Friend of mine has a 1999 evinrude 115HP.  We were out this weekend and the engine kept dying.  The primer bulb would go soft and when you pumped it back up, it would go again.  You could keep the boat going if you kept pumping the bulb.  A couple times the oil light came on though too?  What do you think?  Could it be something as simple as getting the new bulb on it?  It didn't have any obvious leaks?

I had the same problem on my outboard at the end of last season. It turned out the fuel pump was bad. I rebuilt the carburetor and the fixed the problem. When I got the carburetor apart I could see that one of the check valves in the fuel pump section was bad.

I do not know if your motor has the same kind of fuel pump mine has. But I would at that first.

Paul

That engine actually runs two fuel pumps. One is called a lift pump, which sounds like where your problem is. It works off crankcase pulses to pull the fuel trom the tank and supply it to the electric high pressure pump. The motor can not operate on the electric pump alone, it will run and die (sound familiar). Luckly there is a kit for for your lift pump, the early V-6 don't have kits and the lift pump is approx $300. There is a way to check the lift pump using a LU pressure tester but not sure you have the will or a way for doing this test. Figure on spending a few hundred bucks at the shop to have it tested/rebuilt if that's the problem. If you're handy with tools, you may just want to get a kit and put it in yourself and try that first.

I guess I should have menitoned, the first thing you want to do is make sure it's not sucking air from a bad fuel line or connection. Also, one way to check to see if it's possibly a lift pump problem, is to keep pumping the bulb while the motor is running and see if it still dies. (OOps, see you did that already) The lift pump only maintains about four psi on the electric pump so the bulb was just replacing it.. There is also a schrader valve on the output line of the electric pump. You can connect a pressure guage there and make sure the electric pump is doing it's job. When you first turn the key on the electric pump should run for approx 10 seconds and maintain 32 - 36 psi. After 10 secs and it cuts off, it should not drop back below about 15 psi. Crank the motor up with the guage connected and make sure it's maintaining the 32+ psi while running, but you have to make sure the lift pump is keeping it fed.

Probably the reason for the oil light coming on is the oil pump also has a line the connects to the lift pump fuel input line and supplies a small amount of oil to mix with the gas to keep the top ring lubed in the motor. The oil pump only maintains about 20 psi so maintaining pressure on the bulb was probably causing a back pressure in the oil pump throught this line interferring with oil flow and the oil pressure sensor, causing the alarm to go off.

I guess I'd better quit typing before I give the false impression I know something about that thing.