gunk in gas

Hi, I have a new to me Steplift with a 1987 150 hp BlackMax. When I removed the old fuel water separator to put in a new one the gas that came out was brownish, looked like phase separation had occured, and there were brownish specks/globs in the gas. I plan to replace the F/W separator and the inline filters. Should I get the gas tank (aluminum) sucked out (just dregs in there now, previous owner ran basically dry) or just be prepared to keep changing filters as the globs get trapped in the new filters? Any advice appreciated. Thank you, larry

[spareparts]

pull the fuel tank sender out so you can shine light into the tank(don't use a match for light or you'll end up on the news). level the boat till you can see whats left in the tank. I have an electric fuel pump hooked up to a filter for just such an operation, but you can get some one to help you with a primer bulb and some hose, stick a short section of rigid pipe on the end(3/8 brake line works) so you can aim the end of the hose, try to suck out whats left in the tank with the primer bulb. Keep moving the trailer height to mmove teh gas around till you get most of it out. Top off teh tank with fresh fuel and install a water seprating fuel filter inline. Use the racor elements as they have a special coating to separate water from the fuel. You can buy racor elements to fit just about any aftermarket filter head(teh racor heads are expensive). Go ahead and replace teh fuel line to the engine, repalce teh primer bulbs(the Johsnon/evenrude are the best ones available) don't use the cheap bulbs or the cheap inline filters, they cause more problems than they fix. Do not use anything made by Moeller, its junk! If you want to get ahead of the game, go ahead and rebuild the carbs and be done with it.

[Blue_Runner]

Steller advice....well put Spare.

[THEFERMANATOR]

But then you get to be a youtube sensation.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dlT9eSJZCCU

[Stillrunning]

I'd also check the gas lines as e10 can break down the rubber hoses on older boats.

[Monkey Butler]

What 'Ferm said, plus let me add a few tips that I learned the hard way.

If you have the tank pretty much empty then do this BEFORE you top off the tank with new gas:

1. Gather a bunch of clear 2-liter soda bottles. Bypass all of your fuel filters, just run a hose to a primer ball so you can pump out the gas to the bottles so that they are below the tank level outside of the boat.
2. Get some Wal-Mart Super Tech 2-cycle oil and mix it 50:1 with 3-4 gallons of new gas.
3. Pour about a gallon of this mixture in the boat's tank.
4. Tow the boat around the block stopping and starting to slosh the fuel around.
5. Stop and as quickly as possible pump the contents of the boats fuel tank into the 2-liter bottles.
6. Sit back and watch the fuel seperate in the bottles. The Super Tech oil has a nice blue tint to it and will mix with good gas and will float on the top while water and bad fuel will be yellow to brownish tint and sink to the bottom.
7. If the amount of water and bad fuel that you just collected is greater than the capacity of the little bowl on the bottom of your Racor filter then add another gallon of the remaining 50:1 gas/oil to the boats fuel tank and repeat from Step 4.

This may seem like a lot of work but it goes quicker and wastes less gas than trying to do the same with full tank. Plus you won't find yourself out on the water draining your filter and/or carb bowls and you won't be putting all that bad gas though your brand new filter elements.

Rebuild your carbs,ut on a good Racor element, fill up the tank. Check your Racor after you run a 1/2 hour or so and BEFORE you head out into any unprotected water.

I stored my boat with about half a tank (60 gallons) but my son has been siphoning it for gas to put in his snowmobile and now it's empty so I will be following the above come spring.

Oh, and the brown specks; I found those in my bowl too and they were from the metal in the filter itself rusting water in the gas, my tank was clean a a wistle.