Water in Fuel Starting Issues

[legalfee]

I ran my 95 90hp low on gas and it shut off. I had to use starting fluid to get it going again. I assume it was water in the bottom of the tank. I put some Heet in the tank and 10 gallons of pre mix. Now the motor is very hard to start. It's almost like fuel is not getting to the carbs.

My enricher is not working so I normally use starting fluid. In the past after starting I could cut it off and it would restart easily unless I let it sit more than a day.

I'm wondering if I need to change out the fuel pump and filter. (I don't have a water separator).

Thanks for any ideas.

 

[Nordin]

If you suspect water in the bottom of the tank there is water in the fuel pump and the carbs too.
Maybe there was a bit dirt in the bottom too.
Clean the carbs, the fuel pump and the fuel line.

 

[puffitu]

Yeah running her down to low you’re asking for trouble; older boat, tank, no separator…? Disconnect tank and line; try running from a portable maybe?

 

[pnwboat]

If you ran it low, you may have contaminated the fuel lines and carbs. Do you have any in-line filters on the fuel line (other than the factory screen on the fuel pump) ?

 

[jerryjerry05]

Depending on the filter?? pull it and dump it into a clear glass jar, check for water.
You can add all the gas you want and if there's water in there it's gonna be the first thing drawn from the tank.
Heet, only treats a very small amount of water. It doesn't remove it just makes it easier to burn.
Stove alcohol will help burn the water off better, it still there just will burn.
If you have water it takes the same amount of alcohol to burn the water.
1 qt. needs 1 qt. to clean it too burn.
Been working on a 2004 200 Yam. on a Key West 21 with a custom tank.
Completely drained the system, added 3 cans of the Red Heet. and 5 gal. of gas.
I had run the motor on a 6gal tank with good gas before the drain and Heet. I decided to purge the line from the tank, I started squeezing the ball and got 16-18oz. of bad gas/water after draining the tank and hoses.
There was still water in the tank even after I drained it?????
The pickup tube won't get all the water out.
Need to remove the tank sending unit and use some kind of pump to suck it all out.

 

[legalfee]

If you ran it low, you may have contaminated the fuel lines and carbs. Do you have any in-line filters on the fuel line (other than the factory screen on the fuel pump) ?

There's an in-line filter. I think there may still be water in the tank but I ran it for more than a hour after putting 10 gallons of gas. Wouldn't that get all the water out?

 

[puffitu]

As Jerry said; if you don’t completely rid the entire system of it then you keep having issues. If it was me; I’d pump the lines and clean out the tank, dump the carbs, blow everything out with air, dry it all out, etc,.for my piece of mind. I’d install a separator unit. Pain in the rear but not too time consuming. When I first got the boat I’ve got now that’s what I did as best as I could as the owner said there was bad/old gas in the tank, not to mention a water separator in bad shape. Turned out there were way more issues with the engine but I won’t go into all that.

 

[jerryjerry05]

You might be able to get some water out by running, but?? are you sure?
I'd remove the sending unit and pump out everything.
Then make sure the tank is dry. NO VACUUMS= BOOM

 

[Redbarron%%]

Water in the fuel and nice pretty blue oil/water cost me a second overhaul of my 90 hp Sport Jet. There was enough water in the system to fill the water separator and carry over into the fuel, not enough to make it quit, just enough to burn #3 piston.
Clean, fresh fuel = happy motor.
As an aside the new oils are formulated to lubricate better, but to comply with EPA rules will break down in water unlike older oils.
While this is a good thing it does offer the possibility of mixing with gas and water (especially ethanol fuel) and blending well enough to "run" long enough the cause problems. It seems that it will collect more in the bottom carb putting the lower cylinders at greater risk. When I took the carbs apart I found the #3 carb almost full of water and less in #2 and less in #1.
Water is the enemy of boats, trying to get even for the wakes of all of the boats.

 

[legalfee]

You might be able to get some water out by running, but?? are you sure?
I'd remove the sending unit and pump out everything.
Then make sure the tank is dry. NO VACUUMS= BOOM

I've had the tank out before. I just disconnect the fuel and vent hoses disconnect the sending unit and pull it out. I think I'll clean and dry it then check the pump and carbs and change the filter. I'll also run in on the 5 gallon tank.