Water in Gas Tank

[DNA DOCK]

All
I am bringing a 2001 Boston Whaler 21 Outrage back to life after 2 years on its trailer. Decided to sample the fuel tank (see picture) - Not good. Probably less than 2 gallons of "gas" and 58 gallons of water. (Tank fuel gauge says 1/2 which would suggest 60 gal of something in tank). I am currently pumping out the tank at the motor connection. This is going to leave something in the bottom of the tank. Any suggestions on getting the last of the crud out of the bottom of the tank? Also what should i put in when i put the fresh gas in for fuel treatment. Stabil? Star Bright? I am open. I plan to pull the plugs, fog the cylinders and spin the engine (200 Optimax) prior to starting.

Dock

[TomGlenBurnie]

Greetings Sir: Some fellows are nervous / cautious working with gasoline. Some like to avoid pumps, and use 2-3-4- 5 pounds of air pressure in the tank, air will not introduce a spark. Be real careful not to deform the fuel tank with air pressure. Air is good for finding holes and leaks .
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You may have a different long term problem. All that water is not condensation. IMHOpinion you must find the source of the H2O. Look at every connection, assume nothing, Could an ex wife have filled it with a garden hose? Sorry to propose wild ideas, but that is a lot of water. If you do not remove the source, it might leak back in.
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After the tank is dry, you will need to flush it with clean gas, until no water balls are seen in a mason jar.
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After that you need "new fuel filters", and you might install " a water separator fuel filter ".
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Remember, just a few ounces of water can blow your head gaskets.... major repair....
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Dry gas will absorb small quantities of water drops, but first you should have a good fuel person figure out the source of H2O. good luck.

[DNA DOCK]

Thanks - i was going to put a water seperator on but a technician said that it would cause the fuel pump to work too hard on the engine and was therfore not good. He also said, the water/fuel filter on the engine was good enopugh. I was a bit surpirsed at his recommendation...

As to the source - i think it was that the cap was loose, and worse the boat was sitting at an angle that allowed water to collect in the cap area. But you are right- this is a concern.

Dock

[Tom Powers]

Mr Dock. . .

That does not appear to be water. It appears to me to be that ethanol has gone out of solution. In theory that should amount to about 10% by volume. Unfortunately the remaining 90% is fuel with an octane of something south of 84 octane.

Although you might be able to deal with it yourself, for the price of a full tank of gas you can probably get someone else to deal with it.

Somewhere on tidal fish I posted several relevant articles that I dug up using google on the topic. The basic concept is that a few teaspoons full of water (maybe it was tablespoons, anyway not much) of water gets into the ethanol/gas mix AND the temperature drops below 30 (or so) the ethanol will go out of solution. Once that happens no amount of fuel stabilizer, or magic potion will make it go back into solution. One article that was pointed at gas station owners suggested that they pump out the nasty at the bottom of the tank and add racing fuel in order to get the octane up to a level which could be sold on the open market.

If it were just water it would show up in the bottom of that container as clear after you let it settle out for about 30 minutes.

Been there done that on both the ethanol out of solution and water in the tank deals.

[billnorman]

Getting it all out is hell. Jack the boat or trailer to run the gas into an area of the tank (after you pump all the pickup will get) you can access through the fuel gauge sender. Then pump that dry with a flexible plastic vinyl hose. Then take rags and soak every bit of residue up. Blow out all the fuel lines, filters and squeeze bulb, change all the above if you can afford to.

[BradH]

You're on the right track pumping the tank, but I'd go ahead and flush it and replace all the lines too. There is a slim chance you could get by with out doing everything, but it's much easier to cry once right now and just get it done. Some try to drain only and have problems with the crud and lines going bad and keep chasing it.

I'd rig up a temporary "polishing" system, with an ignition protected electric fuel pump a good filter, and a couple lengths of hose. Set it up so it sucks from the tank, filters the junk from the fuel, and returns the clean fuel to the tank. Might work better to pull the sender and snake a hose to pick up from the lowest point. You could also put the temporary return line in here. If you put a piece of clear hose ahead of the filter, you can see the progress as the stuff is caught by the filter. I'd have a couple filters on hand.

There's no telling what condition the "alcohol resistant" lines are in, so it's cheap insurance to do them too. At a minimum do the supply lines, it's possible the fill and vent are ok, but I'd pull them and check.

[DNA DOCK]

Thanks to all. I cant believe i didnt realize this was ethanol - not water. Degree in science and all. Obviously not a degree in boat maintenace - lol. You are right (especially Tom) - this has to be separated Ethanol. My plan is to pump the tank as dry as I can. The polishing and changing the lines idea is a good one and I will do that. Any thoughts on adding an inline fuel seperator?
Doc

[Tom Powers]

In line fuel separator probably doesn't have the volume necessary to keep that much ethanol out. I don't know what one will do once it goes into solution. If it does work it will help with any remnants. The good news with respect to the remnants of ethanol that you leave in the tank is that it will somewhat disperse itself into solution as little droplets that should make it though the system OK.

My big picture question/fear is how many boaters will suck up the pure ethanol at the bottom of the tank and wonder why they suddenly have to completely rebuild their engines because they tried to run on pure ethanol. Thank about what will happen to the XX% of plug in Hybrids when they have the same gas in their tanks for 6 months because the owners a green; just use them for 20 miles a day; and never have the gas motor start.

For that matter what happens to a gas motor rated for E10 when it runs on pure ethanol?

[n2striper]

I would get all fluids out of the tank. Replace All rubber hoses and primer bulb if outboard. While doing so also replace the anti siphoning valve. I disagree with not putting a water separating fuel filter. Get a Racor 10 micron water separating fuel filter and install between the tank and NEW primer bulb no higher than the top of fuel tank if possible. Sea Foam is a great product to help clean out the fuel talk as well as entire system.

[n2striper]

If the engine sat for two years I would pull the plugs and fog the cylinder. But instead of using the starter I would turn the engine carefully by hand and gently move left to right. This will have the least impact on the rings and pistons. Good luck.