Tidal Fish Forum banner

Gas Tank Fuel Of Water

2K views 17 replies 14 participants last post by  soggy dog 
#1 ·
My friend started his boat yesterday for the first time this year. As soon as he turned the key over the fuel water seperator filled up with water. Drained it out and tried it again same result. Took off the main fuel line and siphoned about 2 gallons of water out of the tank. went to boaters world and got startron and ezorb water absorber. Needless to say tried it again 24 hours later and same result. Took a siphon pump down the fuel neck into the tank and the gas that came up is BROWN. The boat has been winterized since nov 12 06 and was stored with stabil.

MY QUESTIONS NOW ARE?

SHOULD WE LET THE E-ZORB GO FOR ANOTHER DAY OR TWO?

SHOULD WE HAVE THE TANK PUMPED OUT OUT AND IF SO DOES ANYBODY KNOW WHO DOES IT IN THE BALTIMORE AREA? NAME AND NUMBER GREATLY APPRECIATED.
 
#3 ·
Given the information you have supplied, my next act would be to have the tank pumped and cleaned. There are a number of companies in the area that can do that job.

The next step would be to find out how the water entered the tank in the first place and correct the problem. You don't want a "repeat performance".
 
#5 ·
You're not the first with this problem. We started summerizing boats this past week. If you're fuel tank is fiberglass, it will have to be replaced, this is the manufactures suggestion. The resins have come out of the glass, the glass will get soft and deteriate quickly. We have about 55 gallons of "the brown gas". You will be able to get the water out but your tanks integrity has been comprimised. We're getting custo, aluminum tanks for 1 customer, it isn't cheap. Cujo
 
#6 ·
shawn fisher,

Try Sea-Foam once the water is siphone out of the tank. There's been a recent post on this.

I had to take my boat to a mechanic. He told me that the ethanol they are putting in gas absorbs water (even condensation).
 
#7 ·
Sounds like it's to late for the Esorb. Have tank cleaned. Just wondering if you topped tank and added Esorb before you put it up. That's what I did. Haven't fired mine up yet; probably going to do that next week. Hope I don't have the same trouble.
 
#11 ·
It sounds like you had a tank full of the new gas in the fall and it went through phase separation ( http://www.epa.gov/otaq/regs/fuels/rfg/waterphs.pdf ). Once that happens, a large amount of moisture which was absorbed by the ethanol fuel drops out of the gas and falls to the bottom of the tank. Once this happens, there is no way to "remix" the fuel. I read somewhere that you should not use dry-gas type products with the new ethanol fuels. At this point, you probably don't have much of a choice except to pump out the tank. Find out if the tank is fiberglass. If it is an older fiberglass tank, you will probably need to replace it because the new ethanol fuels eat the fiberglass.
 
#12 ·
That much water may be indicative of rain water getting past the fill cap. Check for a good O-Ring. Folks up in the North East have had E-10 for several years now, and although phase separation is a problem, the cases seem to be over-reported (small number of cases, getting repeated and repeated all across the internet).

Most of the recent guidance I've seen indicates that we should now lay up the boats for the winter with a nearly empty tank (or as low as you can). The less E-10 in the tank, the less of a problem come spring. And...another over-hyped problem is condensation in the tank. Go see David Pascoe's mathematical/chemical analysis of condensation on his site: Yacht Survey Online: David Pascoe, Marine Surveyor Actual article is here: The Myth of Condensation in Fuel Tanks by David Pascoe: Boat Maintenance, Repairs and Troubleshooting
 
#15 ·
Most of the recent guidance I've seen indicates that we should now lay up the boats for the winter with a nearly empty tank (or as low as you can). The less E-10 in the tank, the less of a problem come spring.
I also read (and heeded) that guidance this past December and ran my tanks down to the 10 gal level...
But, when I took my boat to Tri-State for her winter service and layover, I was told that their guidance was to fill the tanks during the layover. :confused:

Not sure who is right, but I deferred to the dealer... so now I have my fingers crossed as she comes out of storage in 2 weeks. :pinch:
 
#14 ·
Dry gas type products aren't recommended because in many ways they are the same as ethanol in that they absorb water. Other fuel stabilizers/additives like Startron and a few others are being used with good results. I think one of the keys to laying up your boat's fuel system is chosing the proper fuel additive along with running down the tank as low as possible. The age and type of tank you have also needs to be given attention. This is the first year guys in this area have had to deal with E-10 gas storage and we'll see what kind of problems present themselves. Good luck guys
 
#17 ·
Well here's the good news. we had the tanked pumped this morning from a local garage. after about 5 gallons of phased out gas we got to dark brown mix and after about 15 gallons total it started to get yellow tinted. not wanting to chance it we had all 100 gallons pumped out. ran to boaters world and got 3 bottles of startron and 257 dollars in gas. launched today at turner station and she ran great. phew!!!!!! what a relief.

WAS READING THE STARTRON DIRECTION BOOK THAT IS ATTACHED TO EVERY BOTTLE AND IT SAYS YOU CAN NEVER USE TO MUCH.

THANK GOD FOR THE ALUMINUM OR STAINLESS STEEL GAS TANK
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top