Fuel tanks and ethanol again

joewilson · Post by **joewilson** » Apr 26th, '10, 10:09

I have a 1997 30' moppie express with 320 crusaders in New Jersey and have been using ethanol fuel for 4 seasons now with no apparent problems. The engines each have 3 fuel filters (20, 10 and 4 micron), no issues with fuel filters since the original swith over to ethanol and no black-goo on the spark plugs. Should I continue to use the tank or be pro-active and replace the tank now with an aluminum one. Should I wait for some indication of a problem, am I worrying for nothing. Any and all insight would be greatly appreciated.

Brewster Minton · Post by **Brewster Minton** » Apr 26th, '10, 10:19

I would say change the tank now before your engines blow up. The other Faithful will chime in.

Rawleigh · Post by **Rawleigh** » Apr 26th, '10, 10:27

I think some of the later resins were impervious to ethanol. What year was the tank built? If it is really a 1997 it may be OK.

Raybo Marine NY · Post by **Raybo Marine NY** » Apr 26th, '10, 10:53

the older tanks were labeled not for ethyl fuels or something along those lines. I have one inside right now and you can see that label clear as day.

I say remove the plate and using a mirror peek at the lid of the tank and see what kind of condition it is in, the lid is the first to go.

dougl33 · Post by **dougl33** » Apr 26th, '10, 14:51

I wouldn't do anything. Keep the water out of your tank and you'll be fine. BTW,

I believe the older tanks (my 86 included) had a label that stated it was not for use with methanol.

joewilson · Post by **joewilson** » Apr 26th, '10, 19:41

Doug L.
I have been on two other 1995 30" Moppies that had the label you are talking about but my 1997 has no label at all. Not sure what that means. Could you please provide further insight into why mine is OK.
Thanks

Raybo Marine NY · Post by **Raybo Marine NY** » Apr 27th, '10, 07:46

I would just check the lid

dougl33 · Post by **dougl33** » Apr 27th, '10, 08:30

Because if you haven't had an issue for 4 seasons why would you start now? I'm a firm believer that its not the ethanol alone that was/is the culprit. Its a combination of ethanol, age, and water that has caused all the headaches. Its the phase separation that's causing the issue. Keep the water out (use Startron or K100) and make sure the gasket on the fuel fill is good and phase separation can't happen.

I could be wrong, but I don't think ethanol caused the problem in the tank above. Why would it deteriorate the top? Also, what year is the boat that tank came out of? I've seen older boats (60's and 70's) that never had a drop of ethanol that had tank delamination issues. I don't think these tanks are as "forever" as we all thought they were.

Since your boat is a 97, its relatively brand new compared to most of the guys that have had issues. I still haven't heard of one case of a early 80's and newer boat that had a confirmed ethanol issue. The sky has stopped falling and I'll bet you never have an issue.

Raybo Marine NY · Post by **Raybo Marine NY** » Apr 27th, '10, 09:38

the top goes first because the vapors are actually worse for the tank then the fuel

It is without a doubt the ethanol.
We work on other makes of boats that have come from out of state with no ethanol and once they have gotten a tank or two in them they go bad.

We just did a tank on a 31 Anniversary ( 80s boat ) and it had only gone bad this past season.

I have a 1974 31 here now we pulled the tank out of and it started to peel but was not 100% bad YET, look inside with your eyes and you will see the lids start first.

I will try to take a picture of the one inside

Im a firm believer that it is no longer a question of "if", its just "when"

scenarioL113 · Post by **scenarioL113** » Apr 27th, '10, 19:41

Its a tough call, I had a post in the ethanol section showing my B28 tank and what that stuff did to it.

If your tank has no peeling or no other signs than your guess is a s good as mine if its going to be alright.

If you are going to inspect the tank frequently then I would say go with it for now. I would check it 2 or 3 times during this upcoming season just to be safe.

scenarioL113 · Post by **scenarioL113** » Apr 27th, '10, 19:46

If you have a strong stomach then look at the pics in this thread:

http://bertram31.com/newbb/viewtopic.ph ... bd8ed2abaf

Raybo Marine NY · Post by **Raybo Marine NY** » Apr 28th, '10, 11:14

Keeping on top of it and seeing if it goes bad is a good idea, but this is why peeking in the tank is not a good method of inspection, the bottom of the tank is usually in much better shape then the top where vapor occupies the space instead of fuel.

Later on when it gets bad flakes will be sitting in the bottom of the tank and look like potatoe chips or corn flakes, but by then it is obviously too late.

First pictures are of the underside of the lid, the last is looking straight down, so you can see if you just peeked inside everything would look tip-top.

First picture also captures the tank resin oozing out, it is circled in red.
This tank has been out of the boat for a couple of weeks now with holes cut in it so it has had ample ventilation

Fuel tanks and ethanol again

Fuel tanks and ethanol again

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