[C320-list] Water in fuel

[Chris Burti]

Catalina has moved the fuel and water fill fittngs around a bit over
the years. On our #867 they are side by side by the starboard stern
perch and owners with this configuration have reported accidental
filling of the water tank with diesel and the diesel tank with
water....best recommendation is to be very careful when filling
either, don't let anyone do it for you and replace the stainless caps
with color coded plastic ones.

On Mon, Jun 25, 2012 at 11:25 AM, Marko Jamnik
<mjamnik at markocreative.net> wrote:
> Into my third sailing season with my 1995 - 320. Boat came from brackish waters to fresh water.  I had the motor taken out and had the  motor mounts replaced as well as reconditioning the engine, all of the hoses filters primary & secondary filters, zinc nodes impeller etc.  after all that it was tested and the result the engine was in A1 condition. The last two seasons no problems until now.  It's a Westerbeke 30B with a total of 1000 hrs.
>
> I tried starting the engine this week and after two minutes the engine stalled. I cranked it a number of times and no luck. The fuel gauge was full. I had a mechanic look at it only to tell me that I was pumping through water, out of the injectors that all I saw. The plan is to clean out the tank and replace it with cleaner fuel. I think it was a matter of time that the balance of water levelled with the fuel and with some sloshing around I reached that cutoff point. Now my concern is that this will be a costly fix especially since I have water in the system now. Concern of mine is that a complete removal of water has to happen, I can't afford water in the cylinders since it won't burn and once the fuel does kick in it can blow a seals. The mystery here is how much water is in the system already
>
>
> I have checked the O ring and it's not cracked I still have to check the vent fitting but this will be after the fact.
>
> Before I hand over my retirement fund, just kidding. I'm wondering if anyone else has had a similar experience.
>
> If only it could run on water?
>
> Mark
>
> #304



-- 
Chris Burti
Farmville, NC