fuel

[redneck joe]

sheeeeeet. Been having issues with stalling at low RPM. When I bought the boat that had been sitting for a few years I bought 10 inline fuel filters to work thru the crud. Been thru 9 of them.


Last time out, because of stalling I checked that and all good. Didn't think about the water/fuel separator.


Two things:

dam there was a lot of orange fuel in there (rust)
half of what I poured out was water. I've only used ethanol a couple times, maybe 10% of the time and when I did the dude said their additives made it 'ok'. dammmmm....



Ordered four new ones from iboats just now.

Disclaimer - they were the cheapest, with shipping, I found quickly. Thank you.

 

[redneck joe]

bottom half my fault for not changing sooner. Top half....

 

[Captain Ollie West]

I started using marine Stabil (the blue stuff) with each fill up in my last boat a few years back. I try to buy ethanol free fuel as you do, but it doesnt always happen. I figured the treatment was insurance. I never had any fuel issues with that boat.

My new boat came with probably 60 gallons of fuel. I have no idea if or how it was treated for the winter. It runs fine, but I will probably add some fuel treatment to ward off evil spirits. It has a water separater as well. I have not opened it yet, but will be soon.

 

[robert graham]

Seems like yours would be a good application for a fuel/water separator with a clear plastic drainable bowl.....

 

[airshot]

Sounds like you need to drain and clean the fuel tank, if the orange is truly rust then time to replace that tank. You can keep spending money on trial and error items or bite the bullet and replace that tank.

 

[rbh]

WOW!!
That is not condensation build up if it is 50%+- of the tank, you have a leak somewhere and I bet it is the O-ring around your gas cap thats missing or something along those lines.

 

[redneck joe]

Sounds like you need to drain and clean the fuel tank, if the orange is truly rust then time to replace that tank. You can keep spending money on trial and error items or bite the bullet and replace that tank.

I use the term rust for generic crud. Shouldn't be rust in an aluminum tank, just the varnish working its way out. Good news, if I do have to r/r the think it will be a one person, one day job.

 

[redneck joe]

WOW!!
That is not condensation build up if it is 50%+- of the tank, you have a leak somewhere and I bet it is the O-ring around your gas cap thats missing or something along those lines.

new o-ring and we store under cover. The pic is not directly from the tank (which I will sample thanks for reminding me) rather from the separator.

 

[redneck joe]

Seems like yours would be a good application for a fuel/water separator with a clear plastic drainable bowl.....

hadn't thought about that.

 

[Chris1956]

Drain that sucker. It makes no sense to mess around with that much water/muck. Pour off the good gas, if there is any and reuse.

 

[Thalasso]

Seems like yours would be a good application for a fuel/water separator with a clear plastic drainable bowl.....

Not allowed on inboards.
Federal laws require all fuel components on enclosed gasoline engines to be fire-resistant for 2.5 minutes of direct flame. That plastic bowl will not last. Also, quick release drain valves are prohibited, that's why the pipe plug.

 

[GA_Boater]

RNJ - You're going end up biting the bullet and draining the tank. Your fuel tank isn't half full of water, but the pickup is on the bottom of the tank where the water is. So separator draining will be always showing water until you purge the tank. Even the best additives have limitations.

---

Do you have a portable tank? Running on a portable with known good fuel will tell you plenty and pinpoint bad/watered down fuel as the culprit for the stalling.

---

PS - Don't buy a boat from the guy saying " their additives made it 'ok'." I'm not saying his nose is growing, but you could probably hang dock lines on it.

 

[rbh]

Not allowed on inboards.
Federal laws require all fuel components on enclosed gasoline engines to be fire-resistant for 2.5 minutes of direct flame. That plastic bowl will not last. Also, quick release drain valves are prohibited, that's why the pipe plug.

+1,
I am not sure in the regs if you can use the metal ones with the drain pet coock on the bottom, or if the pet **** is the issue.

 

[Bubbasboat]

Drain that sucker. It makes no sense to mess around with that much water/muck. Pour off the good gas, if there is any and reuse.

X 2 Not sure about the reuse part, guess that would depend on the age and condition of whats left.

 

[UncleWillie]

Before pumping out the entire tank;
Collect a sample of the fuel in a jar.

Fresh fuel is Clear and Light Yellow in color and will loose its foamy "Head" when shaken in less than 5 seconds.
If it has water in it, it will be Milky/Opaque looking.
If it is badly Oxidized and full of "Gum", it will be Amber/Rusty Colored and hold a "Head" for 10 seconds or much longer.

Test it before you blindly dispose of it!
Adding fresh gas to dilute it at least 1:1 will often clear up any problems.

 

[Captain Ollie West]

PS - Don't buy a boat from the guy saying " their additives made it 'ok'." I'm not saying his nose is growing, but you could probably hang dock lines on it.[/QUOTE]

I hope this isn't a reference to my post on using Stabil. I didn't mean that it cures water in fuel. I just stated that I have been using it and have not had issues with bad fuel. It is not meant to remove water from fuel; it's purpose is to help prevent water from accumulating with ethanol blended fuels. Uncle Willie, do you use any additives?