Milky diesel fuel

[witold933252763]

What is the best way to clean emulsified fuel with water in the fuel tank?
any help will be greatly appreciated.

Wit

 

[Captain Ralph]

What is the best way to clean emulsified fuel with water in the fuel tank?
any help will be greatly appreciated.

Wit

I have been here.
First, find and fix the water leak.
Then have the fuel removed.

Been there,
rc

 

[bigbill]

if you have time, let it settle and suck the water from the bottom until you get fuel. there is a paste that you can put on a stick to test how deep the water is after it settles to the bottom

 

[Boatsb]

Emulsifed fuel is a sign of pressure pushing in the water. May be a fuel cooler .

 

[Avenger]

Some additives have emulsifiers to "disperse" water in fuel. Emulsifiers bad. Demulsifiers good. If you're using additive, check the label. No, additive is not going to fix the problem. The fuel is probably garbage, but as has been pointed out, you need to find the source of the water before you ruin more.

 

[yachtsmanbill]

What Big Bill is referring to is SAR GEL. A) you need to find the leak. B) Polish the fuel with a RACOR type separator or a centrifugal spinner AKA a centrifuge. If its 50 gallons toss it, if its 1000 clean it. Id pull the cooler off (Deroit? Simple) Let the fuel settle in the tank for a month and start the polishing. Let the majority settle out then run it through a fuel/water separator.

 

[brico]

KolorKut is best water finding paste. Smear it along a piece of plastic or brass tube that you can dip into the tank to try and figure out how much water you have.

My leak was not from the fuel cooler but a bad "O" ring on the deck filling plug, and possibly years of condensation. It is good to keep the tanks topped up during winter months if you are not using the boat for few months. Reduces the space for condensation to occur and sink down to the bottom of the tank.

You need professional company to do the work who use specialized tools to reach as far as they can along the bottom of the tank. Fuel tanks have baffle plates with bottom and top lightning holes so you will only reach 1/4 or 1/5 of your entire tank from the top where flanges are. The rest will have to be pressure flushed with bendable pipes/hoses and pressurized fuel flow.

If you are not planning on running the tanks low, cutting the pickup tube by an inch or two will help reduce the possibility of sucking in the water from the bottom, especially when you are running in heavier seas causing the water in the tank to slosh and get picked up by fuel pump.

 

[Boatsb]

No amount of water in the tank is acceptable.

Get it out of there and fix the problem.

And as Derek said don't use an emulsifier.