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Water in fuel water separator/ proper procedure?
Posted on 5/9/23 at 8:18 am
Posted on 5/9/23 at 8:18 am
I have twin Suzuki df175s and one of them wouldn't start the other day. Looks like a bad fuel primer bulb, so I went and replaced it and it still wouldn't start. I looked into the fuel water separator and it was half full of water. 100 service was done last June so I was in the process of ordering the parts to do them again.
But, I've never had one that full (1/2 full) of water. There was also some water in the fuel filter in the motor.
So I emptied both. It started to rain after that so I quit. But the primer bulb wouldn't get hard after 20-30 pumps, but in hindsight I probably should have filled both the filter and separator with new fuel? With that much water, is there anything else I need to do? 150 gallon tank about 2/3 full of gas, so I was going to maybe siphon it out and put it in my truck worst case?
How much should I worry? My other motor is running fine and I haven't had a chance to check that separator yet. Obviously I won't take the boat out before doing so.
But, I've never had one that full (1/2 full) of water. There was also some water in the fuel filter in the motor.
So I emptied both. It started to rain after that so I quit. But the primer bulb wouldn't get hard after 20-30 pumps, but in hindsight I probably should have filled both the filter and separator with new fuel? With that much water, is there anything else I need to do? 150 gallon tank about 2/3 full of gas, so I was going to maybe siphon it out and put it in my truck worst case?
How much should I worry? My other motor is running fine and I haven't had a chance to check that separator yet. Obviously I won't take the boat out before doing so.
4
Posted on 5/9/23 at 8:51 am to baldona
I bought a boat last year and recently found some water in the clear plastic receptacle in bottom of fuel water separator. I took the canister off and bought a new cartridge (the clear bottom receptacle you can keep and re-use). I haven't started it since then but plan on putting some fresh fuel in the cartridge before starting.
This post was edited on 5/9/23 at 8:52 am
Posted on 5/9/23 at 9:09 am to baldona
Change the water separators, add some stabilizer with fresh fuel. Go make a trip and check the new ones. If you have ton of water in them again you may want to go ahead and drain the remainder to get all the water out at that point
Posted on 5/9/23 at 9:57 am to baldona
Does it have ethanol in it? Do you already have stabilizers? If it has dispersent from something like ethanol or star tron I think you should drain the whole tank. Had a little water in my tank a few months back, no where near half and my Suzuki wouldn't run. Also tried to use it in my lawnmower and I had to use starting fluid to start it. I wouldn't put it in my truck for sure.
Posted on 5/9/23 at 9:59 am to 72LATraveler
The fuel is pulled from the bottom of the tank where the water would settle, correct?
Seems to me when its been on the trailer for a day I could siphon the gas through the fuel lines to the outboards by a pump or I maybe just able to siphon IDK into fuel cans and this would show me if there is much water in there? If there's much water it should be pulling almost only water through the fuel line if its settled on the trailer?
Seems to me when its been on the trailer for a day I could siphon the gas through the fuel lines to the outboards by a pump or I maybe just able to siphon IDK into fuel cans and this would show me if there is much water in there? If there's much water it should be pulling almost only water through the fuel line if its settled on the trailer?
Posted on 5/9/23 at 10:02 am to LEASTBAY
quote:
Does it have ethanol in it? Do you already have stabilizers?
I've only had the boat about 6 months. A couple trips ago I had to put about 60 gallons of 10% ethanol in with stabilizer due to the only station around having an ethanol free pump issue. I wasn't happy about it but it was either that or don't go.
But its 150 gallon tank, so just a little reading online says I really don't need to stress until I dig a little deeper into this.
This post was edited on 5/9/23 at 10:03 am
Posted on 5/9/23 at 3:47 pm to baldona
It should settle in the bottom. You could try and pump some out in a clear bottle if you dont want to run new filters on it. Me personally, i would change the filters and make a river trip to burn some fuel then check them after. If it has enough to cause concern then id drain the tank and start fresh.
Posted on 5/9/23 at 4:29 pm to baldona
If you have an aluminum tank condensation of water will occur........... My 160 gallon tank was miserable about condensation. After 3-4 months of no use, There would be 2-3 gallons of water to be removed. Drain valve on fuel water separator would eliminate 6-8 ounces at a time. The water will wreck fuel injector pumps. Having the issue with one engine indicates one of the fuel supply dip tubes is probably lower than the other.
The real fix is to install a fuel circulation polisher unit drafting from the low part of the tank.
