Use fuel treatment? Read this!

Things that are of general interest.
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EWRice
Royal Aluminum Star
Posts: 319
Joined: Thu Feb 04, 2016 12:37 pm

Use fuel treatment? Read this!

Post by EWRice »

For those who don't know me, I repair boats and equipment for a living. This is also how I came to own my 32 express, but that is a story for another day. I want to share a story with all about a job I worked on last week as it pertains to the recent threads on intermittent poor performance and stalling.

The patient:'01 Cruisers 3750, twin Cat 3126 diesel
Problem: Port engine starts loosing power after running at higher rpm for a few minutes. Happens sooner every time.
Went through and checked all the basics: fuel filters, valves, fittings, accessories. Fires up and runs great. Connected boost gauge and fuel pressure and suction gauge and took her out for a ride. After about 5 minutes at 2400rpm, she started to loose power, and fuel pressure. After a few checks I ruled out a few other potential problems and decided it was a fuel delivery issue for sure. Switched over to stbd tank and all was well. Back to port and problem returns. Now we are narrowed down from the tank up to the selector valve. Traced all fittings and hoses back to the tank, disassembling every connection to check for blockage. Made it all the way to the top of the fuel tank (had to empty and remove a cabinet to access it) before finding the problem.

The problem: Everybody has seen (and broken) the foil seal on the top of a bottle of antifreeze, brake fluid or FUEL TREATMENT. Does everybody remove the seal, or just fold it open and dump the treatment in? I'm guilty too. What I found was one of those foil seals sucked up the pickup tube and stuck in the inlet side of the tank shutoff valve. At idle enough fuel could get past to run good. At load, not so much. Removed seal, problem solved.

Fuel problems can be a pain to solve. A pressure gauge AND a vacuum gauge on your suction line can really narrow down the problem area. Be careful what goes in your tank, too. I spent most of a work day on this job, so you can imagine the expense. It was not the current owners fault as he just purchased the boat and had never added anything to the tanks, but, of coarse, he has to pay for someone else's mistake. Hopefully this will be helpful to others.
Muskegon Lake
1972 32' Express flybridge
"AL13"
Twin 318s
On board air & prime 920
1963 Thompson Super Sea Lancer
Graymarine 327
1961 Alumacraft 12'
'55 10hp Johnson
jralbert
Site Admin
Posts: 885
Joined: Fri Jul 11, 2014 9:15 pm

Re: Use fuel treatment? Read this!

Post by jralbert »

Coarse is right. Glad you could smooth it out for the owner. Great gumshoe work (what can go wrong will go wrong)
-joel-
former owner 1988 '32 FB Sedan
Chesapeake Bay
twin 318 / 240 hp
Potomac MD
barkleydave
Site Admin
Posts: 410
Joined: Sat Jul 12, 2014 6:18 am
Location: Kentucky

Re: Use fuel treatment? Read this!

Post by barkleydave »

Yes good find... leads back to the first point of potential blockage... anti-siphon valve...


safe boating,
dave
1987 Marinette 29 FB Sedan
Retired Boat Accident UL and USCG trained investigator
Retired USCG Captain
Fastjeff
Site Admin
Posts: 1520
Joined: Sat Jul 12, 2014 5:06 am
Location: Rock Halll, MD

Re: Use fuel treatment? Read this!

Post by Fastjeff »

Holy cow! Guilty as charged.

Jeff
"We live at the bottom of an ocean of air, not at the top." General Marvage Slatington
wmgill
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Posts: 20
Joined: Thu Oct 08, 2015 7:46 pm

Re: Use fuel treatment? Read this!

Post by wmgill »

I have always been a stickler for the (careful) removal of the tinfoil seal on all my automotive (and boat) fluids, even windshield washer fluid. It's nice to see this vindication of my compulsive behavior.
HIATUS
on Lake St. Clair
1990
32' Sedan Bridge
Twin 360 Chrysler Marines
coastie1160870
Tin star
Posts: 43
Joined: Sun Jul 02, 2017 8:09 pm
Location: Curtice Ohio, Lake Erie

Re: Use fuel treatment? Read this!

Post by coastie1160870 »

THANKS FOR THE TIP.. I JUST BOUGHT MY "M", AND I HAVE NO IDEA IF THIS COULD HAPPEN TO ME... BUT NOW I WHAT TO CHECK OUT, SO IT'S REALLY HELPFUL..!!
R.A. Campbell
32 Sedan-Bridge
260 Chrysler Twins
" KOKOMO "
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