[staylor]

Oddly enough, I had the bulb go bad in my 2002 Opti 150 after only 5 years- the internal check valve reacted badly with the added 10% alky forced upon us by the Fed. The bulb would not stay firm and the motor ran a bit ratty. I went to buy a new bulb, but my dealer had them on backorder since evidently I was not the only Merc owner with a bad bulb. I went to the Yamaha dealer and picked up one of their bulbs which had the latest alky resistant rubber and it's still on the motor today. After you swap the bulb, check the lines from tank to motor to make sure they aren't soft or swelled or cracked from alky. If all looks good, check all the clamps from tank to motor to make sure they are all tight. I double clamp all my fuel line connections using the easy to use OMC/Bombardier nylon clamps that come in several sizes, require no special tools, and grip the line for a full 360 degrees. I even used these on the Holley 4bbl dual feed lines on my old '71 Cuda- and they were the only clamps I found that did not leak over time.
Doug