Friday Harbor Fuel cost me over $700

R

rainger

New member
Last Saturday I was in Friday Harbor and got fuel before heading home.

After getting home and going fishing my starboard engine sputtered and died. I figured it was a fuel problem. I changed the racor filters and still the engine was only running on 2 cylinders.

I took the boat to the Marine shop. They determined the carbs were all clogged up and needed cleaning.

I have just got a call from them and it turns out the brand new racor I put on is now filled with junk from the tank. The tank is contaminated with a bunch of junk on the bottom. This had to have come from the fuel in Friday Harbor because all was running well for the month before and I had already put fuel in that tank a previous time with no problems.

I have been told my bill is already up to 700 and climbing.
 
I know how you feel. When we bought our 10 year old boat it had a one year old EFI engine with about 50 hours on it. But, the crud in the gas tank did us in for about the same amount. It's disappointing but it will all work out, probably sooner than later.
 
I find it hard to believe that FH gas could be so bad. They go through tons of fuel at this time of year, and have lots of deliveries.
 
Well the bill came to $1026. I think I was the unfortunate one at FH that fateful Sat morning. FH fuel will deny it however all was fine with my fuel before I filled up there. I realize they go through a lot but I was the first to fill up Sat morning and who knows what may have happened with a new delivery the night before.

I understand that people wont believe it, however, I had been running the boat for over 30 hours up to that time. No problems no crud in the filter or lines.

After the Sat morn fill up the fuel was all murky with rust through it and water.

The guys at the marine shop showed me the junk they were getting out of the tank. There was definite rust and contamination in the fuel. BTW I have plastic tanks they cant have rust. They needed to get a vacuum pump into the tank to get as much of the crap they could out of the bottom. However they were not able to get it all with out a much larger bill to take the tank out.

I now have to monitor my primary filter religiously to drain off more crap as it gets to the bowl.

If the problems were in the fuel from before why didn't they show in all the previous hours and bouncing around in heavy waves the weeks before I went to FH?

On the day I went over I was in heavy seas and the tanks were bounced around real good. Any crap should have been stirred up on the trip over and killed my engine long before I got the fuel.

A 1k bill sucks!
 
chromer":ftdm99mf said:
I find it hard to believe that FH gas could be so bad. They go through tons of fuel at this time of year, and have lots of deliveries.
Click to expand...
Yup and I contend they got a bad delivery.
 
It sounds as though you are pretty sure you took on bad fuel, but if you are still considering anything else, a couple of thoughts:

I noticed that the previous owner of your 22 had quite a few water-in-fuel problems. To the point of having carbs rebuilt and the tanks professionally cleaned. Maybe it's just a coincidence and you both took on really bad fuel, but on the other hand, what else could it be....

Well, the 22's do have an issue that has cropped up more than once. That is that on certain boats the fuel vents were installed really high up - just under the gunwale. You'd think that would be good, but what it actually does is mean there is no room for a loop, so any water that does get to the vent has an easy path into the fuel tank. Worse, some vents were apparently installed with the opening pointing forward (ripe for spray intake).

My 22 came to me with the high vents. I re-did the entire fuel system right away, and as a part of that installed vents with vented loops inside the boat (trap style) which are very resistant to water intake (you can see details in the "Sunbeam ~ 22 Cruiser" thread if you are interested. I had to do a little bit of re-working to make them fit (to get enough clearance above them) but they ended up fitting beautifully. At the very least you could check to see that the openings are pointed aft, not forward.

This photo shows that you have the "high" fuel vents that thus lead straight into the tank (no upward loop inside the boat, just an elbow leading straight down).

140702_101.jpg

Another thing I wondered was whether filling tanks could have stirred up crud/water that was in them (instead of it staying settled on the bottom). I have noticed that when I fill my tanks the "jet" of fuel that shoots down into the tank really causes the fuel to flip and tumble inside the tank. I have to fill really slowly as they get near the top or this effect can cause fuel to shoot back out the fill. Perhaps this doesn't take place in your tanks. (I have my tanks set up so I can see the area right beneath the fuel fill.)

If you did get bad fuel from Friday Harbor, I would contact them. Perhaps they can tell you if you were one of the first (or last) getting fuel on a specific delivery.

Sunbeam
 
Sunbeam":2d4o1g0a said:
It sounds as though you are pretty sure you took on bad fuel, but if you are still considering anything else, a couple of thoughts:

I noticed that the previous owner of your 22 had quite a few water-in-fuel problems. To the point of having carbs rebuilt and the tanks professionally cleaned. Maybe it's just a coincidence and you both took on really bad fuel, but on the other hand, what else could it be....

Well, the 22's do have an issue that has cropped up more than once. That is that on certain boats the fuel vents were installed really high up - just under the gunwale. You'd think that would be good, but what it actually does is mean there is no room for a loop, so any water that does get to the vent has an easy path into the fuel tank. Worse, some vents were apparently installed with the opening pointing forward (ripe for spray intake).

