ALL HANDS! 2 Gallons of Raw Water in the Fuel Tank!! 🤢

[SVTOMCRUISE]

Well we'd just finished crossing from St. Augustine to Southport. 25 knot winds on the final 8 hours ...

... the main starts ripping so we take it down and the boat stops heeling. That's when the water could reach the fuel line ... on the way into the inlet our engine dies, of course with barges on our 6 o'clock).

At which point my friend looks down and realizes he has left the fuel cap off in high seas. We get to work changing fuel filters and bleeding off water from the bottom of the Raycor. About two gallons of raw sea water and three hours later we finally get the engine to start back up, reluctantly. For the next couple of days she doesn't like starting and sounds terrible around idle speed (with knocking ... so valves maybe?), but just fine at her usual 2500 rpms.

What needs to happen? A fuel polish? New fuel filters? So many questions ... PLEASE HELP!!

[Stu Jackson]

Diesel floats on water.  You need to get to the bottom of the fuel tank and get it out.

[KWKloeber]

It helps to give us some pertinent info -- like which engine?

The typical procedure would be:

Remove fuel/water, inspect/swab/dry the tank (probably impossible on the 34?), new filters, flush the lines, re-fuel, re-bleed the fuel system at the bleed screw, hope for the best that the injector pump or injectors are not damaged w/ saltwater.

and get a new friend?

[mark_53]

Get a piece of tubing, put it down the fuel deck fitting until it hits bottom of tank.  Start siphoning until you only get fuel.

[Noah]

If you opt to syphon the water out of the tank as Mark suggested, i would remove the fuel sender float from the top of the tank and put the hose down that way. IMO this is a more sure way to reach the bottom of the tank without the hose curling up going down the deck fill route. However, if it was my boat, I would syphon all the fuel out and get rid of it, or perhaps have it professionally fuel polished. Either way, unfortunately, it will be expensive

[Ron Hill]

Forgetful : Syphon everything out of the tank until it is empty.  Might even be a good idea to remove the tank (NOT that difficult) to insure it is empty.  Add some alcohol and wash out the tank to get all the residual water.  Let dry and then reinstall and fill with new clean fuel!!

A few thoughts

[SVTOMCRUISE]

🤣🤣 ok - the comment about a new friend really got me rolling ...

Here's the plan now. Professional fuel polish, filter changes, and then bringing a mechanic into the equation to check the injectors. I assume something is truly wrong at this point so wish me luck this weekend ... we're doing engine ER work ... she's a Universal M35

[Ron Hill]

Forgetful : Tis finally the responsibility of the Captain to check all hands!!  Enough on that!!

As I mentioned about removing the fuel tank - it just might be that time of your boats life that the tank does need cleaning??  It surely wouldn't be a waste of your time!!

A few thought

[Noah]

"Cleaning" is a good idea, but not that easy with no inspection/cleaning ports and the internal baffles inside on the OEM tank. It becomes more like a good shake and multiple rinse operation.

[KWKloeber]

If the tank IS removed (and while out should be checked for competency) it would be a grand idea to add the inspection ports.

[Jeff Tancock]

Pull the tank. It's easy to do after draining the tank. I just pulled the hose off the filter and use the boats fuel pump to dump the fuel into a large pail(s). Use acetone or alcohol to rinse out the tank then dry completely.
Change all filters and start with fresh fuel.
Might get lucky as it might be fine!

[Bob K]

If this is the original fuel tank, you might be better off just replacing it with a new one.   The 20+ year old tanks corrode and develop pin hole leaks.  Search this site and you'll find plenty info on that.  Replacement would be an easier job than cleaning!!