V21 Fuel Tank Removal - questions

[Blue_Runner]

I'm 99.9% sure it is not the vent because when it happens and I blow the fuel line back into the tank I can feel the obstruction and can feel it blow back into the tank.

I pumped the tank but did not do the swabbing with a rag on a stick. I did find some sand sized black specs presumably old fuel line particles but don't see how those would not make their way to the h2o sep and or inline filter?

I did remove the pickup and elbow - it is not anti-siphon. There is no screen on the end of the pickup. Pickup is like a piece of fuel line that lays on the bottom of the tank. Notice the pickup is on the front of the tank - it has to lay on the bottom of the tank to reach the back. When I took it out the pickup had a coiled up spring inside of it. I figured the spring was to 1) serve as a screen to block large debris and 2) keep the pickup from collapsing. I took it out but could not get it back in. The pickup seems rigid enough not to collapse and surely could not have collapsed with the spring inside....unless it was collapsing above the spring near the elbow.

I've been a whole season without this happening before. I have had it happen 3 times in a season. I've had it happen when the tank is full or near empty. I change my fuel water separator once per year and it seems to want to happen more when the fuel water separator is near needing replacement. However it was just replaced so there goes that theory.

We rode all the way out on Saturday 65 miles and it did not happen. Trolled all day and did not happen, then it happened on the way back to the hill and the weather had unexpectedly turned to sh!t - bad timing.

Thanks fellas. I really don't know what to do!