Looking to hear from anyone who may have encountered water in the fuel tank. I have checked my O ring and there are no cracks. I have opened the bottom of my racor filter and noticed a great amount of water and no fuel. My stern water tank isn't in use. Since I am the only one who fuels the boat I can't see how the water would get in. I top off my tank every fall and include the recommended additive. Earlier this week the engine stared immediately, it ran for about 2 minutes and then it stalled. From that point on I cranked the engine a number of times and with no luck the engine did not engage. With water throughout the pump and the injectors is this a major issue. One of my guesses is that I may have purchased some bad fuel at a marina.
Water in my fuel tank
- Thread starter Marquesas
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That would be my guess. Is your engine self bleeding. If not loosen your injector fuel lines and crank it over to clean the lines of H2O. Do this after you have drained your water seperator. I flushed out my tank and it took a while to get clean fuel back to the injectors. When you are ready to crank make sure all your connections are tight so you are not sucking air into the fuel system. Air in the lines will cause the engine not to start.
i posted before that i have a west marine funnel that seperates water from diesel fuel and have never bought diesel fuel without some water in it.
Read your post. My concern is now that water has travelled through the injectors how much damage am I looking at. My test was to bypass the fuel tank with clean fuel from a jerry can to the racor filter and let the self primer pull the new fuel through until there's no more water or will I have to have the injectors replaced as well as the fuel pump rebuilt
Most of us have encountered some water in the fuel tank or lines at some point. As long as you can get your engine to fire up after bleeding the bad fuel / water out & running clean fuel through the injectors then if they engage then they are likely still o.k. It can be a real chore to bleed out a contaminated fuel system. Remember to shut off your raw water intake sea cock so you don't potentially backflow water through the exhaust. If the water muffler fills up without engine exhaust pressure forcing it out through the transom, then it will backflow & flood your engine. This will cause a whole lot more damage to your engine then a lil water in the fuel lines. If water is compressed in the cylinders it will blow your engine seals, ruining the motor. You may have to take apart your fuel lines in order to blow out any remaining water impurities in the fuel system, but this will introduce a ton of air that will have to be bled out. Good luck.
I don't think the water will do any damage to the injectors. It will just not run till all water is purged from the lines. I disconnected my injector lines and placed an oil- sorbant cloth under the lines. As you crank the engine the diesel gets absorbed and the water beads up and runs off the cloth. When you see no more water, only diesel, then there should be no more water and the engine should run. Be carefull not to suck up water from your exhaust line. While cranking mine I disconnected the raw water pump belt till I was ready to fire the engine.
I am curious what year is your Catalina 320? I have a 1996 and have the exact same problem. I had the tank drained at the end of last boating season because I starting to have some problems then and had just purchased the boat the year before and figured the fuel might be old. This season I came back from a 3 hour trip and had to motor and did not have any problems until we went for a sail a few days later. The engine started but stalled out after a few minutes and the water fuel separator was almost completly filled with water. My mechanic showed me how to drain it and the engine started up right way and this weekend it was running great. However after we got back from a sail there was water in the separator again. I did check my fuel cap and fuel vent and both appear fine. Someone did suggest getting a fuel trap vent which I am going to check into. Someone also wrote and stated that draining the tank via the fuel pick up won't do much of anything to get the water out as the pick up is still an 1" off the bottom of the tank which is where the water sits at. I did post my problem on Sailboatowners.com and did get some suggestions. I will let you know how I get this problem fixed please do the same if you find out anything. Thanks
My assumption is that over the years the fuel thank has never been a priority. My 320 is a '95 model. I had purchased this boat three years ago. I have since replaced the primary and secondary filters without any sign of water. I guess it was a matter of time before the balance of fuel to water had been disturbed by some rough waters. A costly fix once I saw water coming from the injectors. In the future I will be more diligent regarding where I get my fuel as well as keeping a closer eye on my primary filter. I will look at proper additives that can help to absorb any water. I have also replaced the O ring under my cap.
Just a note on water in diesel. Im not real familar with boat diesels but have worked on truck diesels and tractors but a diesel is a diesel.
Anyway use some caution there diesel compresses water does not. You can do major damage due to water getting in cylinders.
Anyway use some caution there diesel compresses water does not. You can do major damage due to water getting in cylinders.
Not keeping your fuel tank full will allow water to condense faster in your tank. Alga will grow in it too. I don't get my fuel from a fuel dock as it is way too expensive. I hae a 5 gal can I use to keep my tank topped off. Around $20 to fill, it is clean too. I put a little additive in with the fuel. The new cans have a push valve that won't allow fuel flow until the nozzle is in the tank so I don't spill any fuel on deck or in the water.
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