Fuel issue-gctid398783

[Guest]

Hi BOC,

I'm not going to start with the "my boat wont start" line. I've narrowed it down to an issue with fuel or lack of getting fuel. I have a '98 Bayliner Cierra 2655 with a brand new 357 Mercruiser. Recently got stuck with a no start, but noticed before it happened that my boat was experiencing significant hesitation. So... Self diagnosed a fuel issue as an obvious starting point. I took off the fuel filter, emptied its contents in a pail and noticed a small amount of blackish substance at the bottom, with clear fluid at the top. Within an hour the whole concoction turned milky cloudy. When it was a black/bottom & clear/top, the marina guy said it was an algea microbe issue. When I took the pail to a mechanic (milky at that point), he said it was water in the tank.

To confirm a fuel issue, I started the boat No problem with a portable gas tank and the main line hose in the tank. So I do have fuel problem. Mechanic told me to siphon the bottom 3 gallon off the bottom. Marina guy told me to add some microbe algea additive... Two different opposing views. What do you think? I should also add that I had a heck of a time filling up on my last fill. Took me 2 hours to pour 50 gallons. Wouldnt go down. Not sure if its related, but I did replace my gas vent. So... Should I siphon a few gallons off the bottom? Where do I stick the hose? Should I pour some dry gas stuff in? Alcohol? The microbe stuff? I'm at a loss for next steps. Jeez, lots here. This is a great board. Never has led me wrong so far :-)

[Guest]

You replaced the vent before or after you had the fill problem? If before, I would guess your vent line is blocked.

[iceclimber]

You did a great job diagnosing it and figuring out the vent issue as well. I don't know if the busted vent was causing condensation to become water in the tank (?) Obviously you don't want to throw away 50 gallons of gas (in fact it's a pita to get rid of gas) and snaking a hose down your fill should be pretty easy. They do make dedicated fuel transfer pumps, don't get tempted to use something else. Obviously the easy thing to do is just siphon it out if you can get your catch tank low enough...simple enough on the hard. I'd go that way and no harm in throwing in some dryer product. I went this exact route only to find out it was not water. However I did become good at sucking gas into my mouth.

[Guest]

I replaced the fuel vent today (after i was dead in the water). I also took the vent hose off. Both the vent hose and fuel vent were clear as a whistle. Replaced the fuel vent anyways. Im thinking I'll snake a line down my tank and siphon out a few gallons. Water is heavier than gas and should settle at the bottom, right? Im not sure why my engine is getting the water at the bottom of the tank. Unless the fuel pump line is at the bottom?

[Guest]

I had a simular problem, i found the easiest way was to go to lowes or harbor freight and buy the manual pump, it is orange and has evrything you need. disconnect the fuel line from the tank and connect pump and start pumping. it only took a couple min to pump 5 gal into a can. also my recycle center takes fuel.

Good luck

[Guest]

I recently siphoned the gas out of my 2455. I ran a hose through the drain hole and connected it to the fuel line connection on the tank. Just remember to replace the anti-siphon valve before trying to siphon.

[Guest]

Last August I had a fuel problem similar to what you're describing. I added a marine fuel additive for fuels containing alcohol and haven't had a fuel problem since.

[Guest]

Real time update as I lay stranded in the middle of Puget sound... I siphoned out approx 15 gallons and had appox 15 gal left. I put the hose to the bottom of the tank in hope of catching the water. After gal 15, the water bubbles in the hose dissapeared, and I figures I was all set. I noticed the 15 gals I siphoned out into a trash can looked nice and clear. Some very minor evidence of water, but really too small to notice. So I put the fuel line hose back on and she fired up nicely. Left her running for 15 mins. She purred. So I decided to make a run for fuel (10miles away). I had her cruising nicely at 3K for about 4 miles and then it happened. RPM hesitation. Bounced around 2.5-3K. That went on for a mile and she died. No start. I kept a spare fuel filter and just replaced the old one (i had the "old" one on for no more than 4miles). The fuel from the filter came out clear and looked clean. But after 30minutes of sitting it has turned a brown milky color. How does it go from clear and clean to brown milky? What does that mean? Anyways, I thought putting a new fuel on would do the trick since it worked last time. Nope. Wont even turn over with the new filter. I gave the thottle a few pumps. Still nothing. I noticed that there is no fuel in the fuel line tube going to the carb... Huh? So... now I cant tell if I still hace crap fuel (even though the 15gals looks clean in a barrel), or if I have some sort of blockage in my fuel line, or if my fuel pumps is dead..?? And I completely perplexed on why the fuel filter gas came out clear, and then turned milky brown in 30mins. Maybe my boat is cursed. Hoping for some good advise. Thanks

[Guest]

So I emptied the fluid from my fuel filter into a clear bottle and found that it was a light green color (not the milky brown I said before). It looked milky brown because it was in a red pail. Green color? Is it oil and not water? Weird. What'even more strange is that I put a new fuel filter on and tried starting several times with starting fluid. It turned over but for only a second each time. Just emptied that new fuel filter into another clear bottle and it was also the same greenish color... Huh? I hasnt run on the new fuel filter. I should also point out that I noticed my oil was way low today, and inly has ~30 hours of use on the last oil change. It needed 2 quarts. Do you think there's an issue with oil getting into my fuel? So maybe its not water? Anyways, just put a new (4th one) on and put the fuel hose into a fresh portable gas can. Wouldnt turn over. Fuel line running to the carb is dry as a bone. Local mechanic is stumped. So frustrated... Thoughts?