Water in Fuel Tank!

Sorry to hear about the water in the fuel. What a real PIA to deal with, especially with our tanks sealed off from the cockpit.

I don't think the Heet/IsoHeet will solve it as it's alcohol (methanol) based and absorbs water, which is your problem to begin with; water IN the fuel.

I was just discussing this with a guy at a fuel stop. I was filling the boat and adding blue Sta-bil. He asked if it "worked", as he has in I/O and is having problems he associates w/ E10. I told him I used it religiously and so far, so good. :| After reading this I'm hoping I didn't jinx myself.
 
Wondering the outcome, Pat.
 
Re HEET Fuel Additive: It is mostly methanol (one carbon, ethanol has two carbons). It intended to be a “winter additive” because bubbles of water in your gas can freeze in the gas line and block the fuel flow. Alcohol can cause the “absorption” of water into the gasoline where it can be combusted in the engine. If you have any amount of ethanol already in your gas, and I suspect these days it is about impossible not to, you don’t need to add any other alcohol and the only benefit would be in sub-freezing weather. That is why they call it “HEET”—a way to imply it “heats” your gas. As the FAQs from the company say, never add it to a 2 cycle engine; they make something called “Iso-HEET” for that which contains iso-propanol (3 carbons).

I’m not saying it is bad for your 4 cycle engine; just not needed for normal marine use.

Their web site: http://www.goldeagle.com/brands/heet/faq.aspx
 
I believe pumping our gas tanks due to stale gas, water, rust, bad ju ju, etc, it is a SOP. I pull the fuel tank sender and use a pump and a piece of PEX tubing. Everyhting is long enough that I stand or sit in a chair and get high off the flumes
 
Pat I was thinking about this statement you made.

Is there some kind of fuel water separator that has a sensor so you can drain it BEFORE it gets to the engine? It seems like with the crappy gas we have now, a dual fuel water separator with sensor setup would be the best prevention, no
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the answer is yes. It's you. Thats why the fuel filter is clear on the bottom and has a drain. So you can check it and drain out any water there. I check mine every trip. I also drain the filler to use the fuel for the dinghy motor. So far I have not had any trouble with water not matter where I get my fuel. I try to get e-free but its not always available. I have never used any addictive in the fuel. But I do ,and always have, used a lot of fuel because I go out a lot and run fast when I do.

I will be spending the next hour in the parking lot of work knocking on tree's . Hope no one calls the cops. :wink:
 
starcrafttom":9yp6a9fr said:
...because...run fast when I do.
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I can attest to this. It appears Tom only know one speed; fast. Meredith thought it was a drug runner when we saw him outside Everett last yr. All I could think of was; that poor hull.
 
Pat

I believe you are absolutely correct in draining your fuel tank. I went through this earlier this year. I used a rotary hand crank pump ( similar to the Bass Pro Shop sample you show) to drain the tank on my 25", about 40 gallons in there, it worked well. Unfortunately once the water seperator fuel filters fill, they bypass and that water/fuel mixture then goes to the small engine seperator, if any gets past that its on into the vapor seperator tank and into the injectors from there (Honda 150 HP). It seems that if you talk to 10 people you will get 10 different stories about how to deal with the problem. From my own experience if there is phase separation going on in your tank of gas, get rid of it and start fresh, the bad gas can only lead to more problems and I am of the opinion that no additive on the market can turn bad gasoline into good gasoline, even though others argued that by just adding this or that everything would be OK.

When draining my tank I partially filled several glass bottles and let it settle, the separation between water, ethanol/water mix and gasoline on top only takes about 10 seconds. I then added various brands of fuel additives, treatments, and conditioners that I had on hand, shook them up and let them settle out again. I was not too surprised that they all looked the same as the original, the water did not disappear into solution, it settled down to the bottom just like it started. Please let me know if there is some magical additive that I missed but I'll stick with my original point, get rid of the bad fuel, nothing will make it good.

Best of luck in clearing up your problem, it takes away from a lot of enjoyable boating time.

