Prepping for the season

[Patrick_L]

Hi fellas !

I need some recommendations on making sure my gas tank and fuel are water free. I, of course, did add fuel stabilizer to a nearly full tank before putting it away in a heated storage for 6 months but I wanted to make sure I am problem free when the time comes ( it happened to me last summer when I bought the boat with contaminated fuel ). Would you syphon it out to check for any contaminants before running the engine ? Do you trust stabilizers 100% ? I've been putting regular 87 octane fuel with up to 10% methanol at BP.

Also does anybody know the measurement specs for adjusting the lower cable and remote cable ?

I have a 1994 Merc 4.3LX with Alpha One

Thanks guys.

 

[flipbro]

If it was in heated storage for 6 month's why would u think there would be water in your fuel? Condinsation? A Chris has a great youtube video on how to adjust your shift cable. It my be in the stickies at the top of page..

 

[Patrick_L]

I had bad experience the 1st time costing me $400 so I want to avoid this at all costs necessary, even if I needed to go an extra step.

 

[Patrick_L]

It's more of phase separation I'm afraid of from fuel sitting for longer period of time.

 

[Grub54891]

I run ethanol most of the summer, at the last fill up I put mid grade fuel in, a bit of seafoam and run it for a couple hours around the lake. haul out, change fluids, cover and put away. In spring, I make sure the battery and fluids are good, and run it. Never an issue.

 

[Patrick_L]

I may try that. This will be my 2nd season so im relatively new to boating and my 1st season was picking up slack from someone else not prepping the fuel correctly ( when i bought it ). I was told i had water in fuel. Around 8 gallons were contaminated. They had to drain it, clean carb and fuel lines. $400.

I guess i will trust my Quicksilver stabilizer and hope for the best.

 

[Rick Stephens]

Go run it.

 

[JASinIL2006]

From what you describe with your storage, I don't see how you could have any appreciable amount of water in your gas. Condensation, even on nearly empty tanks, is a way overblown as a risk. And there won't be any phase separation of water in ethanol-treated fuel unless the fuel already had absorbed a lot of water and somehow more water was added to the mix.

None of those concerns sound relevant in your case; on the contrary, you have given your boat/gas a fairly cushy home for the winter, so all should be ready. I use stabilizers for winter-storage, but I'm not 100% convinced they are necessary. (They probably help for longer storage, but for a winter's layup, I'm not sure.)

I'm with Rick Stephens. Go run it!

 

[stonyloam]

Instal a water separating fuel filter, and change the filter element every Spring. You can get one with a clear bowl where you can see if you are accumulating any water.

 

[Patrick_L]

Thanks guys. This makes me feel better. Again, I had gallons of contaminated fuel when I bought it so naturally I am paranoid. I am not sure how long the boat has been sitting or what happened before I bought it but it was unpleasant having to fork out $400.

I am going to run it with a hose for about half hour when it's back.

 

[Grub54891]

Instal a water separating fuel filter, and change the filter element every Spring. You can get one with a clear bowl where you can see if you are accumulating any water.

Change the filter in the fall, You would not want water to freeze in the filter and possibly crack something....