08-01-2011, 01:15 AM
Headed out last night to do some fishing in my boat, got to the lake launched the boat and it would not start, this was the second time this years this has happened, shot starting fluid in the intake and she fired up but then ran out of gas. I pulled the fuel line and I'll be danged for the second time I had water in my gas tank, lots of it! The first time it happened I could not figure out where the water was coming from, its a 60 gal tank on a 90 hp merc. I drained the tank checked and rechecked everything again, filled the tank half full and it ran great, well the boat sat for a week, and it happened again, I park the boat in a secure area no water getting on or in the boat! So to have it happen again I was frustrated and baffled, I jumped on the net and did a bit of research and I think I found the problem, I am asking if any others with outboards have seen this issue.
Apperrantly with this new fuel with Ethenol, it is not good for boats with outboard motors, especially ones with large tanks, The reason apperantly is outboard motors require the tank to breath, When air gets to the Ethenol it causes condensation in the tank, and can produce upto 2 oz of water for each 16 oz of gas. Especially in a large tank with extra capacity to collect the condensation.
The first time this happened I pulled 4 gallons of water out of my tank, This time I have pulled out 2 gallons with just of skiff of gas at the top.
Have others dealt with this, what is the solution, It is getting harder and harder to find gas stations that sell ethenol free gas, do use addatives, if so what?
know I get to drain the tank again, drain the carbs, what a pain in the neck, Any help would be appreciated.
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Apperrantly with this new fuel with Ethenol, it is not good for boats with outboard motors, especially ones with large tanks, The reason apperantly is outboard motors require the tank to breath, When air gets to the Ethenol it causes condensation in the tank, and can produce upto 2 oz of water for each 16 oz of gas. Especially in a large tank with extra capacity to collect the condensation.
The first time this happened I pulled 4 gallons of water out of my tank, This time I have pulled out 2 gallons with just of skiff of gas at the top.
Have others dealt with this, what is the solution, It is getting harder and harder to find gas stations that sell ethenol free gas, do use addatives, if so what?
know I get to drain the tank again, drain the carbs, what a pain in the neck, Any help would be appreciated.
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