Water in Fuel

[rjost13]

We have a '97 21' AquaSport bow rider, it is powered with a brand new Suzuki 200hp 4 stroke. The boat had sat for a while with the original Johnson. The dealer that re-powered the boat said the tank was drained but we have run into an issue with water in our fuel. The tank is a poly tank and I don't see where water could be getting into it. Does anyone know of known issues with these tanks or have any suggestions for getting the water out of the tank? The tank is 100 gallons and there should be about 80 gallons of fuel in it right now.
Thanks
Rick

[MarshMarlowe196]

Water finds its way into everything, especially on a boat.  Water could have gotten into the Gas Tank Vent Hose through rain water(common), The Fill Hose if the cap is loose, or if any of the fill hose itself has degraded, through any loose connections, or - depending on how long the boat has been sitting - simply condensation that has not escaped from the fuel tank.

How old is the gas in the tank now?  If it's old, you might as well get rid of all the fuel/water in the tank.  If its still fairly fresh, you can salvage most of the gas (I've done this before).  The good thing is that water is more dense than gasoline and will separate into layers in the tank, with the water being on the bottom of the tank, and the gasoline sitting on top of the layer of water.  The fuel pickup in the tank will be on the bottom of the tank, so you can essentially siphon the water out of the tank via the fuel hose until the water coming out is no longer water and becomes (mostly) gasoline.  

You then want to install a new fuel/water separator, and add plenty of fuel treatment to the tank (Marine Sta-Bil, Pri-G, Etc.).  I'm using a Racor/Parker water separator and treating every tank with Marine Sta-Bil.  I recommend this style separator so you can purge the water out of the filter through a visible water container/reservoir on the bottom of the separator-




You'll want to do this often while you're running the boat, until all the water is gone.  It's a process, but it can be done.

One thing to think about - If the fuel is old (more than a few weeks), the ethanol which is likely present in the fuel will absorb a lot of the water in the tank, and that's bad bad bad.  It could ruin your engine.  Safest bet is the just siphon out all of the fuel/water in your tank and start with fresh gas and a fresh filter/separator, but that is your call.  Gas aint cheap, but neither is a repair bill for that nice outboard.

[gran398]

Good 'un Jesse.

A friend of mine had a Hydrasport that kept getting water in the tank. After exhaustive troubleshooting, turns out the culprit was the vent outlet. It had become twisted down, allowing seawater to be forced into the vent, into the hose, and into the tank during entry when running in the ocean. Every time it hit a swell, more water came in.

[fitz73222]

Put a stainless steel clamshell over the vent outlet anyway to make sure no water is entering through the vent. My 22-2 had one installed years ago for the same reason. I would definitely pitch the fuel and start over. There is no sense risking a $5000.00 powerhead for $250 worth of gas. The problem is what to do with 80 gallons of gas. There is a crazy way to be able to get some of the gas back IF it has not phase separated which is not reversible with ethanol fuel. (It will look like cloudy tea) Empty the gas into a 5 gallon Culligan water bottle  that you can see through; you will have to do this 16 times of course. I have an old glass one for the purpose. A plasitc one may work but I would experiment with a small amount of gas to see if it attacks the plastic. Let the water and gas separate; usually takes about 10-15 minutes; pour off the upper layer of gas into another 5 gallon can, treat it and dump the water out of the Culligan bottle. It works great for killing weeds in your neighbors foreclosed home yard (just kidding). Give the remaining fuel to whomever is willing to use it; minimum wage teenagers with 200,000 mile Chevy 4X4's will take all you got; or dump it in Ford and keep your fingers crossed.

[John Jones]

It works great for killing weeds in your neighbors foreclosed home yard (just kidding).

 
I'm not.  I had to treat the neighbors yard and pool last summer.  

[John Jones]

Like gran said, you can get water from the vent, from the fill cap, from the gauge sender on the fuel tank, of from the gas pump.  It just takes a little work to find the guilty party.

[gran398]

It works great for killing weeds in your neighbors foreclosed home yard (just kidding).

 
I'm not.  I had to treat the neighbors yard and pool last summer.  

I'm with JJ, am all about an effective, reasonably-priced quality herbicide.

 

[rjost13]

Thanks guys, I will start investigating and let you know the out come.

[jasons215]

I drained my tank by using a inline fuel pump. disconnect the hose going to you motor and hook it up to your inline fuel pump. Connect to a 12 volt battery and it will pump away! I drain all my fuel into my truck after the end of the season. All fuel goes thru my racor filter.