pump in the fuel tank or just a sender?

I like the idea of backflushing from the rail. Would there be a check valve somewhere preventing me backflushing the lines?

Shouldn't be a pump in the tank, don't know about a check valve, there should be three lines at the water sep. filter, one from the tank, one feeding the cool fuel pump and one return from the cool fuel bypass, if you can disconnect the one going to the pump and hook up some fresh fuel from a container and see if the high pressure pump will pick it up.

A 242 ss would not have a fuel pump in the tank, unless it was modified. It will have a fuel gauge sender, fill, vent, and a pickup with a check valve in it.

as everyone has mentioned the gas is probably bad. It might just not be priming. It sounds like your set on starting her up without doing anything with the fuel. Replace the fuel filter, but fill it with new gas before installing. This should help to prime it. It could be a bad fuel pump too.

I'm all for draining the fuel I just need to figure out what to do with it. Must be 80+ gallons in there.

put it in your truck. thats what we do, never an issue unless it has water in it. also, usually put upto 10 gals at a time in a tank that has 5 or more galls in it. We give it away to people around shop too.

I ruined a truck with old boat gas once put 5 gals in and within 30 min ride truck was never the same ,it had 200k on it thank god and was old ended up needing new valves I traded it in .