Trojan Boat Forum

I am closing on a new to me 1990 11 Meter Intl Express within a week. The boat has been on the hard for the past two years and only taken out once or twice 3 years ago. My guess is the fuel is 4 years old. Survey and Sea Trial went great and everything looks great. I forgot to see how much fuel was in the tanks though. Assuming there is a 100 gallons or more of fuel that has been sitting in those tanks for 2 or 3 years. Any idea what should I do to avoid a major fuel problem? What if there is 200 gallons or more?

I will plan on adding treatment and try to find some high octane non-ethanol to "dilute it " if the fuel is almost empty. But what if there is 200 gallons of fuel in it?

Any thoughts would be appreciated.

Thanks,

Wayne

Personally, if the boat ran well, I'd run it locally and burn the fuel up...

200 gallons would be a hassle if it was crap for sure, but if its not a lot you can either do what you said, what Jamie said, or thread on a pump to the fuel line and pump it out into safe containers. I pulled about 20 gallons of crap gas out of my Fwd. Port tank last fall and used your 93 octane and treatment rinse plan after that. Burned all that through the generator adding 10 gallons at a time and burning it all. I did this twice, and that tank is nice now.

Stripermann2 wrote:Personally, if the boat ran well, I'd run it locally and burn the fuel up...

X2

Agree and don't run it hard until you burn that off. The octane is probably lower and you don't want to get any detonation issues at high speed. Plan on changing filters and figure that anti-siphon valve might clog. I went through the same process when I got my 10m four years ago.

Bob

I bought a hand operated fuel pump from tractor supply with a screw on filter. I filled up numerous gas cans and gave all of my friend "free gas " for their cars until all 150 gallons was gone. at the time the fuel was about 1.5 yrs old. I had alot of happy friends for a short time!

when I bought my boat it had 160 gallons of 5 yr old gas, ran the boat it ran great! just added some treatment, on another note do you have twin tanks? If you do switch back and forth between tanks to ensure both have acceptable fuel, then run one tank pretty much dry, change water separators (always carry a spare btw) and filters and fill with fresh fuel, then repeat for other side, this way if you have any problems you have another tank to bail you out

I bought an electric auto fuel pump (diaphram type) from the local auto parts store. Mounted it to some plywood, and added a fuel filter. I used it to empty my boat's tank. It takes a while tho, its not a lot of GPM. Long electric jumper wires that I use to connect to a 12v auto/marine battery located well away from the pump itself.

Some use a similar setup to do fuel polishing, but I don't have that fancy of a fuel filter on it.

Those are all great ideas. Not sure if I have duel tanks or not??? Have not had the boat delivered and didn't think of it at survey time. I could use a combo of all of those ideas.

Thanks guys.

BobCT - That is exactly what I am worried about. The Crusaders have just over 350 hours and I don't want detonation due to crappy fuel.

If it's real gas run it, just dont run her hard and fast till you burn it up. It wont take long to burn 200 gallons at say 15 knots. Bring her up on plane slow and enjoy the only free gas you'll ever see.... if it's corn gas get it out of your tanks and start fresh...imho..

alexander38 wrote:If it's real gas run it, just dont run her hard and fast till you burn it up. It wont take long to burn 200 gallons at say 15 knots. Bring her up on plane slow and enjoy the only free gas you'll ever see.... if it's corn gas get it out of your tanks and start fresh...imho..

It's 10% Ethanol...and probably about 5% water at this point...

Unless you know you have water I would still burn it . Put some startron in the tank .

prowlersfish wrote:

Stripermann2 wrote:Personally, if the boat ran well, I'd run it locally and burn the fuel up...

X2

X3 ... and make sure you have a fuel-water separator ... it will have water in it and need to have the filter changed a time or two.

I built a fuel-polishing system that has an electric fuel pump (12VDC) that simply cycles the fuel through 10 and 2 micron filters outside the boat with clear bowls and drains on them. I let it run for a day and it will get a quart or two out of the 100 gallon tank on my 26 Chaparral if its been sitting for a while. Rather get the stuff out while its on the hard than worry about the filter filling up while we're out on the water ...

You can also try calling your local fire department, they may either be able to take it, or they will know of a licensed disposal site in your area.

Just got the boat delivered yesterday and I think I am going to be in great shape. The boat was Below "E" on the gauge and my guess is that it had less than 20 gallons in it. I added fuel treatment and 110 gallons of fresh 91 octane with no ethanol So far she is purring like a kitten.