Water in both fuel filters

kevMar · February 22, 2011, 11:27:15 AM

Asking for advice from the group.. I have a 1988 34 catalina Hull 615 universal engine 25 I am asking if i should drain the entire tank and remove it and have it cleaned.. I have pumped about 10 gal out and the fuel looks very clean and no residue in the fuel cans. Sould i just replace both filters and get it running or just clean out the tank... The boat was running and started to become very sluggish and then a very big cluod of white smoke/steam came oput of the exhaust. Upon inspecting the Racor fuel filter it was very dirty and the filter on the engine was full of water..... after removing as i sadi about 10 gals the bowel on the racor is full of water ..... what would be the next step. I have looked on the notes but would like some advice thank you ..

Stu Jackson · February 22, 2011, 11:40:34 AM

Diesel floats on water. It appears from your report that you have water in your tank. Pump the entire tank out, replace the filters, get new fuel, bleed the engine and give it a go.

Also check your fuel fill cap to see if it's broken and leaking water.

After you removed the 10 gallons of fuel, what is your fuel gauge reading? Should give you some idea about how much water is left in the tank.

Jim Hardesty · February 22, 2011, 11:45:42 AM

How did you drain the fuel? The normal fuel pickup tube is about off the tank bottom 3/4 of an inch. If you used that you still may have a lot of water sitting on the bottom of the tank. I use a 1/4" copper tube cut at an angle remove the fuel gage plate put the copper tube to the bottom then pump and sample the fuel from that. You can see and swab the tank some from the fuel gage plate that may help you make a decision.
Jim

Ken Juul · February 22, 2011, 11:58:28 AM

If you are getting that much water out of the filters I don't think I would try to save the fuel. Pump the tank dry and properly dispose of the bad fuel. Pull the tank and clean thoroughly. Before you reinstall the tank find out why it has so much water....human mistake?....bad o ring on filler cap?.....bad load of fuel?... Solve that problem, install new filters, clean fuel, bleed the system and be worry free. Instructions can be found using a search or in the wiki.

Ron Hill · February 22, 2011, 03:03:33 PM

Kev : The easiest way to remove the fuel from the tank is to disconnect the fuel hose from the output of the fuel pump and replace that hose with one that goes to a container. Let the electric fuel pump do the work.
The pickup tube does end about 2 inches above the bottom of the than, but there should be a 4" long piece of 3/8" fuel hose on the tube end so the hose lays on the very bottom to pickup fuel.

Definitely remove the tank, clean it with acetone (see my article) and reinstall the tank.

Now you need to find out how all that water got into the fuel tank? I suspect that you have a crack in your plastic fuel cap. Replace the entire fitting so it has a stainless cap. A few thoughts

scotty · February 22, 2011, 07:58:25 PM

I've seen fuel polishing services advertised in some of the larger marinas, to address (algae?) contamination. Would this also clean out water? Is this a viable option for Kev's problem?

Ken Juul · February 23, 2011, 04:17:58 AM

Yes the fuel polishing works....provided you have a reputable operator. But it will run $200-300 in most areas. The fuel tank is so easy to remove and clean, unless you have a ton of extra boat bucks, why not do it yourself.

Ron Hill · February 23, 2011, 06:16:18 PM

Scotty : You have to be careful when pumping out the water & fuel. Remember the the water is on the bottom where the intake to the pump probably is. The fuel polishing people that I've seen have some powerful pumps compared to ours and they recycle (back into your tank) the fuel that they have filtering. The impurities will get trapped in the filter, but there will be a certain amount of water that "sprayed" back into the tank my be broken up into smaller droplets and may gets suspended in the diesel (for awhile).
These guys also wanted $200 to "polish" the fuel 10 years ago, I'd hate to venture what they want today -- to only polish 24 (max)gals of fuel !!

As Ken said and I wrote (in my 10 year ago article) it's so easy to just remove the tank and clean it --WHY Not ???? A thought

kevMar · February 25, 2011, 07:10:26 AM

All the fuel has now been removed. Tomorrow i will remove the tank and rinse with acetone.. I saved about 11 gals can i put that back in the fuel tank or should i go and get some new fuel. It has passed through the racor and looks very clean???? thanks

Ralph Masters · February 25, 2011, 08:05:20 AM

When I removed my tank due to leaks I pumped out the fuel through the racor and reused it. I figure thats what the racor is there for, plus with the cost of fuel, 11 gallons is a bunch of money any more.

Ralph
Ciao Bella

RV61 · February 25, 2011, 12:37:23 PM

One other thing to check to figure out where the water is coming from. On my 1986 MK1 the fuel tank vent is on the transom. Could not figure out where the water was coming from as the fuel cap and O ring was good until I noticed that the fuel tank vent on the transom was upside down thus acting like a funnel collecting water.

Ron Hill · February 25, 2011, 03:43:02 PM

Kev : The fuel that you pumped out is probably clean, but to reuse it I'd pour it back into the tank using a funnel that separates the water from the fuel (look in West Marine).

Just remember that you could be putting contaminated fuel back into the tank. Come On guys, the cost of 11 gallons of diesel is about $35. Who wouldn't pay someone to clear a rough running engine - $35 ?? (that you may have caused!!)

If you read my Mainsheet tank cleaning article, I poured my old fuel on some cutsu vine!! I'd dump it !!

Also check that vent as mentioned.
The most likely still remains a crack in the plastic cap. A friend had the same water problem and I took his cap off and poured alcohol in his cap. He watched the drip drip on the underside of the cap - and he became a believer!! A thought

Ted Pounds · February 25, 2011, 06:33:36 PM

What I did with my old fuel (even though it went through the Racor) is donate it to my yard for use in their diesel equipment. Though it was probably OK to put back in I figured why risk it for the cost of a a tank of fresh fuel...

scotty · February 25, 2011, 09:52:47 PM

Good solution, Ted.

kevMar · February 28, 2011, 04:30:48 AM

Tank back on the boat and all connections made. I did throw out the old fuel and bought new .. Took abit of time to get her started had to bleed and bleed, lots of white smoke before she finally started... Now to change the oil and The Mary Dee will be ready for the summer ... Thank you all for all the info ...