I’m helping a coworker get her dad’s 2004 Triton 196 bass boat up to par for selling. I just finished getting all of the electrical goblins out and making sure tilt/trim and other critical functions are working. The tank is about 1/4 full with 6 year old gas. I’m chomping at the bit to turn the engine over but I want to get all old fuel out and replace all old 2 strk oil. Assuming i can successfully replace with fresh fuel and fresh oil, what other factors do i need to consider before firing it up and blowing cylinders from here to Moncks Corner? The optimax has 2 oil res it appears? How do i get all of the old fuel out and what can i do with it? Should be 20 gallon or so.
Also the optimax has a fuel pump assembly in the motor that’s fairly large. Should i drain that of all old fuel and fill it up with new fuel? The last thing I want to do is destroy this motor due to ignorance, I’m so close to bringing life back to it. My ultimate goal is to take the original owner suffering from dementia / Alzheimers on a 80 mph run on the cooper river. That would mean the word to him and his family.
I sure hope that is one attractive co-worker. Regardless, you are a good man for helping her Dad out.
One low tech and free way to get fuel out of the tank is to disconnect the fuel line at the motor, plug the hose anyway you can, then thread it back into the bilge and out the drain plug hole. Tilt the trailer up then unplug the hose and start filling up 5 gallon cans. Gravity will empty most of the tank and you can easily control the flow by kinking the hose or plugging it back up whenever you need to.
Disposing of old gas has always been a tough problem. West Marine sells a funnel that has a screen on it that separates water from fuel, its pretty cool. You run the fuel through it and if there is water in the fuel it will stay in the funnel. The first gas that you drain will be from the bottom of the tank so should have the most water in it if it is holding any. MAYBE if you get any water out the fuel will still be usable in a car which seem to be more tolerant of old/dirty fuel.
I’ll leave the rest of your questions to everyone else but good luck!
Charleston County landfills take old gas. I would not run that in an old lawn mower much less a vehicle. Dispose of it properly and move on. Any and all automotive shops sell 12v fuel pumps, I would buy one and pump out tank, replace with a 3 gallons of fresh fuel, drive around the block a couple of times making sure shake the rig up good then pump that out too hoping it grabs any trash left in tank and cleans it good. If you have a scope it might not hurt to make sure pistons have some oil on them. Drain any fuel in the motor, don’t forget carb bowls. Install new oil water separator as well as new filter on motor. Dump in some fresh fuel, oil and fire it up.