Major water in the fuel system

metsfan3197843

Petty Officer 2nd Class
Joined
May 2, 2011
Messages
156
Motor started vibrating and coughing. Emptied fuel separator that I just installed and it was completely full of water. This was the first start up of the season. Ran fine for the 5 minutes of fresh gas I put in the filter when I installed it. I plumbed a 5 gallon outboard can in and installed a new filter. Purged fuel out of the rail. Can’t get engine to fire now. I’m thinking water in the injectors but not sure where to go from here

Thanks in advance for any suggestions
 

achris

More fish than mountain goat
Joined
May 19, 2004
Messages
27,468
Many years ago (probably about 20) a friend's well-meaning 7 year old filled the fuel tank of his car with water. :facepalm: My party trick was to find a plug on the intake manifold that I could hook a remote tank fuel line to, and hook it up. Crank the engine and very slowly pump the fuel primer. Once the engine starts, just keep very slowly pumping the primer to keep it running. Eventually the engine's fuel pump will have purged all the water and it'll be back to straight fuel in the rails. You'll know when that's happened, you won't be pumping the primer anymore to keep the engine running. Disconnect the fuel tank and take the boat for a run, at least 30 minutes of engine time. That should clean it up nicely....

Chris.....
 

metsfan3197843

Petty Officer 2nd Class
Joined
May 2, 2011
Messages
156
Thanks achris. The primer would be the throttle only advance on the shift control correct?? Sorry new term to me
 

metsfan3197843

Petty Officer 2nd Class
Joined
May 2, 2011
Messages
156
Can’t get it to fire. Ignition system checks out and I’ve got good fuel pressure. I unhooked the main line into the rail and blew out the rail threw the schrader. That fuel looked ok but I suspect I’ve got water in the lines to the individual injectors. Not sure where to go from here. Perhaps water on the plugs keeping them from firing???
 

metsfan3197843

Petty Officer 2nd Class
Joined
May 2, 2011
Messages
156
For those interested, pulled a couple plugs and they looked fine. Kept cranking away and finally got it to fire. Ran like a top on the hose. Need to get the fuel tank cleaned out now....
 

BudL1te

Seaman
Joined
Jun 8, 2012
Messages
63
I had a similar issue, I used a cheap electric fuel pump, hooked to the tank side and pumped the water into a 5 gallon jug.

still had a little in the tank, poured gas in carb "Dribble" to keep it running to flush leftover water out of lines.

Needed to empty the filter a couple of times. Been great ever since. Not sure how the previous owner got water in the tank? She blamed the Marina Pumps. Always possible I suppose.
 

metsfan3197843

Petty Officer 2nd Class
Joined
May 2, 2011
Messages
156
So I just pumped out about 4 gallons of water out of my tank. O ring for fill cap is dry rotted but intact. Fuel sender gasket bolts were not very tight. Gasket looked fine but rubber washers for screws are toast. While it rains a ton here in Kodiak Alaska over the winter, that seems like a lot of water. What do you guys think??? Any other places I should look at. Tank vent goes to fill cap so same o ring.
 
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