Gas cap off in rain

[Ovmman]

Hi guys, can honestly blame this on the kids. Long story short left cap off over night and of corse it had to rain,nice steady rain for most of the night. 05 280da mpi. Tried today to drain some of the tank by disconnecting line to fuel filter and hooking up a 12v fuel pump I had in the garage. Not sure if it matters but pump is for carbs not injection so only good for 4-8 pounds, but for the life of me could not draw any fuel from tank, even tried to Siphon by mouth ,no luck. Just wondering if anybody had any ideas. Or am I missing something. And I know it was dumb I should have check but it's easier to blame them. Sorry and there is no way to get to tank its buried thanks, Tony

 

[Strecker25]

are you just looking to see how much water go in or are you going to drain the tank? To pull a sample maybe just pull the inlet from the cool fuel module, not sure if that would let some run out. How full was the tank?

 

[Ovmman]

Kind of want to see how much of any got into the tank, can't really get to the pump itself to disconnect it,buried behind motor. That's why I figured I would try to siphon straight from the tank off the bottom through the pick up

 

[NotHerDecision]

I'm not sure how far you are from a facility but I would find a fuel polisher for gasoline. You could siphon it out but how would you know you had it all?


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[Bt Doctur]

the best place is from the gauge sender

 

[Woody]

How many inches of rainfall did you get that night? Your fuel fill is almost vertical, if the rain was light I doubt much actually got in the tank. It may be as easy as using an additive, filling the tank with fuel and burning it up.

 

[Ovmman]

It rained pretty steady , but yes the cap is vertical . Can't really get to sender ,tank is behind genny, I figured if I could just take a few gallons off bottom of tank were the water would settle I would be all right, and let the water separators do the rest. And really guys thanks for all the responses

 

[scoflaw]

Your sender is located under the cushions in cabin berth

 

[Molson]

Happened on my old 210MC, all the rain ran down the gunwale and into the tank, I had quite a bit. Ended up draining and refilling with a good dose of methyl hydrate, also pulled the carb and gave it a clean.

 

[Lazy Daze]

You can suck till you're blue in the face (sounds like you already did!), but you have an electric fuel shutoff in-line with the fuel hose. You'd have to bypass that. As the Doc mentioned above, easiest way is to pull the sender (you can get all the way to the bottom of the tank that way, too). Make sure the boat is still (not rocking) and has been for some time, before siphoning.

 

[becnme]

If you can get to the sender like scoflaw says get a straight piece of copper tubing and insert it all the way to the bottom of the tank and pump from there. That is where any water will be.

 

[Steve195]

What about replacing the separators, run it a little while and then see what comes out of the separators?

 

[Ovmman]

Thanks guys, would have never thought of looking in cabin for fuel sender but there it is right under cushions,funny allways wounded what that panel was for. Will use the copper tube method and take bottom of tank till no water, if any comes out. Change water separators and hope for the best.

 

[Steve Craig]

Another idea is to get a water finding paste. Used in the oil industry extensively.
Coat the end of a rod or coat hanger with it & insert it down the fill pipe until it hits bottom (if you can).
Paste will turn colour on exposure to water & you can get an idea on how much is on the bottom.

 

[Woody]

Because of the gas fill location/design it’s not likely that water running down the side of the boat will enter the hole. The fill hole is 1.75” in diameter. Even if it were in a horizontal surface you’re talking an area of 2.41 square inches. If you received a 1” rainfall that would be 2.41 cubic inches of water or 1.34 fluid ounces.

I'd put some Heet in it and go boating before I'd worry about a couple of these full of water.

 

[Ovmman]

hey guys, took about 5 gallons best I could off bottom of tank. Did not get any water, figure I'll change filters and take woody's advise. Thanks again for all the help . Woody see you are from Wisconsin , my wife is from mauston,lake Genova love the Great Lakes ,boats last forever

 

[aerobat77]

i also did this mistake on my 240 dancer and worried after it rained the night . cannot say how much water came in but just topped the tank with fresh gas and was lucky to get away without any issues .