Correct fuel:water ratio?

[TheRussian]

Hello,

Sorry, that was admittedly just click bait :blue:. But what I don't understand is why there is so much water in the fuel.

I have finished winterizing my boat. The attached pic is the contents of my water/fuel separator filter, dumped into a pasta sauce jar. The boat has been running well all season, but had a stumble when getting on plane for the first ride of the day. I had no problem running the engine in the driveway to warm the engine up for oil change. I always fuel at a reputable marina, or at Shell (since they are the only place that actually confirms that the premium gas is ethanol free).

Can some one please suggest on how I go about troubleshooting this issue? I cannot believe that the boat ran at all with the filter being this full of water. I installed the filter only 2 years ago as the boat did not have one, and had SOME water in the filter both years. This year I did use the boat much more, and let the fuel get to lower levels in the tank.

Thanks!

1994 4.3LX

 

[Bt Doctur]

You change the filter every spring, You are either getting poor fuel from the supplier, aggressively washing the side of the boat spraying water into the gas tank vent port, or you have a bad seal (O Ring ) at the gas fill neck
or somebody hates you and is putting the water in

 

[alldodge]

Could also be, if you have an aluminum fuel tank under the deck and foamed in, your hull may have a leak.

 

[TheRussian]

I change the filter just before putting the boat away every season. I will try to change the seal around the fill neck. The tank appears to be plastic when I inspect through the small hatch in the floor. Would it be a good idea to cover the vent when washing?

What should I do about the fuel now? It's a full tank.

And I don't think that I'm on anybody's s**t list.

 

[QBhoy]

If you are lucky and the boat has been sat still for a while....you could just suck out the bottom inch or two...that should be where the water is after settling.
As for where it is coming from...as suggested, likely filler cap, poor storage methods at source of fuel (if it's from a boat yard with mass storage where condensation and poor maintained tanks)
Embarressed to say that years ago...I had a deal going with a guy who worked in a car scrap yard....he would get me fuel from old cars in the yard...was always getting water in fuel. Bad idea !

 

[TheRussian]

Any recommendations on an inexpensive pump that I could use?

 

[alldodge]

Any recommendations on an inexpensive pump that I could use?

You should have an electric pump on the motor. Disconnect the line to the carb, hot wire the pump, keep the filter on to protect the pump and let it run into a container/gas can

 

[Bondo]

Ayuh,.... The tank vent is often the problem,....

Where on the hull is the vent,..??
Is there a loop in the top of the vent line, so that splashed water will run back out the vent, rather than directly into the tank,..??

I once ran into such an issue on a Hi-Liner 222,.....
The vent was at the aft corner, portside of the hull,...
As it was breakin' over onto plane, water was forced into the vent,....
The vent hose came off the fittin', 'n went down into the tank,...
I moved the vent fittin' 'round the corner to the transom, 'n put a loop up in the hose, then down into the tank,....

That hull hasn't had any water in the fuel issues since,.....

 

[Scott Danforth]

FWIW, i worked at a service station in college. The place was in a low spot, and one spring there was standing water over the tanks. The top access ports leaked. About 25 cars filled up and had water in their tanks prior to us catching the issue and stopping the pumps. Carbureted cars made it about 4 blocks, efi cars made it about 300 feet. Many times you also pump water into your tank.

Every gas station is supposed to check water level in bottom of tank. There is a paste (gasiola, sargel, etc) that you apply to a long wooden ruler. Below 2" of water is normal, over 2", you have the storage tank serviced.