Water in Me fuel!

[MulletMan]

I've got an underfloor S/S 260 litre fuel tank that could only be accessed with the help of a chain saw and a few strong men.....so getting into it is not a viable option. The damn thing is always full of water and I can only assume the fuel pickup spear is very close the lowest section of the tank. It feeds a 5.8 L OMC Cobra inboard. The glass bowl of the filter is always chockers with water and even after draining and then going for a run, the bowl is again full on return. It is easy to drain and keep the water out but how can I get rid of the H2O in the first place? If I add any more metho to it, I will soon be running on pure metho and no fuel!! Have tried all the products that profess to get rid of it but so far no joy! Maybe using the boat more may be the answer as it does tend to sit about a bit between uses....................

[Y-Not]

Check the position of the breather vent for the tank. it is common for watger to be sucked/run into the tank from them if incorectly positioned

[Louis]

G'day PinkPanther,


Many times people fill their boat before they go out but then leave it stand for weeks between use with an empty tank or near empty tank.

What then happens is that condensation occurs everynight on the inside of the cold tank with the air that seeps in via the fuel cap.

As a result water builds up in the fuel.

The trick to rectifying this problem is to always refill your tank up when towing the boat home.

This way the boat has a full tank of petrol when it is 'put to bed' and subsequently condensation does not occur.

Louis

[Mantaray]

This way the boat has a full tank of petrol when it is 'put to bed' and subsequently condensation does not occur.


no condensation? but possibly a blown engine if the fuel is let sit, what's the worse of these 2 evils?

[revs57]

IMO Louis is on the money..condensation caused by half full tank...when she sits, how long between uses...there was a string a couple of months ago on boating chat where the guys talked about length of time they kept fuel for...up to a couple of months seemed to be the concensus.

Hope you can get out more often too ;)

Cheers

Rhys

[Mojo]

Louis is right mate - and as for the problems of leaving a full tank too long and the fuel going bad ----- tell the wife you HAVE to go fishing more often or the boat will explode in the shed !!!! Mojo