White smokes+gasoline+black spark plugs

[Tiree]

Many thx for your comments and suggestions.
You were right...

The gas vendor of my yacht club had made a mistake... He has filled in the club's diesel tank with gasoline, and the gasoline tank with diesel..... I was the first sailboat to refuel just after a complete cleaning of the two tanks of the yacht club. It has been explained to me that all the lines have been cleaned, but my issues have appeared suddenly just after having refueled...
Therefore, without knowing that, I had decided first to drain this apparently contaminated fuel and replace by gasoline coming from a public gas station.

This weekend, I have completely disassembled, cleaned and reassembled the carb. And... Everything's working very well, and back to normal - just very little fumes and just very little stains of oil/gas on the surface of the water. I'm still waiting for the wellknown Marvel Mistery Oil ordered on the Moyer Marine web site. And I'm so happy to get back with an A4 in good condition after such a headache.

I could attend the next weekly regatta on Tuesday ;-)

Next step, I have to fix my slipping clutch on forward gear... winter project! I have already found numerous relevant info on the forum, and very happy to know that you are, all of you, a great source of experiences.

Thanks you'all
Didier
Tiree-C&C27mkII

[hanleyclifford]

Now that we know what Russ can come up with while napping, imagine the great ideas that might come out when he's awake! Congrats to you Russ - Regards, Hanley

[CalebD]

Confirmed and delivered.

Didier,
Thanks for the follow up. It is more rewarding to us all to know the outcome of the problems encountered by various members.
It is still a good idea to have the Marvel Mystery oil for lubing the pistons/cylinders.

And the "Boat Talk" non-radio show contributors award for this thread goes to our good friend up in Alaska: Russ, aka, 'lat 64' for his particular insight and suggesting diesel fuel as the culprit in this instance. Crazy like a fox indeed.

[Baltimore Sailor]

Personally, I never fill my gas tank at a marina. My tank only holds 15 gallons to begin with, so I fill a 5 gal can once a month or so, add in the MMO and Sta-Bil, and put it into my A4's tank. That keeps me well topped up, and I never have to worry about the quality of the gas at a marina. Plus, the gas station gas is a lot cheaper.

I suppose I'd have to use marina gas if I were cruising, but I'm not, so I don't.

[hanleyclifford]

BS - I do a lot of cruising on the ICW. Each time I refuel I ask the fuel attendant 3 times whether he is handing me the gas or diesel pump. The first response is perfunctory. The second wakes him up. The third pisses him off and he hands me the pump and feels good making me pump my own fuel. Then I squirt a little on my hand and rub my nose with it. Then I fill my tanks. Don't ask how I learned to do this. Regards, Hanley

[lat 64]

Laissez les bons temps rouler

Yes, Im doing the end zone dance.

Start a new thread Didier, and we'll get your clutch fixed too.
But, you know gang, we could that in our sleep Ha!

Cheers guys,
Russ

[Dave Neptune]

Oops!

Russ, I thught I saw a picture of your engine on another thread with a Fram F-4. I did reply at the time but it must of been someone else. If it was someone else viewing this thread could you shoot me an answer as to wheather you are usin it as a bypass or full flow set up.

Now I know to stay clear of Wisconsin but I may get to Alaska as my niece just got married and is moving there.

Tiree, I think you may owe a beer to the napping guru (Russ)for an excellent dignosis.

Thanx Dave Neptune

[Kelly]

Excellence

Wow! You guys amaze me...Well done!

[rigspelt]

Russ gets the award for this year's best solution, far and away. What a team.

[sastanley]

Wow!

Wow! Russ, you are like Bullwinkle, you sure pulled a rabbit out of your hat!

Hanley - When I worked at a marina as a kid (the gas pump was only a small part of my duties), I made the 'hand the guy the wrong pump' mistake once - you never make it twice. My only defense was that he pointed directly to the gas pump, even though I'd been instructed to always ask 'gas or diesel'. We pumped about 75 gallons of gasoline into a diesel boat. My 'punishment' was to hand pump the fuel out into a mobile tank and then I think the mixture was returned to the diesel tank..That was when I first learned about mixing some gas with diesel in cold climates. We are in Maryland so don't really have gelling problems with diesel around here, but the marina owner said, "no one will even notice the 75 gallons of gas/diesel mix in this 2,500 gallon (or whatever size) tank of diesel & it may help their boat run better in winter."

[lat 64]

Yea, I was relying on those memories of "incidents" from my formative years when I guessed at this.
Another time when I was in high school, a DC-6 crashed right behind the school at night because someone filled it up with jet fuel. The plane got off the ground with the aviation gas that was left in the system but lost it when the jp-4 got to the carbs.
I walked to school past the crash site all winter. Kinda sticks with you.
I think Didier was getting there anyway when he drained his tank.