I posted sometime in June about water in my fuel and thought my issues were behind me. Well after pumping the tank and filling up off the water I slipped the boat again. Then I burned up my “off the water” fuel and filled up at a local(N.J.) marina gas dock on July 8th. On July 9th my Etec is sputtering again so I change filters and good to go until last weekend when I’m sputtering again on the same fuel. I feel like these Etecs are super fussy when it comes to fuel quality, or I’m just paranoid now. Keep in mind that I’m already using Startron, Seafoam and I’m adding 2 stroke oil in my tank at 300:1 for extra lubrication.
So now I do some research and it seems like the worst recreational industry for phase separation is the high performance snowmobile guys. They run super modified engines and ethanol fuel phase separates much quicker in colder temps than warmer temps. They swear by a product called K-100, and another device called a Mr. Funnel. So off to Amazon I went and ordered a couple bottles of the K-100 and a Mr. Funnel. This morning I pumped a gallon of fuel from my boat into a clear plastic jug and I see no water. Empty my two filters through the Mr. Funnel and sure enough, there is water in the filters. Now I’m upgrading to a Racor with the drain bowl. I’m hoping this product K-100 works, anyone here have any experiences with it?
I really feel like the ethanol fuel is a bust to the boating industry and a boon to the boat repair guys. BRP manufactures their injectors with water indicators(ferrous metal strips) and any warranty work will require sending in the old injector for inspection by BRP. Any comments/■■■■■■■■ appreciated.
Do yourself a favor & find a fuel supply that is 100% gasoline, no alcohol.
Was just going to say, find ethanol free fuel and you won’t have to buy all the additional add ons and the headache will be gone
2014 Pioneer 197 Sportfish
2012 Malibu Stealth 12 Kayak
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My E Tech doesn’t mind pump gas at all, but it gets really angry if I run less than the premium 93 octane. The manual said it requires 89 or higher octane with up to 10% ethanol.
I had an optimax before the E Tech, and it didn’t mind the cheap pump gas at all.
I would be wondering how water is getting in there rather than wondering how to get it out every few months.
I burn about 40 gallons of premium pump gas with a very small amount of startron additive every week. I have done this for years. I replace my “Yamaha” fuel/water separator cartridge every year and so far I haven’t had any troubles.
I would be checking for a leak or a vent problem somewhere. You shouldn’t be taking on that much water to your fuel.
Check your fuel fill o-rings I run a 61 Davis several weeks ago fished a sw 20 to 25 lots of spray checked engine room half way out both racors had water it was salt you could taste it during the trip we got 4 gallons out of the tank stuck a rag in the fill before heading home got no water on the way home checked rag it was wet changed a 2.00 o-ring that looked fine no problems since.
no e-10
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We don’t have availability to non E-10 fuel in New Jersey. The marinas could buy it but they don’t. Why? Either because they don’t want to pay the extra $ or they just don’t care. I cannot find the vent line, could it be incorporated into the fill? I changed the O ring on the fill cap back in June.
Look around the fittings on top of the gas tank really closely with a flashlight, maybe even pull up on them gently and look for hair cracks.
Usually if the tank is going to leak you would smell it in the bilge, but strange things happen some times.
I am not sure what type fill hose you have but I will offer some experience I had a couple years ago. A buddy had a serious problem with water getting in his fuel. The boat had an integrated fill and vent arrangement where the vent opened into the fill spout. Not sure why the thing was designed that way. His boat lived on a lift open to the rain. After pumping out the tank and cleaning every thing including the hoses we stuck a rag inside the fill spout., after several hard rains he found the rag was soaking wet. Rain was getting in through that stupid fill/vent. He got on the internet and found a stainless steel regular overboard vent and a stainless O-ring sealed fill cap. Took about two hours to change out all that stuff, but he hasn’t had any trouble to after that.
Hope this helps!
ZX
Check interface or sending unit and top of tank. Often seal is comprised or top of sending unit is corroded and will leak.
I’ve got over 900 hrs on my 250 E tec and never run anything but cheap gas! Never had a problem. I had a boat in the past that always had water in the fuel, changer out the tank to plastic and never had another problem. I think I had a small hole in the bottom of the steel tank and would suck water out of the bildge!
TankSgt - I do have the fill/vent combo, I think it’s made by Perko. The boat is a 2013 Scout 191 bay. I just found out that these fill/vent arrangements are not air tight or water tight. But the boat has been exposed for two prior seasons with no water in fuel issues. Perko says to just make sure it doesn’t get submerged. I will try the rag test and spray some water over it, great idea! Boatpoor - I agree and thought one of the advantages of these Etecs was they are engineered to run lean and fuel efficient. I’m sure my tank is plastic. I did take the sending unit off and checked the rubber gasket. After re-installing it I shot some silicone over it as a precaution. I have some work to do to get to the bottom of this very frustrating problem.
What kind of fuel/water seperator. do you use! I change mine about every 50 hrs! I always drain it into a glass jar and leave it overnight to ck for water and only once have I seen any.I bought my Etec when I returned from Venice Italy after seeing about 99 percent of all outboard I saw were E tecs and there gas over there is crap and double our price!