Engine starve of fuel

Ken13559

Ken13559

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Oct 29, 2005
2,362
Hunter Marine 326 303 Singapore
Last weekend, while warming up the engine for an oil change, the engine stalled on what seems like lack of fuel. Upon checking, found some curd in the clear bowl of the Racor filter/water separator. So decide to polish the fuel by setting up the engine oil extractor on the fuel line between engine and Racor. Started polishing the fuel through the Racor and this is what I extracted from my fuel tank which was 50% full at the time. See attached. :eek:
 

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Ralph Johnstone

Ralph Johnstone

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Jan 4, 2006
7,268
Hunter 310 West Vancouver, B.C.
Hate to be the Bearer of Bad News ........................

Ken13559 said:
Started polishing the fuel through the Racor and this is what I extracted from my fuel tank which was 50% full at the time.
Click to expand
................... but I think something died in your fuel tank.

Many theories (I'm sure) about where it came from but all that counts now is HOW to remove the remaining crud from the tank. And I assume there's much more where that came from.

Do you have access to a tank cleaning company near you ? These are the people who use your existing fuel to pressure wash the interior of your tank. I'd suggest disposing of the fuel after the process as something is not quite right there with that jelly like appearance. Most likely a happy bacteria merrily feeding away on the fuel and water.

Years ago I installed a small inspection port in the top of the tank and take samples every other year (with an oil extraction pump) to see how the fuel is making out.
 

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Ken13559

Ken13559

.
Oct 29, 2005
2,362
Hunter Marine 326 303 Singapore
Ralph, is that a plastic tank? Unfortunately mine is in pretty tight spot. I've room enough just to remove the tank level gauge. I suppose I could remove the level gauge and work through that hole instead of the Racor filter. Those curd are probably 13 years old. I've seen a little curd over the years but never this much. Here fuel polishing is very much DIY. Good idea that next time I polish the fuel, I should find a way to "pressure wash" inside of tank to get as much curd out. I've this hand drill driven pump that much just work as pressure washer. Thanks.
 
jibes138

jibes138

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Jan 27, 2008
3,086
ODay 35 Beaufort, NC
Ken I picked up a pump at NAPA mounted it on a board along with a fuel filter you can get at tractor supply and for about a hundred bucks have a fuel polisher. I pump into jerry cans and then pump back into empty tank so fuel is filtered twice. Yes go through the level gage hole. Water in the fuel will support growth in the bottom of the tank. Make sure your fill cap is not leaking. Put on a naw o-seal. Making the polisher and buying the jugs is less cost than a service doing it once.
 
jibes138

jibes138

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Jan 27, 2008
3,086
ODay 35 Beaufort, NC
I'm not home but I'll try to snap a picture and post it in a week or so. I had an old Racor 120 when I upgraded to a Racor 500MA so I used the 120 for the polisher, but I have seen much cheaper diesel filters at Tractor supply, and you can probably get one on amazon or Ebay etc. for low cost. I also added a switch so you can connect to a battery without it starting the pump immediately. I have used it to filter new fuel before putting in the tank so I keep a few jugs just for clean polished fuel to put in the tank. I just noticed you are in Singapore, so I'm not sure what is available over there.
 
Ralph Johnstone

Ralph Johnstone

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Jan 4, 2006
7,268
Hunter 310 West Vancouver, B.C.
Ken13559 said:
Ralph, is that a plastic tank? Unfortunately mine is in pretty tight spot.
Click to expand
Yes, the tank is PE.

As you say, you may have to go through the level sensor to inject some sort of wand to act as the pressure washer. Thinking as an armchair pundit here, you're not really so much interested in fixing the fuel (polishing) as you are in fixing the tank (pressure washing). Maybe just omit the filter (or just insert a rough strainer) and concentrate on a temporary pump and piping circuit to blast the interior of the tank and then dump the fuel. You may require quite a large filter to accomodate a high thru-put pump. As far as any internal baffles are concerned, 'fraid that's a whole other matter :eek:.

Once you have cleaned the tank walls and have clean fuel in place, I would suggest a good biocide such as Biobor to kill off the bugs and avoid this happening again.

http://www.biobor.com/products/hum-bug-kit-fuel-additives/
 
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