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Someone put water in my gas tank! Lm318 I cleared it, it ran, now it only cranks. What to do?

Timothytrespas

New member
Ok I have a 1972 Chrysler lm318 engine, fresh water cooled, velvet drive tranny and V drive gear box, 2 100 gallon tanks.
Recently I drained the tanks, changed to a new raccor Filter with metal bowl, start her up she runs ok. Hard to start unless you put some gas in the top of the edelbrok carburetor.

So a few weeks later I get her started and she’s dueling at about 600rpm and dies
i try to start it again briefly 3 times
then I look and notice the check filter (glass filter) going into the carburetor is filled with white water and no gas!
so I disconnect the filter and empty it out it is filled with water!
i pump the entire tank out into a barrel and there is one gallon of water.
someone clearly opened my tank and sabotaged my engine!
so I replace the gas part and dump the water
i empty the filter best I can and replace it
i empty the carburetor by removing it and dumping its contents.
i drain the hoses from the filter to the pump and to the carb
i clear the glass filter.
i put it all back together and get her started.
she runs ok for a while but has issues and stalls out.
today it won’t start
simply cranks the starter
i started removing the spark plugs one by one finding each one black and dirty i clean each one with metal brush and replace them.
im afraid to continue.
when i looked down the barrels there was only a few drops of water i cleaned up.
i have no idea what i need to do now.
i don’t know how much water got into the cylinders, but I would like to believe not much?
i have the electronic ignition with the ballast resistor.
my batteries are charging off a solar panel but I would replace them
problem is I am flat broke
i am homeless and live aboard my boat.
i stay somewhere where there are apparently people who are willing and able to do messed up things to others for some unknown reason.
so- what can I do to get her started again?
what does one do in this case?
keep in mind I have only basic tools
basic skills
basic experience
and I am not too strong.
i do understand the basics so any advice is appreciated.
Thank you in advance
 
With ignition OFF, is the carb pump supplying fuel or water or nothing at all when the throttle is pumped?
 
Taking off the backfire screen and opening the choke plate by hand, with the throttle linkage removed when the throttle on the carb is pumped the liquid that sprays out appears to be gas
it smells like gas.
i did drain the carborator as best I could by removing it and turning it upside down and shaking until no more liquid came out
then I dried it best I could shook it some more and put it in.


short answer to your question is yes gas

next?
 
Ok
heres an update
after pulling all the plugs and cleaning off the dark black stuff and shining them up with a wire brush and putting them back
after pumping the throttle six times and cranking the starter...
VROOM!
she started up!
i had to adjust the air intake on the edelbrock an additional quarter turn as well as play with the idle screw
but I got her running and she stayed running for a while until I turned her off.
i believe I need newer batteries.

so, despite the success, I would still ask what else one could do in this situation, when water has been introduced into the fuel in such quantities as to override the filters and fill the carb bowls.
what else can I do to ensure that this water is not going to damage the cylinders or pistons or something?

Thank you in advance

oh, and I am putting a lock on my gas tank fill cover ASAP!
 
what else can I do to ensure that this water is not going to damage the cylinders or pistons or something?

Ayuh,..... Runnin' the motor,..... it's the only cure,.....

Maybe recheck the fuel filter after some hours,....
 
Isn’t Heet alcohol based?
methanol?
why would a marine engine owner put alcohol into the gas after going out of the way and spending money to get gas with no alcohol?
Thank you
 
Isn’t Heet alcohol based?
methanol?
why would a marine engine owner put alcohol into the gas after going out of the way and spending money to get gas with no alcohol?
Thank you
……………...
….so said:
what else one could do[/I] in this situation, when water has been introduced into the fuel in such quantities as to override the filters and fill the carb bowls.
 
Making an educated guess, someone didn't put water in your fuel tank. You either have a tank leak, fill leak or vent leak that's been there for a while and you just never noticed it.
 
FYI on the Heet... I bought a fuel injected Cub cadet (with a Chinese motor) but a Walbro fuel injection system and it won't run
on ethanol gas, hesitating, surging, so I added Heet and only added to the problem, so I learned with alcohol aready in the gas
you don't want to add more...
 
Lol,
I have always run ethanol fuel in my carbed '08 VP since new. I do add Stabil. After months of layup, a few pumps of the throttle, it again cranked right up this year.

Maybe 3(?) years ago I pulled the 2300 apart expecting corrosion and muck inside.
Here's what the carb internals looked like after several years...……..

VPCarb1.jpg
VPCarb2.jpg
VPCarb3.jpg
 
You could be correct.
i will check out the tank the fill and the vent.
however in this case there is someone at our marina that sneaks around doing bad stuff to people they believe harmed them in some way.
it is a known fact round here and I managed to get myself in his sights.
i put a lock on the fill so if it happens again we will know you are correct.
if not...
thank you
 
Also just to note: I had pumped the tank empty after the winter season ended. It was not more than 30 days since I cleared any water from the tank, replaced the old filter with a new raccor filter, and got her running for the spring.

Strangly, the amount of water I collected from the tank, filter, and lines,(I dumped the bit in the carb bowls) came to just about 1 gallon us even.

I will check again after each rain to see if the intake, the vent, or the tank have a leak that’s letting in rainwater.
If this is the case, and not someone’s doing) it should fill with water after each rain.
it just rained this morning, so I can pump out the tank into a van to check.
the water goes to the bottom so it comes out first.
If there is no water (it’s in the 70-80s here now so -summer) then the lock I put on the full is a good investment.
if there is more water, I will return to post about it because then we will need to learn to troubleshoot and repair the fuel tank and fill and vent.
I have 2x 100 gallon tanks made from anodized metal.
My boat is from 1969 (a Luhrs 28 cabin with a command bridge, dual stations) and from my understanding she was repowered in 1976 with a new Chrysler 318.
a single engine boat with the transmission facing forward, and a v-drive gear box to reverse the direction of the rotating shaft from forward to aft, where it comes out the bottom to the prop.

Thanks again
 
FYI and FWIW........

Often parents allow their children to help wash their boats. Kids tend to see that fuel tank vent fitting as a target for the garden hose spray nozzle. If the vent hose does not have a high enough reverse loop, water can easily find it's way into the fuel tank.
While this may not be your exact cause, believe it or not this does occur and can be one reason for water in with your gasoline.

Just say'n.


.
 
Lol,
I have always run ethanol fuel in my carbed '08 VP since new. I do add Stabil. After months of layup, a few pumps of the throttle, it again cranked right up this year.

Maybe 3(?) years ago I pulled the 2300 apart expecting corrosion and muck inside.
Here's what the carb internals looked like after several years...……..

View attachment 20822
View attachment 20823
View attachment 20824



Stabil is fine or that Starbrite...that's what I use if I don't have the time to run and get non-ethanol fuel but I'm talking 'Heet' type stuff specifically..... I never had a problem before with any engine even in my '88 Kmart scotts lawn mower but I thought it was interesting factoid...
 
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