Yes my '04 (well, boat is '04 motor was built 9/03) had the metal in-line automotive type filter between the tank and the boost pump. It was removed early on as part of a warranty claim with a bad boost pump. No problems since.

Engine Serial # run will determine if you have the external boost pump. The easiest way to determine what fuel set up you have from Mercruiser is if you have the external spin on fuel water sep filter then you have Gen II cool fuel system with external fuel boost pump and the POS inline metal canister fuel filter. If you do not have the spin fuel filter you have the mercruiser Gen III cool fuel system and that is a totally different fuel set up than the Gen II.

Also there is trick to tell if you have external boost fuel pump (low pressure fuel pump) problem and this test even works for mechanical fuel pumps as well. I will explain it in another post. You do not even need a fuel pressure gauge for testing it.

Just another thought. On the inlet side of the boost pump, right behind the fuel inlet fitting (where the line from the tank connects to the pump) is a small (very small) screen. This is before the water seperating fuel filter so this small screen (3/8 inch diameter) becomes the defacto fuel filter for any relatively large particles. It is probably getting clogged and if so will restrict fuel delivery. Mine has picked up leftover aluminum shavings from the tanks manufacture on several occasions. I clean this screen once a year now when I pull the boost pump for raw water pump rehab. It is easy to check and clean.

Of course I am with others when they say the lack of draw on a tank is probably not a coincedence. Good luck.

Dan

could also be oil pressure switch -

water temp or drive bottle sticking. all these senders ground themselves and when they ground they also ground the horn warning circuit

check all 3 of these they are easy, but simple.

You guys are the best, seriously!