Jump to content

Welcome to TheMalibuCrew!

As a guest, you are welcome to poke around and view the majority of the content that we have to offer, but in order to post, search, contact members, and get full use out of the website you will need to Register for an Account. It's free and it's easy, so don't hesitate to join the TheMalibuCrew Family today!

Vapor lock when you're on the lake


Recommended Posts

So, this weekend we were down at my folks' place and getting ready to take his 2005 Supra out for some surfin' and boardin'. It wouldn't start. It would just crank and crank, but never start. I immediately figured it was vapor lock. We messed around with it for 10 minutes or so, then I ran up to the house, fired up my laptop and logged onto the Malibu Crew for a quick search on a solution. I saw a lot of posts on what vapor lock is, but no solutions for when it's actually happening.

Here's what we did to fix it. We turned on the ignition (not cranking, just on), then we pressed the "Neutral" button on the throttle and cranked it to full throttle. Then we cranked it, and it fired right up. Of course, not 10 seconds into our ride we hit a stump. Mad.gif Seems like some days the wakeboarding gods are trying to tell you something.

This vapor lock fix idea occurred to me because I recalled a time while getting ready to launch my 'Bu from the trailer and it wouldn't start. I gave it some throttle as I cranked the engine, and after 5 seconds or so it finally fired up. Never had another problem with it.

Did we just luck out and the evaporated fuel finally dislodged on its own when we weren't cranking, or did we actually fix the problem? My theory was that since there was essentially an air bubble in the gas line or rails, you somehow have to force gas through the lines. ie, the fuel pump has difficulty "priming" with the air bubble right there.

Can anybody else verify that the above is how you address the problem, or have better ideas?

Link to comment

A friend of mine who rebuilds engines gave me a simple fix. The fuel in the fuel rails is boiling causing air bubbles in the fuel. I took a bottle of water I had in my ice chest and poured it on the rails and it started instantly. Thumbup.gif

Edited by OLDGUY
Link to comment

I had a similar problem a couple of years ago which turned out to be a bad engine temp sensor (the one that sends info to the computer) but the symptoms were very much like vapor lock. Yes, the wide open throttle was the answer to getting it re-started. In my case I had to put it to W.O.T. in reverse with the nuetral knob pulled becasue the neutral knob limits the amount of forward throttle that you can apply. I also insulated my fuel lines and rails for extra insurance.

Link to comment

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Restore formatting

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...