Found the problem, what's the solution?

[nola mike]

So the boat hasn't worked right yet this year. Thought I had it straightened out, but today got out there, was surging, wanted to cut out, etc. Have suspected water in the fuel, today confirmed it (disconnected fuel line, here's what came out- see pics). Am in the midst of installing fuel/water separator, but forgot a fitting at home, so will have to wait till next week. Also added a couple 9f bottles of methanol. Thinking that I might have too much water for either of these solutions to work. Any ideas on a solution? Even draining the tank, unless the hose is at the very bottom, will still leave water. Maybe just disconnect the fuel line and keep cranking until I'm not getting any water?

 

[nola mike]

Iboats is being a pita. Imagine if you will a 16 oz container of gold liquid, half of which is water. It would be a striking image if I could upload it.

 

[Fun Times]

Maybe just disconnect the fuel line and keep cranking until I'm not getting any water?

Disconnect from where the carb line? If you do that procedure then you may have four problems to contend with, Bad starter, overheated battery cables, dead battery and water still left in the fuel tank.

The photo of the water/filter didn't seem to make it trough in the first post.

If you believe you have that much water in the tank than normally it's best to drain the tank the best you can as the pickup tube gets pretty close to the bottom of the tank.

You may be able to remove the fuel gauge sending unit to have a look inside to see if there's anything left inside to get out using the hole of the sending unit.

Also try to find the source of the water.

Good luck.:usa:

 

[Bt Doctur]

you found the symptoms but not the cause.
Is it salt water, coming in thru the vent ,Draw some into a glass, let settle, insert a straw and take a sip
fresh water from washing down the boat and spraying into the vent
Is it coming in from the fill cap

 

[nola mike]

Bt, thinking that the cause was a full tank of ethanol gas over the winter. and who knows how much water is actually in the tank. I think cranking it is still the best solution. 30 sec at a time shouldn't tax anything too much. Other possible solution: what happens if I just run the engine? Will I burn through the water eventually?

 

[Bt Doctur]

if its "phase seperation" you cant burn it anyway. get a auto electric pump, some hose, some wire. extend the wiring so its not near the fuel ,
remove the tank sender and insert hose, turn on pump
If you do remove a lot of water, run the pump in clean gasoline so the water dosent rust it internally.

 

[Eric 3.7LX Alpha 1]

I fought water in gas for about a year before I figured it out. I thought not using it enough and having phase separation was the cause. Finally I rerouted my tank vent in a high loop up so it almost touched the gunwale before going down to the tank.

Still had water.

My problem was water leaking between the fuel deck fill and the fiberglass where it is mounted to, and a loose enough hose clamp connecting the hose to the deck fill that allowed water in.

I disconnected the hose from the deck fill and ran a garden hose along the top where it is mounted checking inside for water... bingo! not leaking water in the deck fill but around it.

Water was running along side the deck fill fitting down, and right into the hose and into my tank. I removed it applied 5200 to seal it to the fiberglass and new
hose clams, been so nice to not have water anymore.

 

[nola mike]

Removed the vent hose, siphoned out a bit. Hmm. No water. Disconnected fuel line again, ran the starter for about ten seconds, got 500 cc of straight gas. Weird. Wondering if I got most of it yesterday, or if the methanol finally did its job. Didn't get a chance to water test, so we'll wait till next weekend for that...water in the tank had never been a problem, so we'll see if it recurs

 

[nola mike]

Groan. hooked up the A/F separator, went 10 miles, no problems. Started again on the way back. Took off the filter, full of water. Don't have a spare, so dumped and replaced for the meantime. Wondering if my pickup is somewhere that only sees the water with the bow up. I'll try again with the siphoning this weekend...

 

[poconojoe]

Get one of these simple but awesome shaker siphons for $10. I have one of these and I can empty a 5 gallon gas container in less than 2 minutes.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B000EH...DKL&ref=plSrch
I'm starting to see these in various stores. Tractor Supply and Lowe's Home Improvement has them. No (dangerous around gas) electricity needed. You push the metal end rapidly into the gas until it starts flowing. The only catch is it's best if the tank you are drawing from is even or a bit higher than where you are pumping it to. I've siphoned water off my pool cover and it made it up over the side of the pool, probably about 18" higher than where the water was. If your boat is in the water, I don't know where you would siphon it to. Maybe a 5 gallon gas container sitting in your bilge?

 

[Bonus Check]

Go get a small hand pump that is for this purpose. I have one that I used just to drain my fuel tank and to change the oil in my jet ski. Cost about $10 bucks at a parts house or Wally World.

 

[poconojoe]

Go get a small hand pump that is for this purpose. I have one that I used just to drain my fuel tank and to change the oil in my jet ski. Cost about $10 bucks at a parts house or Wally World.

Sounds like a better idea than the one I suggested. Go for it.

 

[nola mike]

Put the bow up, standard siphon through the pickup hole. Drained about 3 gallons out of maybe 20. Got maybe 8oz water. Went 15 miles, had a bit of hiccup at the end, but very slight. Drained filter, a tiny bit of water there. Next day 25 miles, ran perfect... Now onto the manifold leak?