DANG IT!! Possible water in fuel. Complete dumb blunder!

M

medic3538

Member
Aug 17, 2008
151
Charleston, SC
Boat Info
2005 260 Sundancer. 2003 F250 Super Duty V10 Ford Tow. 5.0 KW Kohler genset. Old school Naman GPS.
Engines
350 MAG MPI, Bravo 2 drive.
Swallow the pride and again share a dumb story. So, dropped the girl off at the shop for the impellar change.

Figured out work was going to have me out of town 4 days out, 3 home, 4 out again.

Remembered on last fill up I was out of Marine Stabil-ize. Since I was going to be away from the boat for a couple weeks I figured I should run by the shop and dump some Stabil in the tank before I jetted off.

And then, I didn't put the gas cap back on the #@$% dam &^%#$# fill up &^%$# crap!!

Shop super calls me today. "Uhh, the tech noticed on Friday the gas cap was off, you know it rained all day Friday."

I will be home tomorrow and will be discussing the possibility of removing the fuel feeder out of the tank and then of course pumping it dry (Just dropped $150 into the tank before I dropped it off).

Moral of the story....well that's obvious...let you know how it goes!

CRAP!!!!:smt089:smt013
 
Do you think that much water got into the tank?
Not sure of the exact science behind a rain gauge but it is pretty simple a tube of x diameter will fill with y amount of water based on the area open to the falling rain creating a cubic volume of water. If I remember right an inch of rain falling over a inch and a half diameter hole should only be few ounces of water. Let the fuel and water separator take a shot at clearing the water out. How much rain did you get?

Google rain gauge and there should be a site that will tell you how much water would collect with a fuel hole diameter of 1 1/2 inches against the amount of rain that fell in Charleston.

I know Charleston can get some down pours but I do not think you have a lot to worry about.
 
Are you sure you don't have a fuel/water separater in the bilge, hopefully you do. I agreer with the above post...you may not have got a lot of water in the tank. I'll keep my fingers crossed.
 
2000SEARAY280SS said:
Do you think that much water got into the tank?
Not sure of the exact science behind a rain gauge but it is pretty simple a tube of x diameter will fill with y amount of water based on the area open to the falling rain creating a cubic volume of water. If I remember right an inch of rain falling over a inch and a half diameter hole should only be few ounces of water. Let the fuel and water separator take a shot at clearing the water out. How much rain did you get?

Google rain gauge and there should be a site that will tell you how much water would collect with a fuel hole diameter of 1 1/2 inches against the amount of rain that fell in Charleston.

I know Charleston can get some down pours but I do not think you have a lot to worry about.
Click to expand...


See, that's what I am saying! 3.8 in. of rain fell all day long. Winds were like 3 -4 mph. Occastional gusts at 12 per weather history. I was going to go to Hilton Head Saturday, but I'll stay in the area as if the engine does begin to run rough, I can shut down and get towed in. Yes, I am a member of sea Tow.

I'll put a new water seperator in as well even though I just changed 50 or so hours ago. My mechanic is a really honest guy and I he rarely tries to get me to get things done that don't need to. I am going to go with the gut on this one and just tool around Charleston Saturday/Sunday and see what happens.

Appreciate the positive points!
 
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Buy a few extra water separating filters, add HEET or whatever it's called and see what happens. I'd try it on the trailer before you move it. All the water IF any, should have settled near the bottom of the tank near the fuel pickup. If you are going to have a problem, it will show up in the first few minutes. The other option is to pump out just the first few gallons from the bottom of the tank where the water will accumulate.

Was your fuel tank exposed to the rain? I mean, if the wind was blowing from left to right, and your tank opening was on the right hand side, you may not have ANY water in there! Still, 4 inches, is less than a cup of water and if you have a full tank, you may never even notice it.
 
Sundancer said:
Buy a few extra water separating filters, add HEET or whatever it's called and see what happens. I'd try it on the trailer before you move it. All the water IF any, should have settled near the bottom of the tank near the fuel pickup. If you are going to have a problem, it will show up in the first few minutes. The other option is to pump out just the first few gallons from the bottom of the tank where the water will accumulate.

Was your fuel tank exposed to the rain? I mean, if the wind was blowing from left to right, and your tank opening was on the right hand side, you may not have ANY water in there! Still, 4 inches, is less than a cup of water and if you have a full tank, you may never even notice it.
Click to expand...

Good call on the "keep it on the trailer and run it" idea. That was brilliant!! I'll do it tomorrow right at the shop.

It's a good thing my feet are attached or I'd be falling all over the place!! Geez!!