Rich
 
Hey Rich,
I did a very similar test adding all the additives I could find on the market to determine the best ones. My results were the same as yours. Using a glass bottle with the bad fuel and water, nothing changed.
As a result, I don't use any of the additives. I would if i thought they did what they claim.

My advice is to remove offending fuel and start over.

Regular checking and maintenance of the first primary filter/water separator catches most problems early.
 
I may be wrong but I understood that the purpose of the additives was to stop or at least delay the phase separation into water. Once it has happened, there is nothing you can do except drain it.

Racors can handle a certain amount but if you really get phase separation of an ethanol based fuel you are $%&#@d

M
 
Merv that's my understanding too. There was an article in Boating mag last yr where they interviewed various "experts" and their opinion was the same. I guess it's like anything else bad in life; best do what you can to avoid the issue, than to try to remedy it once it materializes.
 
The ethanol problem is different than the usual "fuel stability". The fuel stabilizers still work, and will help to keep gas or diesel from going bad. Some other additives (such as Startron)--are susposed to be enzymatic, and will help with the "gunk" which can form with ethanol in an older tank.

I use the stabilizers and get ethanol free fuel. Agree, if you have major phase separation--the gasoline will be saturated with water (it will take up a little, and a bit more if you use some of the products such as Stabil for Ethanol fuel)--but the amount is very limited.
 
Why don't cars and trucks experience the problems that boaters seem to experience with ethanol fuels?
 
It is my understanding that cars and trucks do not suffer the same fate because they are used more regularly thus burning the fuel befor phase separation occurs. If you used your boat every day the problem would be minimized.
 
Exactly: you burn lots of fuel in your car. There is a high turn over rate, and it does not sit around in a tank were there is condensation.

Large diesel power boats have had a somewhat similar problem for many years--and that is the growth of algae/bacteria at the fuel water interface. It was not only the algae, but also the byproducts of their metabolism. BioBar has helped to supress growth, Soltron (Startron) also helped with break down of the byproduct.
There have been similar issues with long term storage tanks of various fuels. Generally commercial vehicles--boats, planes etc don't have this problem because the use the fuel (and in the case of diesel, re-circulate it) rapidly.
 
Sounds reasonable about the fuel 'turnover' rate....how is the reported degradation of fuel tanks and hoses that are blamed on Ethanol fuels explained?
 
Lots of the fuel tanks in older gas powered boats are fiberglass. The ethanol eats then from the inside out and the goo ends up in your carburetors.
 
The marine fuel hoses, fuel system gaskets, o-rings and the like that were put into boats and motors before the advent of ethanol in gas fuels were not intended (designed or engineered) to be ethanol tolerant.

Ethanol attacked these components, causing a variety of problems, usually resulting in fuel blockages, poor carburetor/motor performance, leakages, and more.

Additionally, when ethanol was put into these systems, not only did it attack the components, but it also loosened up the gums, varnish, and whatever that had accumulated in the fuel systems over the years.

The usual solution was to rebuild the carburetors, replace all the hoses, flush the fuel tanks, etc. Additionally, fuel filters were usually added.

The hoses and other components used to replace those that failed were alcohol tolerant, as was the design of the new engines that replaced the old.

I went through the first phase of this in 1998, then replaced my aging 2-cycle 90 hp Johnson with an EFI 90 hp Yamaha 4-stroke in 2005.

Ethyl alcohol continues to cause problems, however, because of water absorbtion, phase separation, metal component corrosion, gas mileage reduction, etc.

Joe. :teeth :thup
 
starcrafttom":3feiu2fj said:
Lots of the fuel tanks in older gas powered boats are fiberglass. The ethanol eats then from the inside out and the goo ends up in your carburetors.
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My sources say fiberglass is a poor fuel tank construction material even for non ethanol fuel. Anybody have information supporting that theory?
 
The ethanol is also a very effective solvent, as is bio-diesel. They break down/loosen any contamination present and it becomes part of the fuel, clogging fuel filters and such in the process.
 
Can'tsay it was or was not a good material for a fuel tank but a lot of boats were built that way.
 
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