Jollup

[Bajan]

Does anyone know offhand, if the Mariner 90hp will have a safetymode/sensor? Where should I look to find out?

[Richard B]

I suspect not - usually it's a feature of the electronic control. But I could be wrong as I don't know the Mariner 90 engine!

[Daniel]

How will a 2-stroke react to water in the fuel? I'm looking for something more technical than 'Blow Up'... I would think it'll "burn" a bit but when you stop it'll rust the internal bits...any body more technical?

[Bajan]

I didn't think so.

Many thanks Richard!

[Rogue Wave]

Originally Posted by Daniel

How will a 2-stroke react to water in the fuel? I'm looking for something more technical than 'Blow Up'... I would think it'll "burn" a bit but when you stop it'll rust the internal bits...any body more technical?

when my not quite so happy max is in pieces I'll tell you.

[Bajan]

Can I ask at this point, what is the general concensus regarding due diligence in preventing water getting into the engine. Mine is 2 stroke 90hp with a Quiksilver water separator before the primer bulb. Should I look at installing some other checking/preventative device? How often should I change that water separator(the one that looks like an oil filter)?

Thanks as always!

[Rogue Wave]

Originally Posted by Bajan

Can I ask at this point, what is the general concensus regarding due diligence in preventing water getting into the engine. Mine is 2 stroke 90hp with a Quiksilver water separator before the primer bulb. Should I look at installing some other checking/preventative device? How often should I change that water separator(the one that looks like an oil filter)?

Thanks as always!

I don't think you have to change it that often but you should drain it before and after every trip. You can change the filter fairly frequently I think they are usually a paper element.


You can also get a funnel which filters out the water.

both of these things are available from ASAP supplies who are on the web..

The main causes of water as I can work out are

Water in purchased fuel.

Condensation in cans and boat tanks . This is paricularly an issue in this country as our nights are much colder than our days and this really gets the condensation rocking.

The smart money is on keeping your tanks full so fill em up after use and not before.

Split internal tanks. Jonny Fuller ( a fine engineer) has managed to convince me that stainless is not the best material to build an internal tank with, it becomes less flexible with age and can split particulalry if you are a rough rider. Plastic or aluminum for me in the future.

In our yard a unit is occupied by a fuel tank cleaning company. They empty and clean the tanks from fuel stations. they also have some stunning kit which checks for leaks with ultrasound.

They tell me that they will not purchase any fuel from a garage that isn't outright owned by the oil company or a supermarket. It's because the local garages franchises are less inclined to spend the money on regular cleaning and filter overhaul. Also they are a bit lower down the delivery chain so they tend to run lower on fuel more often. Guess where the water lives!

[Bajan]

That's definitely useful information Rogue Wave, thanks for that.

I usually fill up at marine filling stations, so I'm hoping they're more inclined to have cleaner equipment/fuel. I hope so as they're expensive enough.

[DJL]

My old Mercury 60 two stroke died in the middle of Studland bay because of water contamination, all the carbs were full of water. I'd only had the boat a few months so I can't imagine it was entirely down to condensation. The petrol came from Tesco. Cost £200 to get it sorted

I have since fitted a bog standard quicksilver filter...Havn't had any problems yet.

The backup engine was worth its weight in gold that day.

[Richard B]

Hmmmm... if the water's in the petrol station tanks, why doesn't my car keep breaking down? I certainly let the tank get very low from time to time.

[Bajan]

My guess is that car engines probably have a more efficient filtering system, however I have heard people say they are not using smaller independent filling stations because they don't trust the fuel.

[Richard B]

I'm not convinced... there's no glass-bowl separator under my car's bonnet. And I'm sure that the fuel filter is a tiddly little thing. Off to get the Haynes book of lies...

[Mark Halliday]

Originally Posted by Rogue Wave

Also they are a bit lower down the delivery chain so they tend to run lower on fuel more often. Guess where the water lives!

Trouble is petrol floats on water and the pick-up point in any fuel or storage tank is at the bottom, which is where the water is, so you get water before fuel

[Rogue Wave]

Originally Posted by Mark Halliday

Trouble is petrol floats on water and the pick-up point in any fuel or storage tank is at the bottom, which is where the water is, so you get water before fuel

i can understand that answer roll on solar power

[Bajan]

Originally Posted by Richard B

I'm not convinced... there's no glass-bowl separator under my car's bonnet. And I'm sure that the fuel filter is a tiddly little thing. Off to get the Haynes book of lies...

Richard!
Let me know what you find, I'm now curious.

Sean

[Richard B]

Nothing yet... there's some great B&W photos in the book with no indication of scale, and I wasn't in the mood to go crawling under the car today!

However, I did notice that there certainly isn't any water trap device, and that the quoted life of a fuel filter for the car is 18,000 miles. I'll bet that they are hardly ever changed... have you ever noticed this item on a service bill? Except perhaps diesels - I used to service diesel cars and change the fuel filter regularly. And now that I think about it, I'm sure that they were a cartridge unit similar to a quicksilver cartridge.

[Pete7]

Some thoughts.

Cars tend to be used daily which stops the build up.

Weather changes in pressure and temp cause condensation.

You don't park your car in the water, well most of us don't.

You don't use cans to transfer fuel to the car.

Petrol stations have a high turn over of fuel, but a Marina ? during winter ?

Boats tend to be stationary during winter which allows condensation to collect and move to the bottom of the tank.

To reduce the risk ensure everything is clean, tanks are stored full, a good diesel water trap filter is fitted and check it regularly.

Pete

[Richard B]

Originally Posted by Pete7

You don't park your car in the water, well most of us don't.

I reckon that a significant amount of the water in a fuel tank could well come from the most obvious source!