Fouled Gas in Gas Tank - No way to remove tank. Pics included

[bumrunner]

Here's the quick story. Bought the boat 2001 ProSport with 150 Mercury Carbed outboard this year from dealer. Finding things left and right wrong it. Needless to say I'm upset, but it is what it is. I bought her with a half tank, but filled her up with high octane and have kept her full all year. I decided to run the gas tank down to a low level and then fill her up with high octane for storage. Well, I got her down to just under half a tank and she started stalling. Couldn't get her running. After a tow back, I started looking her over.

I started with the fuel pump to see if that was the issue. I took off the hose and cranked the engine, sure enough gas was flowing so that wasn't the problem. I caught the gas in a mason jar to check it out. The gas on the left is from the boat, the gas on the right is how it should look (2 cycle). I'm guessing the good gas I put in this year was enough to keep her running, but once that burned off, the jar on the right is what is left.

I'm guessing the boat has set for a few years before I got it. Anyone seen anything like this? What do I do now? I can syphon it out, but......
*What do I do with all that gas?
*I'm sure there will be sludge in the tank. I cannot remove the tank as it's below deck, so what do I do?
*Anything else I should clean up before I run her again.

Thanks to all for help.

 

[HONKER1]

Re: Fouled Gas in Gas Tank - No way to remove tank. Pics included

When I removed all the gas from my below floor tank I purchased a electric fuel pump (12 volt) and took the fuel line loose before the F/W separator and pumped the tank dry. Didn't worry about the last few drops in the tank. Filled the tank with non-ethanol gas and Seafoam, changed the F/W separator several times and everything seems to be OK now.
As for getting rid of the old gas. I purchased a Mr. Funnel and filtered the gas and used it in my SUV. That may have not been the best solution, because now I am running injection cleaner on every fill up. but even that is getting better.

 

[jtsailjt]

Re: Fouled Gas in Gas Tank - No way to remove tank. Pics included

Definitely siphon it out and just dispose of it. That gas is so far gone I wouldn't even try to use it in a lawn mower, and certainly not a vehicle. Then, when you fill up your tank, use Seafoam or similar treatment in it especially if there's ethanol in the gas where you live.

You are right to expect there to be sludge and some water left in the bottom of the tank and you definitely don't want that getting into your engines fuel system any more than it already has, so before you run your engine, install a good quality inline cartridge or spin on fuel filter, and when you make the purchase, buy a couple of extra filter elements to keep on your boat so you won't hesitate to replace them when you should. Besides the sludge in the bottom of the tank, there's also going to be junk stuck to the edges of the tank and in the fuel lines that will gradually dissolve, so it's going to be an ongoing process to keep your engine from getting fouled. When you've got your filter installed, after you run the engine for just a few hours, spin off the filter (or open the drain plug if it has one) and dump its contents into another glass jar so you'll be able to see the progress you've made and remove any trapped water. With a tank as dirty as yours currently is, I'd probably replace the filter element after just a couple fill-ups to avoid any restriction in the fuel flow due to clogged pores in the filter. My engine also has another spin on type filter as part of its fuel system and if your engine has one of those, you should replace it too, especially since you already ran some of that nasty gas through your engine.

I used to leave my boats and snowmobiles and motorcycles full of gas with stabilizer in them during the off season, but no more. If you live in the north where boating is impossible for 6 months or more, and especially if your gas has ethanol in it, you should drain your tank before putting your boat away. With my boat sitting on a trailer, I just loosen the hose clamp and remove the adapter in the fuel line that plugs into my engine and put the end of the fuel line into a 5 gallon jug sitting on the ground beneath the level of my fuel tank and give the bulb a few squeezes to get it started, and it runs right out. Then, I dump the gas in my cars tank to be used right away. Lastly, since there's bound to be a small amount of gas that can't be removed, I dump a can of fuel stabilizer into my (nearly) empty tank.

 

[bumrunner]

Re: Fouled Gas in Gas Tank - No way to remove tank. Pics included

Thanks guys for your help. I really appreciate it. I'm going to get it out there as best I can and just dispose of it properly. I do live up north, so I like your idea of using it up. I'll add some seafoam and see how it works.

 

[Chris1956]

Re: Fouled Gas in Gas Tank - No way to remove tank. Pics included

Hey Bum, Can you access the fuel gauge sender unit in the tank? If so, remove it and stick a siphon hose into the tank. Now jack up the nose of the boat, if it is on a trailer and start the siphon into several jerry cans. You may need to stick the end of the siphon hose thru the bilge drain plug.

Collect all the fuel and let is sit. Now siphon the bottom of the jerry can into a clear gallon container. Now pour off the good gas in the 1 gal container and dump the water. The gas may be reused, although you may want to mix with fresh stuff.

 

[J Hartman]

Re: Fouled Gas in Gas Tank - No way to remove tank. Pics included

you should be able to get a hand siphon that will do the trick for roughly $12

http://www.acehardware.com/product/index.jsp?productId=1278396&CAWELAID=109355820

 

[milehighboater]

Re: Fouled Gas in Gas Tank - No way to remove tank. Pics included

Most counties have a hazardous waste pick-up or dropoff you can send the stuff to. Just call up your city, they will get rid of the old stuff for you for us they will pick-up up to 10 gallons for free.

 

[bumrunner]

Re: Fouled Gas in Gas Tank - No way to remove tank. Pics included

Thank you all. This is great advice.