Re: [Cal_Boats] Bad fuel

Danny - Forgot to ask . . . where is the fuel fill located? Check the rubber O-ring on the fill cap to make sure it is there and in good shape. Also check the fuel tank vent, usually on the side of the hull. Make sure the connection between the vent and the hose is in good shape and not leaking. This can be a pain in the arse to do but is a relatively common place for water to enter since no one ever looks at it. Paul West Dockside Mobile Marine Service & Fuel Polishing Inc. _www.DocksideMobileMarineService.com_ (http://www.docksidemobilemarineservice.com/) 443-614-4070 In a message dated 1/9/2012 8:30:26 A.M. Eastern Standard Time, sa… [at] gmail.com writes: The South Sound has a nearby fuel dock that is owned by the local Sea Scout Troop. We filled up there with a load of diesel fuel last spring. Since then I have drained water out of the fuel separator more than a dozen times. I also added some additive that is advertised to accelerate the separation process. This weekend, after getting down to about 1/3 of a tank, I went to a different fuel dock to top of the tank with what we hope is water free fuel. The process was slow as the filler neck would back up fairly quickly. Nothing was escaping from the overflow vent. After a half hour of slowly filling, the over flow vent blew out the most disgusting glob of jellied diesel snot I've ever seen. The fill went fast then but we never did get the tank full. We then motored out into the bay and had to drain off almost another pint of water from the separator. Oddly the engine purred the whole time. QUESTION: should we be doing something other than draining and occasionally replacing the Racor filter until this all clears up? TIA, Danny

Paul: Thanks for the instructions and this follow-up. The tank is a year old, 33-gallon stainless tank. The deck fill plate is sealed tight and that pesky vent was indeed plugged. Not sure if it was because of the water or not. But when it blew it's nose, it was messy! I have a small pump, some hose and several jerry cans ready for Saturday. When the tank was built I had the shop install a threaded outlet on the bottom to which I added a threaded hose barb before we filled. I will be able to connect to that, open the valve and pump 'till it runs clean. The access hatch plate on top of the tank has about 12 screws and is large enough to give me good access to the interior. Between advice from you and Joe, I think I can correct this all Saturday. Thanks again! Danny --- In Ca… [at] yahoogroups.com, pwestla@... wrote: > > Danny - > > Forgot to ask . . . where is the fuel fill located? Check the rubber > O-ring on the fill cap to make sure it is there and in good shape. Also check > the fuel tank vent, usually on the side of the hull. Make sure the > connection between the vent and the hose is in good shape and not leaking. This > can be a pain in the arse to do but is a relatively common place for water > to enter since no one ever looks at it. > > Paul West > Dockside Mobile Marine Service & Fuel Polishing Inc. > _www.DocksideMobileMarineService.com_ > (http://www.docksidemobilemarineservice.com/) > 443-614-4070 > > > In a message dated 1/9/2012 8:30:26 A.M. Eastern Standard Time, > saltybob2@... writes: > > > > > The South Sound has a nearby fuel dock that is owned by the local Sea Scout > Troop. We filled up there with a load of diesel fuel last spring. Since > then I have drained water out of the fuel separator more than a dozen times. > I also added some additive that is advertised to accelerate the separation > process. > This weekend, after getting down to about 1/3 of a tank, I went to a > different fuel dock to top of the tank with what we hope is water free fuel. The > process was slow as the filler neck would back up fairly quickly. Nothing > was escaping from the overflow vent. After a half hour of slowly filling, > the over flow vent blew out the most disgusting glob of jellied diesel snot > I've ever seen. The fill went fast then but we never did get the tank full. > We then motored out into the bay and had to drain off almost another pint > of water from the separator. Oddly the engine purred the whole time. > QUESTION: should we be doing something other than draining and > occasionally replacing the Racor filter until this all clears up? > > TIA, > > Danny >