[C320-list] Water in Diesel

[Rick Sulewski]

Larry, 
Since you have hull # 246,  I suspect that you may have a Westerbeke engine
and you may want to also check your fuel filter located on your engine in
the event that any water or debris passed that far down stream past your
fuel separator with a large amount of water in your separator, based on my
own experience. Your fuel cap O-ring may be leaking.  I now use some
plumbers paste to create a water tight seal around the outside of the cap to
ensure no water ever enters my new tank (replaced this spring). You may have
ended up with some contaminated fuel that settled to the bottom corner of
your tank. 

In the event that you may have more than a fuel contamination issue brought
to your attention by a lower RPM range, I would also check to be sure that
your fuel pump is operating and that the ground and that the power leads for
your fuel pump are tight since a sudden drop in fuel pressure may also
result in lower RPMs that could be attributed to your fuel pump shutting off
intermittently and the engine being gravity fed by the fuel tank when the
fuel level is  higher than the fuel pump on a Westerbeke, as long as you
have more than a 1/4 tank full.  I had a broken (separated) power lead on my
replacement fuel pump that was a simple solder repair, but the engine
stopped and would not restart until I added a gallon to my far from empty
fuel tank and once it restarted, I could not hear the fuel pump "clicking"
as the engine was running. I had replaced a bad fuel pump a few years
earlier ( $35 NAPA replacement) and  had twisted and then taped the wire
contact (not soldered the power lead) and it finally separated due to
vibration. A nonworking fuel pump may also result in a drop upper level RPMS
yet my engine ran until I got well below 1/2 full and approached 1/4 full.
Rick
 95' 320 hull #277

-----Original Message-----
From: C320-list [mailto:c320-list-bounces at lists.catalina320.com] On Behalf
Of Larry Frank
Sent: Tuesday, July 07, 2015 11:16 PM
To: C320-List at Catalina320.com
Subject: [C320-list] Water in Diesel

I would like to find out what the collective wisdom and experience of this
group is regarding water in diesel.

A few weeks ago I discovered about 1/3  to 1/2 cup of water in the fuel
filter water separator bowl during a routine check.  Prior to this discovery
the engine had run fine.  After this discovery I instituted a procedure of
checking the separator before every time I started the engine. Until this
last weekend I didn¹t fine any more water than a drop or two.  During this
period I probably ran the engine for 10 hours in smooth to light chop
conditions.

I cannot determine exactly how water got in the fuel but suspect either the
fuel source or a filler cap not completely tightened combined with rain
water.  In 20 years of owning WindSwept I have never had this experience and
I replaced the tank about 2 years ago so I do not expect sources like
condensation to be the source.

This last weekend after motoring for an hour into a good chop (20 knots on
the nose in rather exposed water) the engine RPM dropped from 2300 to 2000
RPM and would not increase with increased throttle.  Luckily we were now in
a position to sail and raised sails and shut down the engine.  I checked the
separator bowl and drained about 1/4 cup of water.  We sailed across Corpus
Christi bay and restarted the engine when entering the breakwater and
protected water.  The engine seemed to run fine and no more water
accumulated in the fuel bowl.  When moored in our slip I ran the engine for
about 20 minutes at 2000 rpm in forward and increased the throttle to max
and the engine rpm was smooth at 3400 rpm so there didn¹t seem to be any
fuel restriction at this time.

Now that you have the background here are my questions.

1.  Has anyone had a similar experience and did enough water eventually make
its way out of the tank allowing the problem to go away?
2.  Do I need to try to siphon or pump the water from the bottom of the fuel
tank?
3.  If I were to allow the engine to run when the separator fills with water
will the engine just shut down or will damage occur?
4.  Does the filter element need changing after water exposure?

Thanks,

Larry
WindSwept
C320 #246