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This is my first post as I just repowered my 1998 Pro Line 251 with a brand new DF300. Yesterday I took it out for the first time to begin the break in procedure and after 15 minutes at idle speed it ran flawlessly for 1:45 at 3000 RPM and for another hour at 4000 RPM. Once I got past that milestone and wanted to open it up a bit more I couldn't get it to 5000 RPM or above without the motor surging/losing power. It was as if it was starving for fuel. I called the shop that did the work and the owner talked me through the basic stuff - checking all the fuel connections, etc...
Long story short after some back and forth discussions with him I decided to replace the entire length of 3/8" fuel line from the tank, through the water separator and to the bulb to 100% rule out anything on "my side". At the same time I disconnected the line to the engine at the bulb and realized they used 5/16" fuel line. After doing some homework everything I found online appeared to point to the fact that larger outboards need 3/8" line. Can anyone confirm that? If they undersized that ~5' run of fuel line it seems that could very much be a contributor, if not the primary cause, of my issues yesterday. Since his shop is 45 min away and the only way to really prove out a fix like this is to run the boat it was just as easy for me to replace "his side" yesterday with 3/8" line while I was routing the other lines so I did and I should be able give it another test run next weekend.
**EDIT** I just realized I could share video so this is the video I sent to the owner of the shop.
Thanks
Long story short after some back and forth discussions with him I decided to replace the entire length of 3/8" fuel line from the tank, through the water separator and to the bulb to 100% rule out anything on "my side". At the same time I disconnected the line to the engine at the bulb and realized they used 5/16" fuel line. After doing some homework everything I found online appeared to point to the fact that larger outboards need 3/8" line. Can anyone confirm that? If they undersized that ~5' run of fuel line it seems that could very much be a contributor, if not the primary cause, of my issues yesterday. Since his shop is 45 min away and the only way to really prove out a fix like this is to run the boat it was just as easy for me to replace "his side" yesterday with 3/8" line while I was routing the other lines so I did and I should be able give it another test run next weekend.
**EDIT** I just realized I could share video so this is the video I sent to the owner of the shop.
Thanks