This issue was totally frustrating
Posted on 5/9/23 at 4:47 pm to Trevaylin
Just went through this. I bought a pump off Amazon for pumping gas and pumped out 90 gallons. Unfortunately if you pump out from fuel line you don’t get all the water out. We put the gas in a clear 5 gallon water bottle and let the water settle to bottom and took gas off top. Got my 300 Yamaha running but not good. There’s a vst tank in the engine that has a filter that had to be changed
Posted on 5/9/23 at 5:05 pm to baldona
quote:
But, I've never had one that full (1/2 full) of water. There was also some water in the fuel filter in the motor.
sounds like there was water in the gas station tanks where you bought gas at some point. just see if you can think back and figure out where and avoid that station in the future. with that much water, i would think it had to be the last place you got gas.
also check to be sure rain water isnt getting into the tank somehow. i have never seen a single drop of water in my separator since i had it.
the solution is simple, drain the separator of water, and you said you already drained the filter under the cover, so now drain the vapor separator reservoir under the cover to clear that out of any water. it has a bleed screw at the bottom to drain it but its not easy to see it.
next remove the fuel line going into the separator and use it to siphon gas from the tank into a bucket until you dont see any more water in the gas coming out. if you cant tell, then pour that into a clear container to see if there is any water still in it. any gas you removed that you arent sure you can trust can be used for the lawnmower so it isnt wasted.
finally after you got it as clean as you can, add fuel system cleaner to the tank that is designed to remove any water or moisture in your gas tank and then go burn that tank completely dry before refilling with fresh new gas at a station you didnt use the last 2 times you got gas.
none of this is hard but if you let the shop do it they will charge several hundred dollars to do the same thing i just told you.
if you have aluminum gas tanks then keep them full at all times to prevent getting water in the tanks. water accumulates in the tank if there is air in there so keep them full every time you park the boat.
This post was edited on 5/9/23 at 5:10 pm
Posted on 5/9/23 at 6:11 pm to keakar
With vent for tank, humid air can get in and then you can get water from condensation. Again I would recommend not using the fuel line to siphon because the water will be on very bottom of tank and you likely won’t get all of it
Posted on 5/9/23 at 6:17 pm to lctiger
quote:
I would recommend not using the fuel line to siphon because the water will be on very bottom of tank and you likely won’t get all of it
fuel line draws from the bottom of tank, it wont get it all, but it will get all but the last 1/4" from the bottom and the only way to get it all is to drain and remove he tank which means it must be siphoned out using the fuel line first
Posted on 5/9/23 at 6:21 pm to keakar
I opened my tank where the gas gauge goes in and pumped it dry from bottom of tank. Depending on the shape of tank that quarter inch of water can become thick when you accelerate and the bow of boat goes up
Posted on 5/9/23 at 8:19 pm to lctiger
Is there any reason not to dump and check the separator often? everyone online says to just put a new one? But I don’t understand why you couldn’t just check them 3-4 times a year and reuse? Get a new one yearly: at the 100 hour service?
Posted on 5/9/23 at 8:56 pm to baldona
I just put on one of the separators with the valve at bottom to drain water. I see no reason not to check it often, drain it
Posted on 5/9/23 at 9:25 pm to lctiger
Just went through something similar. Motor started acting up like it was water in fuel or not getting enough fuel. Changed separator, both fuel filters on motor. Used a harbor freight transfer pump to pump all the gas from tank into cans then into my truck.
Filled tank with fresh non ethanol, went fishing, motor acted up again. Remembered that when I changed the separator I noticed the line from separator to engine was a liner hose. Didn’t have a piece of line to replace it so I bypassed the separator and connected the hose from tank to motor. Ran great all the way to my fishing spot. Put a bunch of nice specks in the box, then on the way in motor acted up again. Wasn’t until I got home that I realized on the way in, primer bulb bouncing around got caught in a position to kink the hose against the transom. I had already ordered some new fuel line when I got back to the camp so I changed the two pieces of fuel line with new sierra hose. Now runs great. They can make you pull your hair out, that’s for sure.
Filled tank with fresh non ethanol, went fishing, motor acted up again. Remembered that when I changed the separator I noticed the line from separator to engine was a liner hose. Didn’t have a piece of line to replace it so I bypassed the separator and connected the hose from tank to motor. Ran great all the way to my fishing spot. Put a bunch of nice specks in the box, then on the way in motor acted up again. Wasn’t until I got home that I realized on the way in, primer bulb bouncing around got caught in a position to kink the hose against the transom. I had already ordered some new fuel line when I got back to the camp so I changed the two pieces of fuel line with new sierra hose. Now runs great. They can make you pull your hair out, that’s for sure.
This post was edited on 5/9/23 at 9:28 pm
Posted on 5/15/23 at 6:20 pm to stein_burgundy
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