Baller DefectiveDave Posted January 23, 2015 Baller Posted January 23, 2015 So it looks like I put some old, bad gas in the tank by accident. Is there a best way to completely drain the gas tank? It's a 1992 Ski Nautique. Nothing jumped out to me while scanning the owner's manual. Thanks!
Baller DefectiveDave Posted January 23, 2015 Author Baller Posted January 23, 2015 I've considered siphoning, but I'm not certain I can get all the gas. Apparently this gas was ethanol treated, so there is likely a phase separated layer at the very bottom of the tank which I must get out.
Baller_ lpskier Posted January 23, 2015 Baller_ Posted January 23, 2015 Ethanol cost me $2500 to completely clean the fuel system of my 2004 Mercedes (now my daughter's ride). It also gummed up the fuel system in an antique boat (1915 hull, 1940's engine). Cleaning a carbureted engine is a lot cheaper than German fuel infection. Lpskier
Baller oldjeep Posted January 23, 2015 Baller Posted January 23, 2015 Get your self a little fuel safe pump that attaches to a drill - or a hand pump like this. http://www.harborfreight.com/multi-use-transfer-pump-66418.html Pull the fuel line at the tank or remove the sender and hook up there. Where did the fuel come from that you think it already phase separated? More likely that you bought fuel with a bunch of water in it.
Baller DefectiveDave Posted January 23, 2015 Author Baller Posted January 23, 2015 @oldjeep, It was at my parents and had been there for about three of months. It's near the limit of regular fuel, but it was supposedly 93 octane so if it had denatured a little it shouldn't have caused any knocking. Anyway, I always buy ethanol free for the boat and it didn't even occur to me that they would have bought E10 for their boat. I didn't ask until after I had poured about 10 gallons into the tank. Since it's 3 month old E10 fuel I'm assuming it has phase separated at this point, but I'm not certain. I'm just trying to play it safe. Better to waste $40 worth of gas rather than cause damage to the engine.
Baller skiep Posted January 23, 2015 Baller Posted January 23, 2015 No DRILL!!! Arc flass at brushes!! do not do it. Keith a
Baller DefectiveDave Posted January 23, 2015 Author Baller Posted January 23, 2015 @skiep, That could be bad, are you speaking from experience? It seems something like this: http://www.northerntool.com/shop/tools/product_200384668_200384668 could be attached downstream by a tube without much risk of the arc hitting any gas fumes. The pump itself shouldn't be arcing. Of course, I would rather err on the side of caution if that is a potential risk. Maybe just run a tube out the bottom of the boat through the drain plug and into a gas tank? Gravity should drain the tank.
Baller skiep Posted January 23, 2015 Baller Posted January 23, 2015 My father was doing the same thing years ago with a vac. Guess what? He was lucky.
Baller oldjeep Posted January 23, 2015 Baller Posted January 23, 2015 Jeebus - E10 does not separate in 3 months, or a year for that matter. I must have 140 gallons of E10 stored during any given 7 month period and I have never ever had a issue with the stuff or added any form of snake oil to it. When I start my boat up in the spring it'll be running on 40 gallons of E10 that were put in there in October just like every year. Assuming we ever get snow, the fuel in the sleds will have been sitting for 9 months. The generators, mowers, weedwhackers, chainsaws, snowblowers are also left with whatever fuel is in them during the off seasons. - Now - what is likely is that the E10 finally cleaned out your fuel system. Folks who run ethanol free forever tend to wind up with a lot of crap in their tank, lines, etc and the ethanol cleans that out fast. You'll want a couple new fuel filters - cut the old one open and see what is in it.
Baller DmaxJC_ski Posted January 24, 2015 Baller Posted January 24, 2015 I believe that Mac tools or summit or any of the other specialty parts/tool companies build a pneumatic recovery vacuum for things like brake fluid, trans oil, diff oil etc. prob $100 I'm guessing but that is a drop in the bucket vs a set of injectors or paying shop rate for a mechanic.
Baller Alberto Soares Posted January 24, 2015 Baller Posted January 24, 2015 I would not worry about E10 gas, down here in Brazil the only gas we have is E25, I have run thousands of hours on different boats and did not have any problem so far, well may be a couple of gas pumps, but I guess that is a normal maintenance item. The only problem with ethanol+gasoline is that if it gets contaminated with water, the ethanol joins the water and separates from the gasoline, going down to the bottom of the tank when it rests.
Baller DefectiveDave Posted January 24, 2015 Author Baller Posted January 24, 2015 Hey guys, Thanks for the suggestions. I've gotten the gas out and it looks like it wasn't separated. So there probably wouldn't have been any issues, but at least now I have peace of mind. I put the extracted gas into the camry. I extracted it using a little transfer pump (hand powered) sold at advanced auto parts. I just attached it to the outlet on the fuel tank that leads to the filter and pump. For the most part I just got it started and then the tank drained after about 5-10 minutes. I'm not really sure how long because I went inside for a beer. Cheers!
Baller GAJ0004 Posted January 25, 2015 Baller Posted January 25, 2015 Add some drygas to the tank. It should remove the moisture.
shyskier Posted February 4, 2015 Posted February 4, 2015 Do not add drygas ( heet ) to ethanol, that is just adding more alcohol. Ethanol will absorb moisture until saturated, than it will seperate.
Baller GAJ0004 Posted February 8, 2015 Baller Posted February 8, 2015 If that does not work, then I would get a siphon pump and remove all the gas, add fresh gas and try to start it.
Baller GOODESkier Posted February 8, 2015 Baller Posted February 8, 2015 Coming from a guy with 50 plus vintage snowmobiles.......... ethanol will never go in anything in my fleet that has the potential to sit for any time period. Especially if that fuel system has any small cavities or air mixture screws. Ethanol flat out SUCKS if you aren't turning that fuel over with frequency. I only run ethanol in my car and truck since it isn't practical to do much of anything else and the constant use doesn't justify any protection. But, a Ski Boat in my opinion does, especially over the winter months in most climates........ Ethanol fuel left untreated can go bad in as little as 30 days. Depends on the conditions at the time of storage and how "old" it is when you pump it from the station and if any moisture is introduced to the fuel system. @oldjeep maybe your experience has been good with little trouble, but mine has been the opposite for my vintage snowmobiles. All my small engine and snowmobiles that are not being run on a regular basis, get a complete fuel system drain/pump and are refilled and run for a short period of time with 100LL AV-Gas. AV-Gas basically never goes bad or separates. CAUTION! AV-Gas should never be used in a vehicle with a catalytic converter or oxygen sensors. You run the risk of clogging those sensors up. I would not run it in my boat! I do run it as a 50/50 mix in a turbo snowmobile I have if I can't get high enough octane gas. My boat will never see ethanol. Just my experience. I hate cleaning carbs/replacing injectors when I would rather be having fun.
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