[C320-list] Water in fuel

[Marko Jamnik]

I'm the only one who fuels the boat and haven't added any water to my aft tank. My diesel cap is colour coded. After all these years I guess the water has accumulated through fuel and condensation

Mark
Lake Ontario
#304



On 2012-06-25, at 12:19 PM, Chris Burti wrote:

> 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
>