I need to get about 4 or 5 gallons of fuel out of my tank so I can start with the new ethanol crap. Any ideas on how to extract it cheaply and safely, other than s#^&#^&#^&#^&#^&g on a garden hose.:yak: Thanks Paul

tip the bow up, insert fuel line w/ball into tank, start pumping ball.

Good idea. Not sure hose will reach bottom of tank but I will buy more hose if I have too.

just let it idle in the driveway for like five hours on the muffs.
the neighbors love that kinda stuff:bl:

You cant mix the new with the old? :huh:

you can mix it.
the main idea was to drain the old stuff down as much as possible then install the filter and fuel up with the new stuff.

I would think it would be difficult to get all the water and sludge out by pumping or siphoning, and thats the stuff the ethanol eats up. I actually just switched my small boat from the built-in tank to portable after having problems this weekend. The tanks 15 years old, and built into the hull so cant really inpsect or clean it.

ah, but it's the old type of fuel, so the water (if any) and fuel would be separated. and if you have enough hose, it is no problem getting 99.x% of the stuff in your tank out of it.

Wouldn't 4-5 gals be a very small percent of the tank capacity? I would think it would be ok? Actually I really don't know....

i mixed old with new and didnt have any problems :huh:
probably had half a tank in when i did...

Just fill'er up and drive from Cutty to Newport last Sunday, the old and new should mix beautifully, plus you'll burn more than expected....................

Fuel line with the bulb worked like a charm. Great idea. Thanks Rhody. All the info I read said do not mix the old stuff with the new Ethanol gas. Probably over kill but have you ever heard of Murphy's Law. It was written for me.:uhuh: Paul

:) good to hear it worked. i work at a marina, that's the best way we've found

You can mix the old with the new, just make sure it is atleast a 5 to 1 mix and you won't have any problems if you have a fuel/water seperator/filter.

just mix it together and be done with it. I think alot of this is hoopuckey save for the older fiberglass tank guys. I been checking my racor all season and it's fine, all I did at the start of the season was mix 25 gallons of new with about 50 gallons of old and have not had a single problem. My vst pump problem last fall which was diagnosed this spring was well before any Ethanol came up to Mass.

Last weekend I idled the rest of the old gas out in the driveway. I then installed a 10 micron Racor fuel water separator with the clear bowl. Today I put 18 gallons into the tank. I went home, hooked up the muffs, and proceeded to prime. The filter filled up with fuel, and the clear bowl filled up. So I drained it. I started the boat, and watched the filter, the bowl filled up, I drained it, filled up , I drained it. This went on for 4 or 5 times till the engine died. :( Now I started to prime until the bowl filled , and drained it about 15 times. I think I am going to get a hand pump tomorrow, and pump the while tank out. I am peesed, frustrated, and don't know what to do.:smash:

Specialist the bowl is supposed to fill up with fuel. What the bowl does is allow you to drain off any water which will be at the bottom of the bowl since water is heavier than fuel. At least that's the way mine has always worked..........................

I thought the filter was designed so that only water would go into the clear bowl, not fuel. Am I wrong, kind of hope I am, them maybe it is something else.

The bowl is clear so you can see any water collecting in the bottom, which you drain off down to gas with the petcock

I started the season with 80 gallons that set over the winter,I make sure the the tank is full when I put the boat up.
So far I have pumped in around 200 gallons with no issues.

I have a 1/2 or smaller hose siphoner that I got at a hardware store. It has a primer bulb like a fuel line hose. It works like a charm to drain things. Just have to have the bottom of the hose lower than the tank. You could probably do the same with a fuel hose with a bulb.

Ok I thought the only thing that would enter the clear bowl was water. I did'nt realize that gas filled the bowl. SO Stupid me let the thing run yesterday with the pitcock open, the engine sucked in more air than gas and starved itself. I just fired it up, and it is idling in the driveway. The gas in the bowl looks good, and before I fired it up, I checked the screen on the fuel pump and it was clean. I am keeping my fingers crossed. I also bought a portable 6 gal tank and hose to have with me just in case, and a couple of spare filters.

Sounds like your good to go. Based on my 75 hours/yr I replace the cartridge once a year in the spring. Remember you only need to buy the white filter portion at about $25. It comes with two gaskets one for the head and one for the bowl, just remove the bowl from the old cartridge and put it on the new one.

Thanks Jeff, I ran it in the driveway for about an hour with no problems. I got 2 spare filters when I bought the Racor. I will run a couple of tanks through this one then change it as a precaution.