I've been putting off cleaning my VST filter for way too long. It's supposed to be done every 200 hours, I think. But the tank is intimidating. Lots of hoses and electrical wires. And the thing has been running like a sewing machine.
Skip's travails with his motors gave me the kick in the butt I needed to tackle this job. Like all the other outboard maintenance jobs, it turned out to be simpler than expected. Moving carefully, this first attempt took about 45 minutes. Next time will be even quicker.
I found that there are really only 5 bolts that nees to be removed. And then the 9 or 10 screws that hold the tank together.
1. While the tank is still mounted to the engine, loosen the 10 phillips head screws.
2. Remove the three mounting bolts.
3. Remove the 2 bolts on the bottom that hold that thingamajig on there.
Now remove the 10 screws, and separate the lower half of the VST tank.
The filter is on the bottom of that fuel pump inside. It can be removed with a counter clockwise twist. Mine was clean as a whistle, so I just shot it with carb cleaner and replaced it. But it looked the same before and after. Very clean. If yours is real dirty, you might want to replace it (about $30). The tank itself was also very clean, with just one black spec of something on the bottom. No sediment or anything.
They recommend replacing the oring, which I did (a shocking $32!). Next time I may reuse it though - it looked great.
That's it. Bolt it all back together and test it out to make sure there's no leaks. None of those other hoses or wires need to be removed. It might stall a couple of times while the tank refills.
So after 700 hours and 5 years, 3 of which were e10 years, I was delighted to find it nice and clean in there. I change my 10 micron water separator annually, run ring free and buy fuel only from high volume gas stations (not marinas.)
Hopefully this save you a few bucks. I think the OX-66 VST is very similar.
Skip's travails with his motors gave me the kick in the butt I needed to tackle this job. Like all the other outboard maintenance jobs, it turned out to be simpler than expected. Moving carefully, this first attempt took about 45 minutes. Next time will be even quicker.
I found that there are really only 5 bolts that nees to be removed. And then the 9 or 10 screws that hold the tank together.
1. While the tank is still mounted to the engine, loosen the 10 phillips head screws.
2. Remove the three mounting bolts.

3. Remove the 2 bolts on the bottom that hold that thingamajig on there.

Now remove the 10 screws, and separate the lower half of the VST tank.

The filter is on the bottom of that fuel pump inside. It can be removed with a counter clockwise twist. Mine was clean as a whistle, so I just shot it with carb cleaner and replaced it. But it looked the same before and after. Very clean. If yours is real dirty, you might want to replace it (about $30). The tank itself was also very clean, with just one black spec of something on the bottom. No sediment or anything.
They recommend replacing the oring, which I did (a shocking $32!). Next time I may reuse it though - it looked great.
That's it. Bolt it all back together and test it out to make sure there's no leaks. None of those other hoses or wires need to be removed. It might stall a couple of times while the tank refills.
So after 700 hours and 5 years, 3 of which were e10 years, I was delighted to find it nice and clean in there. I change my 10 micron water separator annually, run ring free and buy fuel only from high volume gas stations (not marinas.)
Hopefully this save you a few bucks. I think the OX-66 VST is very similar.