Bad gas?

[scottkanderson]

We were on the lake today and the boat was running fine. Ran out of gas on the way back to the dock. There was a ranger there that sold us 5 gallons of gas and I siphoned another 5 gallons out of my truck so we could keep on playing. As soon as we went back out on the lake we could not get back above 15 mph or 3200 RPMs. Before the new gas, we were going 32 mph and 4200 RPMs. Could this be from water in the gas or old gas? I know the 5 gallons from my truck was good.<br /><br />Could running it empty have caused this problem? What else besides a fuel filter and bad gas could it be? I will change those, but if the problem still persists, where should I look?<br /><br />Thanks

 

[jpcody66]

Re: Bad gas?

I've had the same problem. Unfortunately I can't get to my tank (under the floor)and siphoning everything out has been impossible. Get the excess gas out first. You should have several fuel filters on the way to the carburetor. One in line, one in the fuel pump and one in the carburetor itself. Try replacing all then instal a water separator filter. you could also have sucked junk into the lines when you ran out of gas. Hope this helps.

 

[rbezdon]

Re: Bad gas?

tell, odds are that you sucked up junk into the pick up screen when you sucked the last few drops of gas out of the tank. Time to pull out and clean the pick up tube, antisiphon possibly the fuel line, filters and seperator.

 

[scottatwork]

Re: Bad gas?

Ya know this is a concern of mine, as I changed out my fuel line this past weekend, ch anged out the banjo fitting washers and solved my leak problem (It was small but still dangerous).<br /><br />Anyway I noted that my 1986 Bayliner, Volvo 2.3 has no filter on it at ALL....<br /><br />Was looking at that water removal system that they sell, seems you can get the Mercruiser, or any other part.<br /><br />What are your recommendations for a new anti-water filter system? I can probably install it in 20 mins or less after seeing one last night...

 

[Haut Medoc]

Re: Bad gas?

My recommondation is: Install one asap.....JK

 

[rbezdon]

Re: Bad gas?

good idea, worth the time and money as i is not expensive and if you get the crud into the carb, having it rebuilt or getting a new one is, to say noting of a clogged carb can leave you stranded so add a tow. Once installed, change the filter at least once a year!! (See, I am learning from Don!!)

 

[Scaaty]

Re: Bad gas?

Rust, crud, and corrosion monsters live at bottom of fuel tanks, waiting to enter your fuel system at the last gasp of gas. Clean all filters, including any inline carb filters, and what you think is bad gas (should be the last thing you look at) will no longer be a problem. If you have no filters (there should be some somewhere), the carbs will have to come off and cleaned

 

[scottkanderson]

Re: Bad gas?

Ok, I changed the filter at the carb, and the water separator. I could not get to the screen on the pickup line because it is welded on to a metal gas tank, but I did take of the anti-siphon valve and that seemed fine. I then blew air into the tank with the valve off to clear the pickup screen. <br /><br />I then added 5 more gallons of gas and some heat additive. At the lake, it started right up but was running even worse than before. It was a nice day so I didn't want to go home so we putted around the lake. Slowly it started to get better and after an hour it was running like a champ. I guess it was bad gas after all.

 

[scottatwork]

Re: Bad gas?

Mine did this too......in the driveway, but i"ll know in about 2 hrs if it fixed it.<br /><br />I had gas that was at least one year old, 3/4 of a tank of it.<br /><br />I put 2 bottles of HEET in, some detergent (Gas) and another 7 gallons to top it off.<br /><br />It started up, ran crappy for a minute and then just settled out smooth. I'm anxious to see if this solves the problem..........<br /><br />And then the water fuel separating filter will go on this weekend (Or maybe today)....

 

[scottkanderson]

Re: Bad gas?

If it still runs bad at the lake you either need to drain that gas, or just cruise around for several hrs untill you have burned a lot of it up. 3/4 of a tank is a lot of bad gas. Mine was only 5 gallons and it took more than an hour for it to start running good. I am just lucky it was a nice day, or I would have pulled it out and started checking fuel pumps and such. Glad I didn't. If you can, I would try to get that gas out of the tank first, even with the high gas prices, and start with all new gas. With 3/4 of a tank and 7 more gallons added to it, that means there is at least 21 gallons of old gas that started to turn to varnish. I'm not sure how bad that is for your carb to run that gas through it, but certainly the gas that sat in your carb for a year in not good, and has probably clogged the carb some. Might need to rebuild it. Hope it fixes itself for you like mine did.

 

[Scaaty]

Re: Bad gas?

Originally posted by Scott at work:<br /> I put 2 bottles of HEET in, some detergent (Gas) and another 7 gallons to top it off.

Heet is useless on bad gas, and most other snake oil additives except (good-read expensive) octane booster, and top off what ya can with premium. Of course, this can turn into an "oil" type argument, so best to drain/replace if ya can