Water in Gas? Need advice

[TexasLXC275]

I have a '97 Donzi LXC275 (Cabin Cruiser). Has a 454 Merc EFI in it. Started it up for the first time since winterizing yesterday. Put about 20 gals of gas in and headed out to the lake. Boat ran fine under 2k rpms but anything over and it would bog down. Headed back to Marina and talked to my mechanic. He said there's several other boat owners with the same symptoms and he suspects the gas at the marina has water in it. I will take a look at the fuel water separator to confirm this. Have 3 questions:

1) What do you guys think of using the adding alcolhol to the tank. Is this something that will hurt me down the road?

2) Thought about just cruising around the lake at 2k rpm's til the tank runs dry. Carry a 5 gallon tank of gas with me once this happens to get me home.

3) What's the process involved in draining the gas tank? Not even sure where the tank is located and how to get to it.

Thanks

[Carl C]

I would add the "dry-gas" (alcohol) to the tank.

[oldandtired]

I've pumped out a gas tank using an electric fuel pump and a filter/separator. A separator with a clear bowl would work great for this so that you could see the water if it's there as well as get rid of the water. I pumped it by disconnecting the fuel line from the engine and connecting the fuel pump/filter to it. You might need a lot of gas cans though. Using dri-gas would also help, but it depends how much water got in the system. The hard question for you is whether your problem is really water in your fuel. I would start with a new water separator and some dri-gas and see if that cures the problem. If the problem is cured then you're done. If the problem returns soon after, the your water separator is possibly getting full again. If it does nothing, then think about plugs/wires/cap/rotor/ignition wires/compression test.

Rene

[MOP]

Have to agree with oldandtired! Best fix is to get the water out! I remove the tank sender and use a copper tube to get to the bottom of the tank, I have 1000 Racor diesel filter with the clear bowl and an electric pump. I put the return line right back into the tank up near the top so as not to stir the fuel up to much, I dump the Racor as needed. Adding dry gas etc may help but will not cure the problem olus all gas now has alcohol in it anyway so all you are doing is double dosing!

Phil

[Ranman]

I had this exact problem a few years ago and it plagued me for some time. The standard Merc spin on water separating fuel filter will simply pass the water up to the engine when it's full. I had a lot of water in my gas and the problem persisted after many many dumpings and replacements of the Merc filter.

My solution: I bought a Racor water separating fuel filter. There is a Racor spin on direct replacement for the Merc units (B32020MAM). I bought mine at West Marine. The Racor was like $50 or $60, but it comes with a separate spin-on bowl that has it's own drain plug. The Racors do a much better job of removing the water and once full of water they will kill the engine. You then simply loosen the drain plug and drain the water at the bottom of the bowl (keep an eye out for when the mix turns to gas though) fire her back up and move on. I checked my Racor after each outing and got a substaitial amount of water out of the filter for the next 5 or 6 trips. Eventually, there was no more water trapped in the system, but I am good should I take some more on for some reason. Once you have the assembly you can buy replacement elements for a little less $$$ as well.

If you have ingested a lot of water (and there's no good way to tell), I suggest purchasing and running a Racor. I would recommend running a Racor regardless...

http://www.parker.com/RACOR/PRODUCTTABLES/TABLE-MARINE-GAS-SPINON.JPG

[TexasLXC275]

Ranman - if I install one of these Racor units, does this mean I don't have to drain the tank?

[TheFees]

This is a worked motor with 2 man power.
http://inlinethumb27.webshots.com/5530/1539455540049739806S600x600Q85.jpg
:bonk: :wink:

I had the same problem in my 18. I had filled up in a Marina that aftewards I found out had moisture problems in their fuel. Especially a problem with todays ethanol added gas.

