Re: Gas Tank Crud...Anybody?
I spent my winter vacation filtering crap like that out of my poly tank. I had been able to run non-ethanol since re-powering in '08, up until I brought the boat north to do some tinkering last summer. Found that it would not pick up a prime, replaced the bulb, still no go, went to a local gas station (ethanol only up here) and pumped in a whole tank full, seems that someone else needed the gas I added before putting it into storage! Anyway, my best guess is that the ethanol (with 1,800 miles of agitation to aid the process) disolved some or all of the varnish that had accumulated in the tank over the 19 years since I bought the boat. After a couple of months use and several sets of filters, the bowl on my Racor looks clear again. Along with the brown filters I had my first "running" issues (after 320 trouble free hours) with my efi 4st merc. Occasional lack of power and intermittent cutting out at trolling speeds. I don't know if they are related to the "stuff", I was hoping that the 3 filters took care of that before it got to the engine but.... Need to drive down to BPK soon and get the boat, haul it home and see if my local dealer can get it fixed.
Bruce
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