Having been a lurker for many months before taking the plunge, I'm sure the subject of fuel contamination has been done to death. I'm new to this so bear with me.
Returning to S. Ferriby from a great trip to Spurnhead, we are up on the plane in the main shipping channel just passing a small tanker and..... yes you guessed it, revs drop from 3500 to nothing. Heart stops, engine kicks in again, bows point skyward, then revs die off again. Throttle right back and gradualy increase the revs again, all fine until back around the 3000 mark. Decide to give tanker a wide berth and cruise back to S.Ferriby at displacement speed.
Obviously fuel starvation so checked air and petrol filters. Air fine, but petrol filter 2/3rds full of a light brown jelly ??? it felt like jelly, could be rolled into a ball, smelt like......yep..petrol, and tasted like....... sorry - wasn't that interested.
What the hell is this and can it be cured? New filter fitted and run for less than 20 hours.
I'm sure someone out there can enlighten me. I'm also sure Happyone will give me a detailed explanation of what will cure it and were to buy a jelly in petrol prevention gizzmo with added safety features at a very reasonable price.
Thanks in anticipation.
Only your seventh post and getting at H1, thats actually quite impressive[img]/forums/images/icons/laugh.gif[/img]
Sorry I don't have a clue about the petrol problem except that I know you can get water absorbing stuff for petrol and I guess your jelly is caused by water?
P.S In my seven hundreth and something post I am not trying to get at anybody [img]/forums/images/icons/smile.gif[/img]
Hi pollyanna. Is the fuel quite old, perhaps? The symptom of gentle lurching are exactly those of fuel starvation, probly caused by the gloop in the fuel. You need to treat of get rid of the fuel, clean the filters and consider keeping the tank fuller when left, i think. Also, use your boat much much more!
Hi, Moose. I don't know anything about the jelly in the petrol, but am curious to know why you call yourself Moose ? Not too many mooses in the U.K. but we have lots where I live.
Best regards.
Location: Porthmadog / Jawhara Smir / Port Leucate
Posts: 8,757
Re: Brown jelly in fuel filter
Try Soltron - it works as well for petrol as for diesel, especially if you don't use the boat a great deal. Get your tanks cleaned and start afresh with new filter elements.
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I'm sure you'll get a more definitive answer from another forum member, but I have had this problem a bit on motorbikes.
My guess is it's a combination of water, corrosion, and degredation of the petrol.
I have been given to understand that unleaded fuel has a limited shelf life of about 3 months before it starts to go 'off'. Combine this with a mix of rusty water, and I bet the jelly will start to form. Maybe even the hot weather exacerbates the problem.
What state is your tank in?
(must follow you down to Spurn sometime, seems 'busier' down there!)
<hr width=100% size=1><font color=blue> Real boaters do it on the Humber </font color=blue>
Thanks for the advice TCM
The boat came with about a quarter of a tank of fuel and Ive just been topping it up since. She spent the first 18 months pottering about on canals and the Thames. It's only recently that she has been put through her paces on the Humber, disturbing the crud in the bottom of the tank.
It looks like I'll have to drain the tank, clean it out and fit a new filter. I'll also be carrying a spare filter in future.
Hi Martin,
Externaly the tank seems fine, I think its just a build up of crud being disturbed by the less than flat calm conditions around the lower Humber.
Got quite a lot of time off comming up soon, so maybe we can arrange a trip down to Spurn soon.
Brown jelly in fuel filter
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