Ethanol and Marine Fuel Problems
Another year and another Spring arrives while welcoming in the onset of #Ethanol induced problems not only for anyone engaged in a Marine service related business, but also for every single boat owner. The particular instance we experienced this week is such a good example of the detrimental effect of ethanol on Inboard Marine Engines and Marine Outboard Motors that we decided to create a post with the hope that someone will read this and take the necessary precautions.
Customer Complaint:
I followed the normal steps of having my boat winterized, and making sure my fuel tank was completely full with treated fuel. I put the boat in the water this year and the engine fired up on the first crank. I then back the boat off the trailer and proceeded to pick up my family at the dock when the engine started to stumble until it finally died and would not restart. I then had to be pulled on to the trailer. I then proceed to pull the spark plugs and found water on the plugs. I therefore changed out the plugs but the engine still would not start. At this point I suspected the boat had been improperly winterized so I decided to bring the boat back to Performance Product Technologies for inspection.
Inspection & Analysis:
Boat – 2013 Tracker PB22DLX w/ Less than 20 Hours
Motor: Mercury Marine 90ELPT 4 Stroke Outboard
Upon our inspection we verified that the engine was properly winterized last fall per Mercury Marine Service Manuals. We then attempted to start and run the engine however the engine would not start. After verifying that the customer had in fact purchased the correct spark plugs when he changed them out we continued attempting to start the engine. With no success in our continued engine starting attempts we decided to take a fuel sample from the engines fuel rails. Upon inspection we immediately noticed that the fuel was extremely “cloudy” in appearance. Upon further testing of the fuel sample for water we determined the sample taken directly from the engine to be made up of 90% water.
Resolution:
Due to the fact that the ethanol blended fuel in the engine and boat’s fuel tank were seriously contaminated with water we began preparing to pump the 30 gallons of contaminated fuel completely out of the boat’s fuel tank, as well as completely purging it from the engine. In these cases we manually pump the boat’s fuel tank into a fuel reclamation container and then use the fuel pump located on the engine to pump the bad fuel out of the engine fuel system. We then removed the new spark plugs the customer had recently installed, and we replaced these with new spark plugs.
At this point we then began attempting to start the engine again and it would in fact now start and run, but not on all cylinders. We then shut the engine back off and reinspected the spark plugs to which we found the new ones to have traces of water. We then installed a push button starter switch to turn the engine over manually with the spark plugs removed. The purpose of this was to blow out any remaining water still left in the cylinders. We then installed yet another set of new spark plugs and restarted the engine. This time the engine started and stumbled for about 5-10 seconds before finally smoothing out. From this point forward the engine ran perfectly while being supplied fuel from our shop tank with known good fuel. At this point the engine fuel supply was reconnected to the boat fuel tank that had been drained and refilled with known good fuel.
Performance Product Technologies winterization process includes the following steps;
- Introduce Fuel System Treatment and Stabilizer into the boat’s fuel tank according to how much fuel is in the tank.
- Start the engine and let run up to operating temperature to make sure the treated fuels makes its way up to the engine fuel rails.
- Remove the pencils coils and spark plugs followed by spraying approximately 1 Fluid Ounce of Storage Seal Rust Inhibitor into each spark plug hole.
- Crank the engine using a remote starter switch through one start cycle and reinstall the spark plugs and pencil coils.
- Drain and refill the gear case with fresh gear lube
- Change the engines oil and filter if needed
- Disconnect the battery and prepare it for winter storage
**The winterization steps were completed properly in 2013 per the Mercury Service Manual. HOWEVER, after the customer picked the boat up he filled the boats gas tank up with Ethanol fuel and then parked the boat until this spring. Ethanol is an alcohol which draws moisture from the air. This water fuel mixture can then cause a formation of acid during storage which will damage the fuel system. This customer’s issues were caused from the Ethanol fuel that was put in the boats fuel tank prior to parking the boat for 5-6 months winter months.
Purchasing the cheaper Ethanol fuel ended up costing this customer over $750.
Tags: boat winterizing, ethanol, fuel problems, water in fuel, winterization