Gas disposal?

[fatlazyless]

....mystery oil is brite red, smells like peppermint, and looks like red wine....engines loves the stuff except it does not mix with synthetics... ?

[bigdog]

Just found out my town's DPW will be having 2 hazardous waste removal days over the summer, and will take gas, any quantity, no questions asked ! Also found a DPW employee who will take my gas, no questions, and says he will burn in his farm tractor.
Until I can discard the gas by one of the methods just described, going to continue to use my auxiliary gas tank, as it seem to work fine!

Speaking of which.........
After recently running the boat, I put back on trailer, and dragged back to storage facility. Several days later, I went back to the boat to check on some things...... I picked up the auxiliary gas tank, and it was empty ! It should has still had at least 2/3 gas left in tank! I told the storage facility manager about this, and they said it may have been stolen, as earlier in the season, another boat owner reported stolen gas, and electronics off his boat.

OK, stolen gas.... Can understand why someone doing that with the cost of gas ....
But why didn't the thief just tank the tank and all ? A thief with principals ?

Anyway was talking to my local marine tech, and happened to mention about what I though a gas theft. He asked me if my OB engine was tilted in the 'up' position? I always store engine in this position, so do most other folks.
He stated that the gas could have actually drained out through the engine as a result of a possible stuck needle valve in one of the carbs? He said he's seen this happen before. Now I'm talking a VERY knowledgeable marine tech, with a well respected name
in the lakes region, who really knows his stuff !

I've never heard of gas leakage in this manner? Is this possible?
So if this is true, then placing the engine in the 'down' position would not have drained the gas? Doesn't make sense to me?

Assuming I do have a stuck needle valve in carb? How does one 'unstick'? Seafoam? FYI, I previously cleaned all 4 carbs with carb spray cleaner thoroughly, short of taking carbs out of engine.

Last.......
NTS, when one buys a used boat, do all your homework first, and get a qualified marine tech to assess, before making the purchase.

Should have held on to last boat, as I worked all the bugs out of that one before I sold it !

Thanks for your feedback as always.......

Bigdog

[Kamper]

I had a lawn tractor that drained out after the floats were compromised. Rebuilding carbs is an easy job, if needed.

[Rich]

I just took out about 47 gals of gas from one of my two tanks.

My mechanic said he didn't think it was phase separation, but just water.

I removed the gas, and had almost 2.5 gals of water. Now I have removed the water and have all the gas in about 10 5 gallon gas cans. It was easy to remove the water once the gas was out of the boat's fuel tank.

So how does one test for phase separation?

If the gas I have is good, then i can use it in my car.

Of course, I still haven't figured out how I got water in just ONE tank. I know where I purchased that load of gas, but still, how did I get it in one tank and not the other? Of course it could have been a loose gas cap, or bad o-ring, but I doubt it as I double check these all the time. It could be from my cleaning that side of the boat too vigorously as that is the dock side.

So, how does one test the gas for phase separation to know if it's good or not?

[HellRaZoR004]

Rich - I'm not sure but I'm curious as to why you checked, were the engines not running right?

[Rich]

Yes, my starboard engine wasn't running right about a week after buying some fuel.

The mechanic took out the fuel filter and checked it in a clear glass container and found it about 1/2 full of water. After two or three more filters worth of water, he looked at the gas and it looked clear, but there was plenty of water.

I hand pumped out the gas through the fuel level sender port using a tube to be sure to suck the fuel from the bottom of the tank and ended up with about 47 gallons of water.

I then used some black food coloring to tint the water in the gas cans, which made it very easy to siphon it out of the gas cans. Now I have separated the gas from the water.

Next thing I'm trying to do is to find out how useful the remaining gas is. I have about 45 gallons of it sitting in 5 gal cans. Want to buy some? LOL

[Kamper]

My 2cents:

Let it settle in the cans for a few more days then siphon out any water that goes to the bottom. It will probably be okay for anything but add in some stabilser and use in your lawn equipment. If no issues there, add in a gallon or two to your other vehicles' tanks until it's all gone.

Good luck!

[Rich]

Yes, this is my plan!

If you ever have to do this, adding the black food coloring (about 10 drops in each 5 gallon gas can) made it VERY easy to spot the water on the bottom, so you know exactly what you need to siphon off.

The black food coloring (or any other dark color) only combined with the water on the bottom. It didn't combine with the gasoline at all. It sure made the job of separating/removing the water very easy.