Blue by You

I believe I have a pretty decent amount of water in my tanks. When & if I confirm this, what is the best & easiest way to do this safely & enviromently correct?

oldandtired

I used a setup that a friend put together that consisted of an old automotive fuel pump and a water separator. I just ran the tank down until it sucked air and that was it. I really didn't get any water out of mine, but I had to check. If the gas is clear, then you can put it back in later. Obviously, it would be best to have your tanks as empty as possible before doing this for time and fuel storage capacity. You can also just pour in a bunch of gas drier. It is just alcohol which is miscible with water and gasoline and burn through it. It wasn't worth the effort in the end for me.

Rene

Pismo10

Dry gas.

Blue by You

Will the gas dryer harm anything motor wise? How much dryer can you really use if I have a couple gallons of water in each tank? I just assumed pumping it out was my only option.

rdoactive

Forget about dryer if you have gallons on water in there.
Ground the boat to a 55 gallon drum on the ground.
I used an electrical fuel pump (marine one I had laying around) to fill the drum.
Call city environmental services. They picked it up.
BTW, there was gallons of water and 4 year old gas in the tank.

oldandtired

Gas drier won't hurt anything as long as you stay within the recommended mixing amounts. If you have gallons of water, then pumping may be your only option. I was working on a friends boat that had water in the tank once and we just sucked the water off of the bottom of the tank with some Tygon tube. You can remove the sending unit or any other cover plate and look into the tank with a flashlight. You will be able to see the water on the bottom if there is any (assuming you have access). The water will look like blobs of something on the bottom. Depending on whether there is any corrosion, the water may be dark and really easy to see. It's kind of hard to believe that an engine problem wouldn't surface with that amount of water in the tank. A fuel pump and some tubing can be used to "vacuum" clean the water off the bottom of the tank. If you pump it out through the pickup, you probably wont be able to suck the tank completely dry and the water is what will be left since it is on the bottom. It would probably be best to vacuum out all that you can and follow it up with drier. One of the nice things about gas drier is that you can just keep using it until the water is gone. It will absorb a certain amount of water each time you use it.


Rene

Pismo10

Gallons?? Too much for dry gas, pump it out. How did gallons of water get in your gas tank?

Blue by You

No idea quite yet. Just looking at the fule in filter and seeing a LOT of water. Still need to look at the tanks.

Does anyone know if this water could freeze below the gas?

ericaull

YES !!! The water will freeze below the gas. Gas does not combine with water, therefore the freezing point of the water will not be affected (32*F)......if it is in a confined space,such as a solid line or glass filter/ seperator, it could cause damage, as water expands when it freezes. Be careful!!! ERIC