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Hello all. We recently purchased an 83 outrage 18 with a 115 Yamaha 4 stroke. Boat is a beauty, well cared for and in good condition. We spent the spring months refinishing the teak, and putting a new paint job on her. She's been in the water for a few weeks now with no trouble, running great. If everyone on the east coast will recall, it rained pretty good about a week or so ago. Actually, it poured.
Well we keep the boat docked, and as you might imagine, there was some water in the boat as the bilge is not an automatic. We took the boat for a spin and on the way back in it cut off. When we got it back to the dock it wouldn't start.
We pulled it, took it to the marina, and had a guy look at it. He said there was 80% water in the gas tank!!! My first question is obvious. How did it get in there? My grandfather was replacing the mechanical gas gauge in the floor, and he couldn't tell me for certain that he put the cap back on. But even so, if the cover was off, and water got in the hull from that point, would it get in the tank? My other thought was a bad tank.
Has anyone else had this problem? Thanks in advance.
You may have gotten the water from the last fueling. This does happen from time to time. You'll have to have the tank drained and cleaned inside. Make sure that you have a good fuel filter / water separator before the fuel gets to the engine. Good luck. Lets hope it's not the tank. Do you smell gas when you open the plates in the deck??
Edited by whalerman on 06/17/09 - 6:43 PM
THOM : 1999 Outrage 18, 2012 E-TEC 150, 2012 EZ Loader trailer
How did the mechanic sample your tank? I find it hard to believe you had 80% water throughout the entire tank. Perhaps the sample was that high...particularly if it was pulled off the bottom of the tank.
On my 25' Outrage, the fuel tank has a seal where the fuel outlet hoses bolt to the tank. You might check that seal. Of course, I would think you would had smelled gas if your seal was that bad.
Had you just filled the fuel tank before the problem occurred?
Make sure you have recent fuel lines, vent, fuel filler, etc. In 1983 the lines weren't good for ethynol, plus they should be changed at some point. The original tanks are only rated for 15-20 years.
I purchased ann83 Outrage 18 last year,after doing some research on the forums,the fuel tank was my biggest concern. I didnt smell any fuel throught the Beckman plates,so I decided to change the feul filler and vent hoses. Thanks God I did it because they were in such poor shape.If you need any tips for replacing them feel free and pm me.
As for the water in the tank,I would check the seal where the hoses going to the motor come out of the tank,if its not the culprit have the tank pressure tested.
I heard that 1983 was the best Outrage made!!
Thanks to all. I'll check to see if I smell any gas from the beckman plates. Also, I'll check the fuel and vent lines. The filter is brand new, so I'm sure that is good.
Also, I just found out it had a a hiccup a few weeks ago when my cousin was driving. He was riding wide open and it throttled all the way back. Almost threw him out of the boat. Not sure if this is related, but I guess he didn't mention it as there were no other problems.
I had this same problem with my 84 Outrage and it was the fuel filler hose. Take off the small deck plate on the port side where your fuel cap is and look at the hose. Where the hose makes a 90 degree angle coming down from the side wall and going under the deck plate was completely cracked and dry rotted on mine. My guess is yours has failed in that same spot. Its not that bad of a fix. Getting the hose onto the tank can be a tight fit but I got it on there and I haven't had a problem since.
I would first be sure of the 80% number. Any water is going to be picked up by the fuel pickup in the bottom of the tank. You could have much less than 1% water in your tank, but the engines fuel filter, or tank filter, could be full of water. I would try siphoning a little gas out of the tank, from the fuel pickup, and checking it. My hunch is, you will not find a lot of water.
Edited by Blackduck on 06/18/09 - 8:24 AM
Walter Reynolds
1973 Boston Whaler 16 Nauset 90 HP Yamaha
