purchased a 18 fishing boat that sat indoors for 2 years and!!!

mainejohn · May 16, 2013

the 2006 boat sat for 2 years in a garage. the tank is 42 gal and it had about 20 gallons of fuel in it. the owner said he always used marine stabil, so i topped it off and add my own stabil too it. then i was wondering if i should have checked the fuel and made sure it was okay. i am going to install a water seperator. Should i be concerend or will the stabil and water seperator remove any water&ethonal???????

smokeonthewater · May 16, 2013

Re: purchased a 18 fishing boat that sat indoors for 2 years and!!!

You will NEVER get a solid answer on this... People will argue both sides till the end of time..... happens again and again...
Personally I would have disposed of all of the questionable fuel and run fresh only

delta229 · May 16, 2013

Re: purchased a 18 fishing boat that sat indoors for 2 years and!!!

Personally I would have drained the tank and refilled with fresh fuel. A good water filter separator is a must. If you going to go ahead with your plan, I would add some fuel stabilizer, run only a short time and drain your separator or change the filter if it's the cartridge style. I keep an extra filter cartridge on board at all times.

Oshkosh1 · May 16, 2013

Re: purchased a 18 fishing boat that sat indoors for 2 years and!!!

Start it...if it runs(which it probably will), use it. If it doesn't...drain it and start over.
I've used 2 year old fuel(without Stabil) without issue.

A F/W seperator is a must to prevent future water issues.

mainejohn · May 16, 2013

Re: purchased a 18 fishing boat that sat indoors for 2 years and!!!

i will probably put some more stabil in the tank and run it a bit and keep checking the filter for crap in it.

Home Cookin' · May 16, 2013

Re: purchased a 18 fishing boat that sat indoors for 2 years and!!!

hold on. One answer you will get the same is that Stabil and similar additives will not fix bad gas. If yours has phase seperation, neither additives nor diluting with fresh gas will help.

Adding fresh gas to stale gas can help sometimes because your motor can handle degredation and impurities. Not always.

I would NOT start it to see what happens, because that could be a $200 test. I'd pump some gas as it comes out your fuel line to the motor into a clear container and inspect it.

haulnazz15 · May 16, 2013

Re: purchased a 18 fishing boat that sat indoors for 2 years and!!!

I'd just siphon out the old fuel and use it for weed killer or lawn equipment. Too much risk to try and run it through the engine due to contaminants.

mainejohn · May 16, 2013

Re: purchased a 18 fishing boat that sat indoors for 2 years and!!!

40 gals is a lot of gas to symphony out. I guess I will just inspect the fuel in a clear jar and see how it looks.

jigngrub · May 16, 2013

Re: purchased a 18 fishing boat that sat indoors for 2 years and!!!

The fuel is a crap shoot, it'll either work or not.

Changing the impeller (water pump) would be a "must" in my book if the boat hasn't been run in 2 years.

mainejohn · May 17, 2013

Re: purchased a 18 fishing boat that sat indoors for 2 years and!!!

if the motor is pumping water it should be fine? It sprays water out just fine

Home Cookin' · May 17, 2013

Re: purchased a 18 fishing boat that sat indoors for 2 years and!!!

no, impellers are something that need to be changed--they work fine until they fail and cook your motor without warning. Those run in sandy and salt water deteriorate faster. I would think sitting dry for 2 years can't be good either.

series60 · May 17, 2013

Re: purchased a 18 fishing boat that sat indoors for 2 years and!!!

mainejohn said:
the 2006 boat sat for 2 years in a garage. the tank is 42 gal and it had about 20 gallons of fuel in it. the owner said he always used marine stabil, so i topped it off and add my own stabil too it. then i was wondering if i should have checked the fuel and made sure it was okay. i am going to install a water seperator. Should i be concerend or will the stabil and water seperator remove any water?onal???????

The only thing worse than running 2 year old gas in a marine engine of unknown history (which we don't know the make/model) is thinking just because the engine is pumping water that the impeller is GOOD! The rubber will take a set after sitting 2 years. Stop and think about your first outing. Do you want to be towed back in? Take a little time and learn about your boat and engine before venturing out.

