Pacemaker Boats

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I posted about a problem with water in another area but it belongs here so I'll post my findings from last night. Port tank had water in the fuel, separator contents were cloudy and dirty. Kind of surprised me since my tanks are new, this is only the second season for them. I pulled the fuel filters and found more fine dirt particles. Since I dont think its from the tank manufacturer, it had to come from the gas stations were I have been buying gas. I shop around for the cheapest gas and thats usually at BJ's wholesale or a Hess station around the corner from the marina. So I will be running my gas through a fine paint filter as it is put in my boat. Anyone else have a similar problem with their fuel?

[rebait]

I had similar findings in the seperator on my 18' Dixie. I suspect the local BP station. Since I switched over to buying only from the local Hess station, I have not had any problems. A neighbor had the same problem and he was buying from a Wawa. He swithched over to the Hess station and he has had no problems since. Who knows the real answer. I did find fine particles only in the filters on the Wahoo. Not much but that is another mystery right down to is it an idication of fuel hose degradation or a potential tank problem or dirt in the fuel?

John

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Thats the big question John since I installed all new tanks and fuel lines I didnt think I would have any problems other than fuel stability and water. To find dirt particles means it most likley came from the gas station where I buy my gas. I should have saved the particles and checked them with a magnet but didnt. The port engine is the one that blew last year with less than 20 hours on it, makes me wonder if the issues are related in some way

[leokow]

Nice to see you found the problem with the boat,better that you got it now and not later in the season. I don't think that the metal you found would have been magnetic,most of the things like pipes and nozzles are not made of steel so they won't spark and cause problems. Consequently, the metals they do use are softer and when they get scraped against the sides if the truck fills,or the gas station fills,little bits come off and go into the tanks. Since all pic-ups draw from the bottom every once in a while they get drawn into your fuel and then they collect in your fuel tank. The rocking and rolling of the boat gets the particles past the baffles and lets them collect in the rear near your pick-up, where they find their way into your separator and hopefully get stopped there.
I don't believe your engine problems last year had anything to do with this, and everything to do with the guy you had overhaul your engines,it seems he had a big problem with using a torque wrench.I don't know why, maybe he felt it was beneath him to use one. I know it's very rare for the cam shaft gear bolts to come loose, like they did on you last year.
In all the years that I worked on engines for my cars , race cars, and shop cars,and boats. I had never seen this happen, I've seen the gear break,or strip some teeth but never did the bolts come loose.
Back to your fuel for a minute, when you do partial fillups you are much more likely to have fuel problems than when you just fill once and then run the tank down. It happens a lot on cars too, when you have people that are always buying $5 bucks of gas every couple of days. Naturally I'm talking about when gas was a reasonable price a few years ago.
So you may reduce some of your problems if you buy a larger quanity of gas instead of small ones everytime you go out. Also it's easier for the additives to combat water problems when there is more fuel to dissapate them in. Hope all is fine,talk to you later...Leo

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With the cheapest gas here at $4.23 a gallon, that means each 75 gallon tank would cost $317 to fill or around $635. Since I also have to worry about electricity costs with the central air and pool running (electric bill was $512) and the admiral pumping gallons and gallons of water on her flowers (water bill $267) everyday, its hard to justify spending all that money on fuel.

[leokow]

I guess if you keep a close eye on your gas and check the separators once a month you can continue to do things the way you are without causing any damage. The biggest source of water is the condensation that occurs when a metal tank is not filled to the top. The culprit is the metal exposed above the fuel and the vent system for marine fuel tanks. At night when the temp. cools the gas shrinks, the vent allows moist humid air to come into the tank and it condenses on the metal walls,when the condensation becomes heavy enough it falls into the fuel, if you haven't used the boat, and if you have used it the rocking and rolling of the boat washes the sides of the tank with fuel and it mixes with the water that way.
If you let the separator get full of water and some of it gets pulled into the engine you may feel as though you hit something while going along on a nice smooth run and if that happens long enough then you bend a rod or burn a hole in a piston,not much fun.
Terry, I know you aready know all of this but I figured I'd put it on in case someone else looks at the problem.
So the best way to prevent any damage is check the separators at least once a month.

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Plus adding E-zorb and Startron with EVERY fuel addition