carb flush?

[ndutton]

My marina has a rule specifically prohibiting refueling from jerry cans. It's a good rule I think . . . . for everybody else. It turns out the marina also owns the fuel dock.

[joe_db]

Racing airplanes inject a water-methanol mix for this reason. Some cars with boost turned up way past factory specs do this too.

My understanding was that water injection was used to help stop detonation and preignition and knock.

[Dave Neptune]

Rules are rules

Neil, rules are rules! I too schlep my "dinghy fuel down the dock as I don't want to store it on the boat~~good sir{this to any officials}", as that is OK to do~just don't get caught dumping it into the boat.

Dave Neptune

[hanleyclifford]

Simon - Have you gone thru the fuel tank cleaning exercise yet?

[hanleyclifford]

BTW----"schlep", from the German verb "schleppen", to tow (as with a tug). The noun, der Schlepper - tug (boat).

[Dave Neptune]

Thanx

Danka mein herr!

Dave Neptune

[sleonhard]

that's all very well for professional captains, but not possible if you're not a live-aboard or your boat is an hour away and you have a job, etc. My engine runs every week or every other week, its the best I can do. I'd like an engine that understands this.

It's all part of the progression. First you get the boat. Then you move the boat up to the house when not in the water, or move yourself down to the boat. Then you start asking yourself, "...do I really need the house?..." (somewhere along the line wife input occurs)..[/QUOTE]

I believe it's called downsizing
but as I speak from experience it is very costly

[hanleyclifford]

It's all part of the progression. First you get the boat. Then you move the boat up to the house when not in the water, or move yourself down to the boat. Then you start asking yourself, "...do I really need the house?..." (somewhere along the line wife input occurs)..

I believe it's called downsizing
but as I speak from experience it is very costly[/QUOTE] Aye, but at our age the most valuable thing we have left is time.

[edwardc]

... Aye, but at our age the most valuable thing we have left is time.

Amen to that! You can always make more money. You can never make more time!

[HalcyonS]

catchng up with the thread

Sorry - real life got in the way for a few days. Will reply in the next posts.

Neil said - Simon, has your engine been hard to start since the cheese was cleaned up? Has the cheese returned?

I've got the mast out and so haven't been at the boat for 2-3 weeks. Checked in the other day, fired up right away and ran smoothly. Nice. No idea if there is cheese buildup.

[HalcyonS]

Simon - Have you gone thru the fuel tank cleaning exercise yet?

No probably should - its overdue. But the tank is unreachable, behind engine, under cockpit sole, and panelled in with ply panels The only way to get at it afaik is to rip up the cockpit sole

I've been wondering if I could get away with rigging up a line from the electric pump. Suck the fuel out of the tank, - back into the filler (?), and just let it run for an hour.

[hanleyclifford]

If the boat is old enough it might have a drain at the bottom. Mine does and I drain at every haulout. If not you can cobble a pumping system to get as much out as possible, then put in fresh gas (a gallon perhaps), and pump it again. When you are satisfied you have gotten all out that you can start running the engine again. Make sure you have several filters lined up initially to collect the junk. Eventually the ethanol laden fuel will polish your tank; the problem is where it sends it. But fear not, Neil assures us that ethanol is safe for human consumption (and A 4s, presumably).

[marthur]

What about emptying the tank, flushing it with a solvent, flushing the solvent with a small amount of gas and then filling?

You could test the solvent on whatever builds up in your carb, but I wonder if pure ethanol or methanol wouldn't be a good one to use (it is dissolving whatever is there already).

[Marian Claire]

Our boats are similar in there age and custom/homemade construction so FWIW.
When the MC took possession of me, 2004, her gas tank had been in use for over 32 years. Indications are that MMO, gas stabilizer and lead additive had all been used to some degree over those years. I started having engine shut downs in rough weather due to tank crud clogging the filter and carb. I used a hand pump to drain the tank and pump out crud, flushed the tank with gas and other solvents, drained it and tried new gas several times. All failed. Only after removing the tank, which required pulling the A-4, and opening it up did the reasons become clear. The custom SS tank had baffles in it so only the area directly below the fill spout could be cleaned by suction. I was amazed at how much solid pieces of crud remained after my "in boat" cleaning attempts. There was a thick film of crud stuck to the walls of the tank with a few distinct lines indicating l o n g periods of none use. The film had to be scrubbed off with steel wool. I think the film might have been removed by extensive use of a fuel polishing set up but not sure it would have helped with the solid pieces.
Obviously your "carb cheese" and my plugged filters are different but what you are seeing while running at the dock may evolve when you start bouncing around in weather.
Dan S/V Marian Claire

[hanleyclifford]

What about emptying the tank, flushing it with a solvent, flushing the solvent with a small amount of gas and then filling?

You could test the solvent on whatever builds up in your carb, but I wonder if pure ethanol or methanol wouldn't be a good one to use (it is dissolving whatever is there already).

Yeah, couple of thoughts on this: maybe the blue stuff NAPA sells for parts washers would be a good solvent especially if a pump and filtration system were incrporated. The engine's own (electric) fuel pump could pull the tank almost dry and if a recirculating loop were added with temporary filters in the line a tank could be cleaned and kept that way. In fact I have such a system installed on my boat (but I start with a clean tank each season and keep a filter from Moyer Marine in the return loop). The system uses excess fuel pump pressure bled off right at the carb/fuel pressure gauge.