Intead of adding more alcohol, and forcing the fuel to remove it through absorption, then running that through your motor, I did what my Mercruiser people told me from the local family owned, second generation dealer and repair,

Take your water filter separator off, and dump it into a clear glass jar. Look at it. If it has water in it, then put your filter back on, and run the boat by taking it out. (Bring a filter wrench and a jar with you just in case) Next time you come in, do the procedure again. (If you motor wasn't stalling when you took it out the first time, it shouldn't stall the second time, and that is an indication that you do not have a ridiculous amount of water in the tank)
You keep doing that procedure until it comes up clean, then you replace the filter. Done, and by the way, avoid that Marina who gave you the moisture in the first place, I imagine it is expensive at times to fix a moisture problem in a submerged tank, or on the other hand to shift suppliers who may be causing it. Hope this helps.

[Ranman]

Ranman - if I install one of these Racor units, does this mean I don't have to drain the tank?

I did not drain my tank. The Racor's work infinitly better than the Merc filters. I dumped the Merc filters into glass jars over and over and never saw any water. I was frustrated for months, because initially I could not determine if my issue was water in the tank or not. I took the boat to a mechanic who said he thought for sure it was a water issue. Advice from this board prompted me to get a Racor. I would fire up the boat and it would run fine on the trailer. We'd go out to the lake and it would run fine at tye dock. It would idle out of the channel just fine and when I went to put it up on plane it would sputter and backfire and what not. Right at 2000 RPM just like you're describing.

All I did was spin the Racor on and go for it again. At first, the boat ran great. Half way through my day while running, the engine died. I went back the the filter and removed the drain plug (13/16" by the way) to see ehat I had. I would very carefully let the liquid run down my fingers holding the plug in place to test. Sure enough it was water. I continued to drain the bowl until it changed over to gas. If you pay attention, you can actually feel the liquid change from water to gas and you won't spill much, if any gas. I put the plug back in and she fired right up and I was on my way.

I had several ounces of water come out the first time. After that, I checked the plug after each run and still got quite a bit of water out each time. One other time I had forgotton to check the plug for a while and my engine died while running around the lake (I thought I had run out of gas). I was towed to the gas docks and when the engine wouldn't fire up with a full tank, it dawned on me. Sure enough, several more ounces of water in the Racor bowl.

Eventually, I sucked up all of the water out of the tank and I have had 0 problems since. I check the bowl maybe once during the season now.

You just need to be careful when draining the bowl so you do not let a large amount of gas flow into the bilge, that' s bad :wink:

Good luck and let us know what happens.

[TexasLXC275]

Thanks guys for your help. I'm gonna give the Racor a shot.

[DonziJon]

Water is heavier than gasoline. It will settle to the bottom of the tank. This process of settling only takes "Seconds". The pickup tube in the tank is maybe a couple of inches abve the bottom of the tank..maybe more.. or less.

If you get water in the tank.. and I wonder if the marina can be blamed as they have filters as well...the water will form a bubble in the bottom of your tank, some of which will be sucked up whenever the pickup tube DIPS into the water bubble.. boat rolling around and whatnot. Big filters in the line of course will help..but they won't get rid of The Bubble of water in the bottom of the tank. As long as the bubble is there, you will be dumping your filter and waiting for the next time. GET RID of the bubble. Pump it out ..or try DRYGAS or HEAT. :bonk: John

[TheFees]

Have not had a problem since. This happened to me serveral years ago, that water was in my fuel from a Marina with water in their fuel. I had to go through the drain, check, go out, redrain check, only about 3 times. It only takes a minute. Then when it came up perfectly clean the third time, I put a new filter in. Didn't have to bother with it again, it has been about 3 years. I did check it one time way after that, and it was still perfectly clean.
With the boat jumping and bouncing, most everything that is in the bottom of the tank is going to get stirred up. Any moisture in the bottom will get access to the tube, and leave, caught by your filter.
I guess it would be narrow of me to not consider an additional filter for water separation. In a boat your size, you may be considering trips over greater distances, so an independent filtration system is not such a bad idea. I just wanted to get my 2 cents in about the way I handled it with my 18.
Ciao