Boat gas issue

[lwestbro]

Boats been in storage for 4 months, now it won't stay running. Suspect stale gas. What can I do? Tank is half full. Add octane booster and fill with new gas? Any suggestions?

[jfran304]

Quote:

Originally Posted by lwestbro Boats been in storage for 4 months, now it won't stay running. Suspect stale gas. What can I do? Tank is half full. Add octane booster and fill with new gas? Any suggestions?

You didn't say if the motor is an inboard or an outboard but it probably has water from condensation in the gas. Add some dri gas and fill it with premium gas. If that doesn't work you may have to remove the tank and clean the crud out of it. I made the mistake of filling up at the marina and their gas had some crud in it that would stop up the filter on the pickup tube in the tank.

If you haven't already installed one you need to install an inline fuel filter from the gas line to the motor. I installed a glass one that you could see what was being filtered out of the gas or if the gas had water in it.

Good Luck,
Jon

[Arch Hoagland]

I would add a can of "Seafoam" to it. Can be found at Walmart and Auto Stores.

[wa8yxm]

I will second the Seaform.. Also new fuel filter and you may need to D&C the carb if it has one (or clean injectors if it don't)

[BCooke]

I will add super to gas that has sat as it looses about a octane point per month.

[Cat320]

Old gas can be stored for years. This is from an article on fuel storage:

"There are a lot of variables that effect fuel storage. In general the use of a commercial grade fuel stabilizer on an annual basis will extend the useful life of fuel for an extra year. This annual procedure can be repeated between 5 and 10 times, thus giving fuel between 5 and 10 years of storage life."

[Full.Monte]

If it's an outboard with a carburetor, gas may have evaporated in the carburetor and varnished up a jet inside. The only way to fix that is to remove the carb, disassemble it and soak in Chem Kleen. The smaller the outboard, the more likely this is your problem.

[Tugboat]

DO NOT put a glass fuel filter on a Gas marine aplaction. It is very unsafe and the Coast Guard will shut you down.

[bigdale]

I own a boat also (outboard 40 horse), I would dump the old gas put in new gas and seafoam. I was warned by marinas to always use marine Stabil in every tank, because of the new gas with to much alcohol in the gas. I seen many boats break down in tenn. 2 yrs ago because they did not run marine stabil. Marine Stabil is blue, not red.

[Rodneykrantz]

I agree with BigDale Dump the gas

[Eric_H_E]

I would ask how big a tank in the boat. Small removable? dump it. Large built in? Try to save it.

[Tha_Rooster]

When I was younger we lived on lake Lanier and a 4 boat family, 3 covered and 1 uncovered and never had gas problems. There a boats that sit months and months and never touched. I think if the fuel was good 4 months ago it should not be that bad. What type boat is it?