Water in my gas - Phase Separation - Not a fun project

[Harpoon]

Well I have about 80+ gallons of gas that is crap. A yellow emulsion. I've added E-sorb but I think the gas is too far gone.

Here is the plan

1. run motor( DF-250) on auxillary tank - haul boat
2. remove gas through the sending unit (great fun one of the screws is stripped).
3. Change all filters 1, 2, 3, 4 of them ...already over 100.00 bucks...
4. Clean the screen inside the high pressure tank, replace gasket.

Did I miss anything ?

 

[TomS]

Damn.. that sucks. Any idea how the water got in there?

My fuel tank has two pickups, so you might be able to use the other one to drain the tank if you want to avoid the sender screw problem.

-- Tom

 

[Brent]

You can pump out gas from tank pickup(s) or remove fuel line at the engine.
Do you have Racor water and fuel filter?
Same as Tom
What is the water source?

 

[Harpoon]

Its either just from humidity or the vent.

I really want to be able to see into the tank as I remove the separated water/ethanol that is beneath the gas.

 

[DaleH]

TomS had posted some great info on draining fuel, see: viewtopic.php?f=8&t=5925

 

[Harpoon]

One of the item's I haven't sorted out is,what the heck am I going to do with 80+ gallons of junk fuel. That is allot of brush fires !

The e-zorb will have been in the tank since last monday...perhaps it has returned to a single phase and I'll feel comfortable buring it in my truck.

Dale, thanks for the info on the pump.

 

[TomS]

Phil,

FYI, I wouldn't purchase that pump for 80 gals, which is why I didn't post in the first place

It would work but would take too long, I think you would be much better off with the traditional siphon approach. Not to mention that the pump has a simple inline filter that would get clogged up with the bad gas and I'm not sure there is a replacement.

-- Tom

 

[Brent]

I had a similar issue after Hurricane Charley hit Florida. Our Renken was damaged and was hauled to the landfill but first I needed to remove the gas. I siphoned the gas into containers and went to the County Recycle Center for disposal. It was a slow process and took several trips plus 90+ in August but the County disposed of the boat for free

 

[DaleH]

This is what phase separated fuel looked like when taken from my brother's dual tanks out of his '87 GW. This stuff did NOT burn! We put some on the ground and with a lit stick, the flame would barely flicker when put right into it.

Good point Tom about your pump thingie ... was wondering why you didn't mention it, but can see why with 80-gallons the old school method fits now that you brought it to our attention .

 

[Harpoon]

Mine is bright yellow in color. It mixes with water like "soap" white cloudy... it doesn't make a film on top of the water.

The boat is in my yard now. It ran Ok, but not perfect on an auxillary tank. Lots of brush fires ! I'll need to clean the lines, replace filters and clean the screen in the VST tank.

I should be hunting!

 

[Luv2fish]

I had serious problems with a Grady that had been sitting for 4 years before I bought it. My problem was phase separation as well as a varnish inside the tank. I had to drain the fuel several times. I used acetone and "cleaned" the inside of the tank with a stick and rags. It was a serious pain.

To pump the fuel out I bought a universal 12 volt fuel pump from my local auto store. It is self priming so I just hooked up the power. I put some clear fuel line in the pump. I used extra long wires to ensure the 12 volt battery was a safe distance from the fumes. I pumped out a total of 150 gallons of fuel in various conditions. The oldest was useless. Some of the newer fuel that washed off the varnish and plugged my filters was usable by a local landscape guy in his mowers.

It was not too slow. I think the pump was about 50 gallons per hour. If you are anywhere near Fredericksburg, Va I'd be happy to loan it to you.

Steve

 

[Harpoon]

I pulled off the HP and Low pressure pumps and tank last night. There was quite a bit of sediment in the tank. I'm waiting in some new filters and a screen and I'll re-assemble. My biggest fear is the injectors got boogered up too... although ther eis a 60 dollar filter between the HP pump and the injectors... hopefully it stopped everything.