My 22 came to me with the high vents. I re-did the entire fuel system right away, and as a part of that installed vents with vented loops inside the boat (trap style) which are very resistant to water intake (you can see details in the "Sunbeam ~ 22 Cruiser" thread if you are interested. I had to do a little bit of re-working to make them fit (to get enough clearance above them) but they ended up fitting beautifully. At the very least you could check to see that the openings are pointed aft, not forward.

This photo shows that you have the "high" fuel vents that thus lead straight into the tank (no upward loop inside the boat, just an elbow leading straight down).

140702_101.jpg

Another thing I wondered was whether filling tanks could have stirred up crud/water that was in them (instead of it staying settled on the bottom). I have noticed that when I fill my tanks the "jet" of fuel that shoots down into the tank really causes the fuel to flip and tumble inside the tank. I have to fill really slowly as they get near the top or this effect can cause fuel to shoot back out the fill. Perhaps this doesn't take place in your tanks. (I have my tanks set up so I can see the area right beneath the fuel fill.)

If you did get bad fuel from Friday Harbor, I would contact them. Perhaps they can tell you if you were one of the first (or last) getting fuel on a specific delivery.

Sunbeam
Click to expand...
Wow thanks for the great insight. I will look into all of that. The problem I have is the amount of rust that was in the fuel when I have plastic tanks. However I will check out the vent issue. Also I have a problem understanding if it is a vent problem why it was only one side and not the other as well?

You talk as if the info regarding this boat and previous problems are know to you. Did the previous owner share info on this site??
 
OK thanks I found all of the posts from the previous owner. Interesting. I understand the water issue I will work on that.

I do not however understand the sludge /rust/ metal/issue that the tank had when they are plastic.

Yes my vents are as was stated by sunbeam. That will be changed pronto.
 
rainger":3qpv4h49 said:
Also I have a problem understanding if it is a vent problem why it was only one side and not the other as well?
Click to expand...

Perhaps there was more spray on one side vs. another when you were running? Wind or sea state? Hence more water driven into the vent on that side?
 
This is not the first boat to get bad gas in the islands. Friday harbor is know for bad gas by a lot of boaters. I have never had a problem but try not to gas there if I can. A couple on my folks dock will never get fuel there. Asked him why and he got to mad to talk about it... I find it hard to believe that you could get that much rust build up in just one trip with out getting a bad load of fuel.
 
Boy, I totally know what you are saying...... Sue and I once bought a bad tank of fuel at a station on Hwy 5..... (you would think they would have fresh fuel as they pump so much) We were towing, and our poor ole truck felt like it blew a cylinder... we could barely hold 50 mph... after the tank ran out we refueled and amazing the truck would run again.

Sue wrote Shell and complained and Shell, (a company I really do not like as they sold fuel to North Vietnam )
Amazing to us they paid for the cost of that tank of half water half gas.

Joel
SEA3PO
 
By the way, You bought the bottom of the tank....that is what causes problems.... when you get the bottom, you get rust and water...lots of krap..

An easy indication of a problem is that the pump is running slowly.... it means the tank is low and is plugging the stations fuel filters...I used to work in a Chevron Station and if we never let our tanks get under 1/4 full we never had to change the filters in the pump... but when the tank got low it would plug the pump filter same day...and the owner hated that, not only was it work to replace the filters but it cost him money... so we checked the tanks often and never let them run low.

Joel
SEA3PO
 
I believe you got that rust, scale, and other crud right out of the pump. I'd be talking to them immediately. If it goes this far, I think the judge will be on your side as they tend to side with the consumer on stuff like this.
 
I don't know about marine standards but the one time we got a bad load of fuel for a car the station did not question their responsibility to fix things.
 
A couple of tips--of course never fuel up if you see a tanker filling the tanks, since that suggests that the fuel level is low.

We often check the first bit of fuel if there is any question--carry a pint Mason jar and put a bit of fuel into it first. If there is any hint of debris, then no more!

There are also "Baja" filters, we used for years. The new ones are not as good--they are concentric screens in a round funnel device. The old ones were 8" x 8" x 24" and had 3 compartments, with screens between the compartments. Any water and crud would settle out, filter out, thru the concentric smaller screen mesh. Water on the bottom. Fueling is slower, but never bad fuel.

I have aslo gotten bad fuel once (not in Friday Harbor, but it can happen anywhere).

I would be on the phone with the fuel agent where you purchased the fuel. If it was that bad, most likely you were not the only one affected.

Good luck.
 
I bought gas at FH on my first gathering there in 2013. Suffered total engine failure on my way home with water in the fuel and had to be towed into my home marina. Hard to pinpoint exactly where the problem originated. But by never buying fuel in FH again, I have eliminated one possible source.

Martin.
 
I used to make a point of filling up at FH when I visited from Canada, figuring I got a deal. Then I did the calculation and now fill at Van Isle outside Sidney before I leave. Currently around $1.42/L or about $4.90/USG in $US. That seemed comparable. Van Isle replaced all their pumps and lines last year and move a lot of gas. I also like that it is ethanol free. Just a thought for anyone crossing the line.
 
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