I have a 1994 Tournafor the fuel tankment 192 with a lot of trash in the fuel tank. Is there a drain plug for the fuel tank and where is it located. Also, any suggestions on how to best clean the tank.
Trash in fuel tank
- Thread starter Wolfpack
- Start date
No drain plug. What kind of trash, goop, solid, leaves, sludge.
Regardless, there are companies that clean gas tanks while in the boat. It isn't cheap but is a lot safer than you doing it yourself.
Note that if your 'trash' is sludge or goopy gas, you will need to service a lot more parts than just the tank.
Now my safety warning: If you decide to drain the tank yourself and I don't recommend that; if you pull the sender and use a pump to drain the tank, makes sure you get a pump that is approved for gasoline. It has to say so on the package.
Also note that legally getting rid of contaminated gas is also fairly expensive.
Regardless, there are companies that clean gas tanks while in the boat. It isn't cheap but is a lot safer than you doing it yourself.
Note that if your 'trash' is sludge or goopy gas, you will need to service a lot more parts than just the tank.
Now my safety warning: If you decide to drain the tank yourself and I don't recommend that; if you pull the sender and use a pump to drain the tank, makes sure you get a pump that is approved for gasoline. It has to say so on the package.
Also note that legally getting rid of contaminated gas is also fairly expensive.
Thanks for your reply. Trash is solid particles which looks the color of rust. Probably contains some leaves. Fuel is very fluid; however, dark in color, probably about 2yrs old. Engine is Evinrude 175 FICHT approved for 86 octane auto fuel. I had already pumped the tank via the method you described letting all trash and a very small amount of water settle to the bottom of a large plastic drum adding back about half of the volume back to the tank. Engine runs fine at low rpm but balks above 2,000. Just trying to make sure I have done what I can do before removing fuel now in the tank and getting fresh marine fuel.
I suggest you try running the motor on a portable tank with fresh fuel to see if the bogging down id your tank or possibly a problem in the motor itself. Crap in the tank may have gummed up something on the motor.
Do yourself a favor and get the motor running right on a portable tank before you put any more bad fuel through it. That'll let you chase these two problems independently of each other. I don't get the impression that Fichts are the kind of motors you want dump iffy fuel into, that could get expensive very fast.
Once you pump out contaminated fuel I wouldn't put it back in anything more expensive than a lawnmower but that's just me. If you have a gasoline safe pump you can zip tie the hose on the end of a WOODEN stick and use it to clean around the inside edges/bottom of the tank via the sender hole - but as above make sure you know what you're doing and use caution because that's a great way to get blown up. Professional tank cleaning/pump out isn't all that expensive depending on your area.
The ethanol fuel that came out should be recycled. Anything you put it into will get damaged. It has gone through phase separation and is now useless. Get some k100 to add to the fresh marine fuel when you get the main tank back in service. Also install a racor filter with a drainable glass to filter out the rest of the trash. If you install a racor, you can safely remove any screens in the tank pickup that may clog.
Runningit on a separate tank to get it running correctly is a very good idea. You may want to drain the vapor separatortank to remove as much of the old gas as possible before running. Drain it n refill it with good gas and drain it again. Cycle the high pressure pump by turning the key on and off a few times and drain again. This will flush more of the system before starting. That old fuel will take out a piston in a heartbeat.
Runningit on a separate tank to get it running correctly is a very good idea. You may want to drain the vapor separatortank to remove as much of the old gas as possible before running. Drain it n refill it with good gas and drain it again. Cycle the high pressure pump by turning the key on and off a few times and drain again. This will flush more of the system before starting. That old fuel will take out a piston in a heartbeat.
Draining the VST tank is a good idea. Catch the gas in a clear container so that you can see if it is contaminated and how bad. Depending on that result, you may want to fill and redrain as Sparkdog says. One step I always make sure about is using the primer bulb to fill up the empty VST tank after draining or service. I do that to make sure that the high pressure pump ( if mounted in the tank) does not power up dry.
Thanks for all the input. Purchase a portable tank and filled with fresh non-ethanol fuel. Some improvement with issues remaining. Looks like a trip to the engine shop.