I still have one screw frozen on the tank sender. Im going to use vise-grips on it tonight and otherwise just cut the head off and crank it out with channel locks.

 

[DaleH]

Remember to mark your sender and flange/tank before you take it apart . The 5-bolts the senders use are staggered around the bolt circle, meaning the pattern is not symetrical ... designed so that it can only go on in one specific orientation.

 

[pelagic2530]

Remember to mark your sender and flange/tank before you take it apart . The 5-bolts the senders use are staggered around the bolt circle, meaning the pattern is not symetrical ... designed so that it can only go on in one specific orientation.

in addition to this: it might be a good idea to replace the gasket around the sending unit when you pull it, as they tend to get gunked up and stick to the tank (i just did this myself). however, if you do this, be sure to put a staple or something through the gasket to provide a metal to metal path between the sender unit body and the tank, as the sending unit has to be grounded to the tank to work properly.

 

[DaleH]

be sure to put a staple or something through the gasket to provide a metal to metal path between the sender unit body and the tank, as the sending unit has to be grounded to the tank to work properly.

You mean .... like the 5 metal bolts already on there ????????

 

[pelagic2530]

be sure to put a staple or something through the gasket to provide a metal to metal path between the sender unit body and the tank, as the sending unit has to be grounded to the tank to work properly.

You mean .... like the 5 metal bolts already on there ????????

now see, you'd think i would have thought of that kinda does make me question the knowledge of the marine electrician that recommended it. maybe has something to do with the anti-seize or something on the bolt heads? i gooped them up pretty good, they were a b!tch to get out the first time. :? either way, i doubt its hurting anything, and there was one in the old gasket, so... whatever

 

[Harpoon]

With the help of a highly skilled friend I got the last frozen screw out of the sender. Those threads in the tank really won't allow me to tighten the sender on very well when I re-install it. Crazy that they didn't reinforce that section of the tank a little. (1999).

I'm going to replace the sending unit, fuel hose and upgrade to the new "gemlux"
vent.

The vent hose is 5/8" correct ? Anybody (Dale aka "Human Parker encyclopedea" ) happen to know the part number on the sender ?

Thanks Guys !

Remember to mark your sender and flange/tank before you take it apart . The 5-bolts the senders use are staggered around the bolt circle, meaning the pattern is not symetrical ... designed so that it can only go on in one specific orientation.

Now I see that ! I should have remembered...!

 

[DaleH]

For the sender, I'd only replace with a unit from Wema USA - do a search on "Wema" from author "CBIGMA" for a detailed DIY How To post complete with pictures. These are custom items, so you need to measure the depth of the tank, but you should have it within a week of ordering.

 

[finfish1]

A few weeks ago I removed/pumped 60 gals out of my tank through the inch and a half sender hole with a large hand pump made for a 55 gal drum. It worked well, then pumped the remainder out with a small hand pump, the kind used for oil changes.
Flushed tank with clean fuel and tank cleaner, then removed fuel again.
I was able to remove most of slugde caused, I believe by no ethanol treatment.
Finding, from Yamaha, the engine was on the eighth low pressure fuel pump since 2005 ( F250). I purchased the boat this season. Yamaha paid for one in, I paid for the last one few weeks ago.
Changed pickups, primer ball, F filter ( totally clogged), and of course 10 micron blue water/seperator. May start changing blue filter at 50 hrs, or change to racor with clear bowl.
NOW using blue Sta-bil treatment, $ ringfree at every fill.
May filter/pump fuel again once boats removed from water next month, tilt boat with jackstands, and clean tank again, depending how thing look through that sender hole.

Reel Job

2520xl/ F250
Pt.Judith

 

[TomS]

Phil,

Another recommendation for the WEMA sender. I replaced my stock sender this summer and had no problems with the Wema. The one thing I noticed was that the fuel level went down in a more 'linear' fashion.. ie with the old sender it would take forever to get to half a tank, than the bottom half of the tank would go down much more quickly.

Just measure the height of the tank, subtract an inch (as recommended on the Wema site) and place your order online.

-- Tom