Sheldon – I just acquired a boat with a 2008 Yamaha F250. Motor has 56 hrs on it. Tank has 1/4 tank (about 25 gallons) of non-oxy in it. Before I even take the first shakedown cruise, what precautions should I take with the old fuel?
how old is the fuel in it now? any additives in it that you are aware of??
if the fuel is over three months old and the boat has been sitting in the sun and under a cover,the fuel has most likely lost most of its goody.
yes,the motor will run but not to its full potential.
believe it or not,our fuel is so crappy these days even 91 non oxy is starting to degrade down to 88 octane in just one week if the tank the fuel is in has been exposed to temps above eighty degrees.
tightly sealed tanks may fair a little better.
unless you are going to run that thing a lot this year,blend new fuel on top of it and run it completely out so that it doesnt go into storage with a load of old fuel,ie,twenty five gallons of old fuel and twenty five gallons of new fuel = fifty gallons of bad fuel next spring.
I know for sure it has a bottle of star-tron added. I will run at least a full tank through this yr still. I just wanted to verify that if i fill it full with new non-oxy – and run it that i will not be hurting anything.
I know the fuel in it is a minimum of two yrs old. Boat was stored on a covered lift in florida for 11 yrs and in a heated garage in michigan for the last year. Motor had not been turned over for 1.5 yrs and fired/idled fine on first crank.
You recommend storing it (unheated garage) with tank low on fuel over winter and then filling fresh in spring?
Best thing imo, is go use it and run some fresh fuel through it. Add a additive or get old fuel out and fill it full with good clear premium gas with a additive!
first off,if the fuel is two years old,even if the motor fired off okay,get rid of that fuel asap !! do not run it any longer please until you get it drained and new fuel in it.
in the environment it came from I can only imagine the crap that has formed in the fuel system.
you will want to drain the fuel hoses to the motor as well and I would replace fuel filter.
I would highly recommend running startron,neutra,any good known fuel system cleaner in it.
be very careful of how it performs above idle,ANY hiccups in it would mandate a total fuel system cleaning,yep,more bucks spent but I would hate to see you fry that expensive motor !!
in our temperate environment,hot,cold,humid,rainy,foggy,and any combination of these allows for condensation to occur in the tanks,I highly recommend filling the tank with fresh fuel and treating before storage so that condensation is not a problem.
cold weather is not as harsh on fuel as hot weather is so you should be good to go next spring.
👍. Thank you much. I really appreciate the advice. Now i need to figure out how to get the crapola out! Hopefully i can siphon.
first off,if the fuel is two years old,even if the motor fired off okay,get rid of that fuel asap !! do not run it any longer please until you get it drained and new fuel in it.
in the environment it came from I can only imagine the crap that has formed in the fuel system.
you will want to drain the fuel hoses to the motor as well and I would replace fuel filter.I would highly recommend running startron,neutra,any good known fuel system cleaner in it.
be very careful of how it performs above idle,ANY hiccups in it would mandate a total fuel system cleaning,yep,more bucks spent but I would hate to see you fry that expensive motor !!in our temperate environment,hot,cold,humid,rainy,foggy,and any combination of these allows for condensation to occur in the tanks,I highly recommend filling the tank with fresh fuel and treating before storage so that condensation is not a problem.
cold weather is not as harsh on fuel as hot weather is so you should be good to go next spring.
What he said! X2
Been pumping it out the hard way. By pumping the bulb. Yuk. Couldnt get it to siphon though the water seperator. Its some pretty yellow gas! Runnit through a filter and it should be good enough for my little work car.
Great advice! Filling it up to store it and reducing condensation issues through the winter months helps a ton. Water droplets in any fuel system = no good!
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