Contaminated Fuel

[CTsalt12]

So it became apparent to me at the end of the season that I had water in my fuel.  So I pumped out all the remaining gas in my tank, jacked up the boat as high as I could to get as much out as possible.  This is the temporary fix.  Next I was planning on pulling up the deck and sucking out the rest of the bad fuel resting in the corners of the tank with some kind of hose / pump device, and just hope that owrks.  The tank is a 25 gal poly Moeller.

http://www.iboats.com/25-Gallon-Fuel-Ta ... _id.686955

The water got in there simply by keeping my fuel levels way too low and temperature changes in the fall.  I was hoping others who have had similar experiences with contaminated fuel could contribute here.  Is this the best way to handle it?  Obviously money is an issue so I'd like to stay away from having a thorough professional cleaning. What do yall think?

[kraw2]

You may have baffles inside the tank to contend with. Not allowing you to get a suction hose all the way to the back corner. You may have to tilt the boat towards the sending unit so you suck it out thru the hole.

[wingtime]

Pulling up the deck won't do anything for you.  Just pull your pie plates and find your fuel sender...  Remove the sender and insert a hose into the tank.  As already mentioned it will have baffles inside of it.   Your never going to get all the fuel and junk out...  If you have a fuel polisher in your area that is the way to go,  however they require you to have some fuel in the tank.  They pump the fuel thru a filter system and back into the tank...  they let this cycle for a while and it usually does a good job.  You could build your own system with a good fuel filter and a pump.  Then just fill the tank all the way and make sure you have a good Racor water separating fuel filter on your boat.

[CTsalt12]

No baffles thankfully!  I should be able to get it all out. Unfortunately my pie plate doesn't allow me to access the sender.  I'm going to put another one in over the tank hardware when I do this project.    I will look into the fuel polishing, but leaning towards DIY methods for this one.

[Rhojo]

I had a fuel tank in a car that developed some small leaks. I found a welder and removed the tank to have it welded, the fix worked. During the process we had to remove the fuel, of course, then when it was ready to go back in the car the welder dumped a bottle of rubbing alcohol into the tank and swished it around. He said the alcohol dissipates the water.