Diesel storage

[oceansail0]

My newly purchased 1984 h31 has been in dry storage for 3 years. The previous owner claims to have drained and cleaned the Diesel tank prior to putting it in storage. He put diesel in last summer when he was showing the boat.What should I be adding to the tank now to ensure the diesel is good to go? (water absorber, diesel conditioner, alge killer?????)Should I just top off the tank? (18 gal tank with 2-4 gal in it now).I do not want to have to empty the tank if I do not have to.

 

[Stu Jackson]

Seems fine

There are pro and con arguments about additives (see recent Good Old Boat magazine). With a small amount of old fuel as you describe, if it was my new-to-me boat, I'd add biocide and water zorb and then fill up the tank. Replacing the fuel filter(s) is a basic thing to do, too, and learn how to bleed the engine.

 

[Warren Milberg]

I don't think there is much

you could add to your tank, at this juncture, that would improve the life or quality of the fuel currently in your tank. And adding stuff now might make things worse. What I suggest is seeing if your primary fuel filter has a glass/plastic bowl to see the condition of your fuel. The Fram filter on my boat doesn't have a bowl, but does have a drain nut at the bottom of the filter. Drain out some fuel if you can, leave it in a glass jar for a few hours, and take a look at it. If its clear or amberish with no crud visible, its probably ok to use. If its darkish or cruddy looking, you may just have to drain the tank or have a fuel polisher treat it for you. Most likely, if the PO just put some fuel in last year while showing the boat, he probably didn't put much in -- you may want to ask him.If the fuel looks ok, I suggest that you change the primary and secondary filters, bleed the system, and start up the engine when you are in the water, of course. If it runs ok, I would change both filters again after the 2d or 3d hour of operation, just to be sure. Good luck with the new boat.

 

[tom]

I wouldn't do anything now

Since it is almost spring as warren said check your filters. If they aren't dirty just add enough fuel so that you won't run out and use it. If the fuel appears bad now just pump out the tank while there is only 2-4 gallons to deal with adding more fuel will just make the problem larger. If there is a significant amount of water in the tank it'll have to be removed. Just motor around and check the bowl regularly,(every 10-15 minutes at first) unless there is a ton of stuff in the tank it will take a while to clog the filter. If it was me and I had serious doubts about the fuel I'd stick a tube into the tank and pump out some to check for water. If you are lucky you might be able to pump some out of the fill inlet. If the boat is on the hard you might even be able to siphon it out with a 25' clear plastic 1/4" hose leading to a tank on the ground. If it is in the water there probably isn't enough drop to run a siphon. My tank seems to be about water level.