If your intent is to have fun on the water then I would suggest draining the fuel and run it in the car/truck/lawnmower or what ever you have around the house. Put 20 gals or so of fresh fuel in the tank. Install a new impeller, drain and re-fill the lower unit. Start it on muffs before splashing it.

colbyt · May 17, 2013

Re: purchased a 18 fishing boat that sat indoors for 2 years and!!!

series60 said:
The only thing worse than running 2 year old gas in a marine engine of unknown history (which we don't know the make/model) is thinking just because the engine is pumping water that the impeller is GOOD! The rubber will take a set after sitting 2 years. Stop and think about your first outing. Do you want to be towed back in? Take a little time and learn about you boat and engine before venturing out.

If your intent is to have fun on the water then I would suggest draining the fuel and run it in the car/truck/lawnmower or what ever you have around the house. Put 20 gals or so of fresh fuel in the tank. Install a new impeller, drain and re-fill the lower unit. Start it on muffs before splashing it.

Why do you insist on being so practical? You are trying to ruin his grand mis-adventure.

WIMUSKY · May 17, 2013

Re: purchased a 18 fishing boat that sat indoors for 2 years and!!!

smokeonthewater said:
You will NEVER get a solid answer on this... People will argue both sides till the end of time..... happens again and again...
Personally I would have disposed of all of the questionable fuel and run fresh only

That sums up the opinions you'll get. I'm always the type that would use fresh gas. I don't like gas to sit in anything for more than a year. It wont hurt to pump a little out and inspect it. I'm betting it will look fine. Since you already topped it off with fresh, run it unless you find contamination. Now if it sat for 3 years, I would have a different opinion.....

Oshkosh1 · May 17, 2013

Re: purchased a 18 fishing boat that sat indoors for 2 years and!!!

It was in a garage so I wouldn't loose sleep over the fuel, especially since you've already topped it off.
If you knew for sure the impeller was only a couple of years old, and it wasn't baking in the hot sun, then I wouldn't worry about that either...if not, replace it.

BonairII · May 17, 2013

Re: purchased a 18 fishing boat that sat indoors for 2 years and!!!

Use the old gas in your lawn mower etc. Being cheap can end up costing a lot of headache.

Change your impeller. An old impeller may work fine....or it may fail and cause an overheat and/or bits and pieces of it may end up clogging the motor's plumbing.

Peace of mind (new fuel and impeller) is worth more than saving a few bucks IMO.

dmoriarty51 · May 17, 2013

Re: purchased a 18 fishing boat that sat indoors for 2 years and!!!

Definately change the impeller, just because it moves water doesnt mean its moving enough to keep everything cool like it should. i picked up a boat that was owned by the father of a guy that runs a marina that is a certified merc dealer.....

I made 2 or 3 trips and ended up overheating that required a rebuild.... Had it done by a guy that works at another dealership that is yamaha certified. Blew it up AGAIN the same way. Went at it myself put a reman powerhead on and found that the impeller was dated 1994. That meant the impeller was 17 years old, now i cant say it was in there from day one. Maybe it had been replaced but it still wasnt even close to new since it was still a 3 vane instead of the updated 6 vane pump.

Long story short spend the time and money on the impeller, its maybe an hour of time and $50 for the kit. Or you can spend big $$ on rebuilding it.

Utahboatnut · May 17, 2013

Re: purchased a 18 fishing boat that sat indoors for 2 years and!!!

Its not really the water thats going to cause you problems, you can drain the water out of the seperator into a container if need be. its the varnish and seperation that will get you, seperator wont always pick it up. I would do the impeller as has been suggested, you know for sure its two years old. How long before the two years it sat had it gone until changed? could be a 4-5 year old impeller a $30.00 part and a few hours time is a darn cheap insurance policy in my book. I do mine anually weather it needs it or not, you dont know until its apart at which time just change it. with a 42 gallon tank im assuming it to be an I/O but maybe not either way getting to know how to do the maint. basics is a must if you plan on owning and operating trouble free for any length of time.

mainejohn · May 17, 2013

Re: purchased a 18 fishing boat that sat indoors for 2 years and!!!

it is a 2006 outboard Johnson90hp . He ran it 4 years than got injured and it sat for 2 years. And all he did mostly just troll.

Oshkosh1 · May 17, 2013

Re: purchased a 18 fishing boat that sat indoors for 2 years and!!!

mainejohn said:
it is a 2006 outboard Johnson90hp . He ran it 4 years than got injured and it sat for 2 years. And all he did mostly just troll.

Replace it...4 years is "old" enough.
Cheap insurance.

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