Had the camper canvas up, so, I just am not seeing it as well. Will definately run it at the shop.
 
The location of the gas cap will make a difference too. In other words a side mount vs. on a flat deck. Make sure you have water separators for your gennie too. Depending on how much water, your gennie might have less issues with the water. On the other hand, it could have more!!

The idea wasn't brilliant, it was just common sense. When stuff like this happens, you start thinking about the worst thing that can happen not necessarily the reality of what has happened. Throwing it out on CSR gives you a sanity check! Let's hope it run GREAT tomorrow!! :thumbsup:
 
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No worries. Top it off and run it through. On a vertical mounted filler, you wouldn't have collected much water. You would probably have more water from phase separation or condensation. Run it through.
 
No problem. Use a liter of methyl hydrate / methanol / methyl alcohol... whatever you want to call it. The water will dilute enough to burn away with the fuel. It works.
 
You said you just filled up? Did the fuel come with 10% ethanol - if it did you should be GTG. If it starts running rough - spin off the fuel/water seperator and dump into a glass mason jar (see if the water/fuel seperates - water should be on the bottom) and replace. When this tank is gone refill with fresh fuel and then replace the filter.
 
It seems like someone in our marinal did this and they syphoned most of it out. This is from Wikipedia but it might be worth looking into:

Weight of Water Compared to Weight of Gasoline


At a temperature of 20 degrees C or 68 degrees Fahrenheit, a (U.S.) gallon of pure water weighs about 8.34 pounds, whereas a gallon of vehicular gasoline weighs about 6.15 pounds at that temperature.



Diesel weighs about 7.1 pounds per gallon.

Though the question is appears to be about weight, it is actually about density, which is weight per unit of volume.
The SI-Unit of density is the kilogram per cubic metre, and expressed in those units, the densities are these:
Water: 998 kg/m3
Gasoline: 720 kg/m3
Diesel: 830 kg/m3

You see this when gasoline and water are put into a glass:
because they are immiscible and the density of gasoline is lower, it will stay at the top.
 
Just got back from shop. Me, techs and super have all come to basically everyone elses conclusion.

I ran her for 45 min on the bunny ears at the shop, varying RPM's. Engine appeared fine and purring. I picked up 2 more water seperators and am going to get on plane tomorrow and run the whole tank through (a good excuse to go for an off shore run along the coast tomorrow, have to make sure everything is o.k. before I run to Hilton Head this weekend!)

I picked up some Hydro-burn (Thanks Knot-sure :thumbsup:) and use my good ole Stabil on next fill up and I feel like I should be o.k.

Post after I get back from HH. As always, thanks CSR!!
 
See?? All that worrying for nothing!! :grin:
 
So, the Hilton head trip went well. She purred like a kitten the whole time. If you'll recall I just had the impellar changed before the whole thread started.

When I returned from the run, I took her back to the shop as I had some gelcoat work done, but when it dried the color didn't match, so they just had to redo it.

I went to flush the engine and there was no water flow through the engine.

Go figure! Well, at least it happened in front of the tech at the shop.

Thanks again as usual CSR!!!!
 
Medic,

Glad the trip went well. Did you encounter any unmarked areas of shoaling on your way to/from HHI?

Thanks.
 
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SeaRide said:
Medic,

Glad the trip went well. Did you encounter any unmarked areas of shoaling on your way to/from HHI?

Thanks.
Click to expand...

Searide. Here is a post I "posted" on the Charleston SC boating facebook page:

Just got back from Hilton Head run. WAS EXCELLENT!! The Port Royal Sound was a bit nasty going in, but coming out back to Charleston there were 20 + knot winds. Luckily had following water. Once past Paris Island, it was smooth cruising.

FYI: That little section on the ICW before the HWY 174 bridge right before Wadmalaw Sound where the green is really close to a private dock..(sorry run on there) IS LOW!!!!, some possible shoaling for some reason. It appeared on GPS that the tide was in mid stage between high to low. I was at idle speed since I was going past that private dock anyway and the sounder was showing 3 feet. If it was low, I feel like I would have run aground. Didn't hit bottom, but just FYI. BOAT ON MY FRIENDS!!!!
 
sorry for the hijack and bringing back an old thread...however my problem is related.

Out at the Coast last week and my engine wouldn't run at idle. Checked the fuel/water separator and it was 3/4 water. Not sure how it got in there (some sketchy fuel docks in the remote areas around here, could've been that).
Here's the question...I've put methyl hydrate in the tank and replaced my filter a couple times, sprayed a can of carb cleaner in, and it still won't idle. Do I need to pull my carb and clean/rebuild? or?
Thanks!
Dan
 
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