Water in fuel issues, f225 will not start

[James70818]

Took the boat out and as the title says, had water in the fuel. More than just condensate. A few months ago I had some transom work done at the fiberglass shop. They split the hull from the top deck and doing so, disconnected the fuel fill line and vent. I think this may be when it got water into the fuel. Just a guess because it was a lot of water.

Back to the story, we ran about 12 miles, motor started loosing power, I shut down to check things out. Saw the red float ring in the fuel bowl was floating at the top realized it was water. I dumped the fuel/water separator filter and the fuel filter bowl on the motor. Got the motor started and headed back in to the camp. Almost made it and it shut down again. Dumped the filters again, this time no fire. So we *****ed about a mile back to camp.

Now I can get to everything good, I dumped the filters again. I opened the VST drain and water did come out. Now things get real, I loaded the boat and went to a local gas station that had a recycled oil container and he said we could dump the fuel in it. I got an inline fuel pump, hooked it to the input hose of the fuel/water separator line and sucked all the fuel and water out of the tank. put 30+ gallons in and we are back at the camp. I installed a new fuel/water filter, primed the system, drained the VST tank again, cycle the fuel pump and released the pressure on the fuel rail to make sure I have fuel everywhere I can for being at the camp. It looks great. The motor will not fire now. Not even a bump.

I have no clue. I think the odds of clogging all 6 fuel injectors is high but I guess an option. Any thoughts on where to go now other than have my shop take a look and clean the injectors, purge the system. Since I'm getting great fuel at the fuel rail I don't thing the "F" filter is clogged, the fuel pump is pumping so it's screen is good.

Thanks,
James

[rejesterd]

What does "not fire" mean? It cranks but doesn't start? Or it doesn't even crank? If it doesn't even crank, it's probably hydro locked.

[James70818]

It does turn over. Doesn't start. Going to pull the plugs later today.

[DennisG01]

Still a little confused on your terminology - primarily because you're mentioning cleaning your injectors.

"Turning over" does NOT mean "starting" or "attempting to fire". Turning over simply means you turn the key and the starter engages the flywheel to spin the engine.

If the engine isn't turning over, it has nothing to do with your injectors - whether they need cleaning, or not.

But, if all you hear (when you turn the key), is the starter clacking into the flywheel and the flywheel doesn't turn, the (current) issue is not fuel related.

Can you clarify a little better? Better clarification will help get better answers.

[99yam40]

pumping the fuel out of the tank using the normal fuel pick up will not get all of the water out of the tank.
there will still be water at the very bottom of the tank.
the pick up is not on the very bottom of the lowest part of the tank, and that point can be different places depending on how the boat is sitting,

when you have the boat out on the water and the water in the bottom of tank starts moving around it will get into the pick up tube again and cause problems.

you need to flush/clean the tank, filters,pumps, and lines well to get rid of all of the water


after that Monitor fuel rail pressure,
if it is in spec then pull the injectors and have them checked/serviced.

[rejesterd]

Might be easier to confirm spark by just spraying starting fluid in the air intake while it's being cranked. But pulling the plugs might reveal something else there, so why not..

If spark is fine and you're seeing pressure being released at the rail, then yeah.. have the injectors inspected. Enough water in there can certainly damage all of them.

[James70818]

pumping the fuel out of the tank using the normal fuel pick up will not get all of the water out of the tank.
there will still be water at the very bottom of the tank.
the pick up is not on the very bottom of the lowest part of the tank, and that point can be different places depending on how the boat is sitting,

when you have the boat out on the water and the water in the bottom of tank starts moving around it will get into the pick up tube again and cause problems.

you need to flush/clean the tank, filters,pumps, and lines well to get rid of all of the water


after that Monitor fuel rail pressure,
if it is in spec then pull the injectors and have them checked/serviced.

When I pumped out the tank, it was on the trailer and I jacked up the front as much as I could so all the fuel would go to the rear of the tank. When I started pumping the fuel out, we watched a lot of water come out, gallons of water. the pump was rated for 38 gph and a good 20 min was water/fuel fix. Then the discharge was good clean looking fuel for another 40-50 gallons. I went on and emptied the tank we pulled the sending unit to inspect the inside and it was only a few ounces of liquid in the tank. I felt confident that is that had water I could pick it up in the fuel/water separator. We then put fresh fuel in with a new 10 micron fuel/water filter and began to prime the system. The float ring on the fuel bowl on the motor is sitting at the bottom which tells me no water to that point. I'm very confident there and with that little bit of water I should get the motor running even if it would miss here and there until it passed any residual water if any. But the motor at this point is only turning over with no combustion taking place.

[James70818]

Still a little confused on your terminology - primarily because you're mentioning cleaning your injectors.

"Turning over" does NOT mean "starting" or "attempting to fire". Turning over simply means you turn the key and the starter engages the flywheel to spin the engine.

If the engine isn't turning over, it has nothing to do with your injectors - whether they need cleaning, or not.

But, if all you hear (when you turn the key), is the starter clacking into the flywheel and the flywheel doesn't turn, the (current) issue is not fuel related.

Can you clarify a little better? Better clarification will help get better answers.

The engine does turn over. I had the flywheel cover off and visually saw the starter engage and rotate the flywheel. Combustion is not taking place in the cylinders. I have clean fuel to the fuel rails and since the engine is turning over I assume it is drawing air into the cylinders. I couldn't check the plugs at the camp because I didn't have a set of allen's to remove the back cover to get to the plugs. So that leaves me with two things possible to make combustion work. Either the fuel is not getting through the injectors or no spark. I never could smell raw fuel as I should have flooded the cylinder as much as I cranked on it. So my gut is the injectors.

[James70818]

Might be easier to confirm spark by just spraying starting fluid in the air intake while it's being cranked. But pulling the plugs might reveal something else there, so why not..

If spark is fine and you're seeing pressure being released at the rail, then yeah.. have the injectors inspected. Enough water in there can certainly damage all of them.

None of the local shops had a can of starting fluid at the camp. I couldn't try that.

[DennisG01]

Sounds like you got all the water out.

So, if it's turning over, but not firing... A common issue is that the 'kill switch' at the helm got knocked off (or clip removed). Also check that the clip isn't cracked/slightly broken.

[rejesterd]

None of the local shops had a can of starting fluid at the camp. I couldn't try that.

How bout brake cleaner? Or just get a spray bottle and fill it with some fuel.

[TownsendsFJR1300]

Besides removing a bunch of water, did any crap come out while draining, especially at the VST?

If so, the VST filter may be clogged with crap (even thou all the water is out).

I'd drain the VST and catch what comes out. Prime the primer bulb as well looking for any debris or water..



*Also, with that EXCESSIVE amount of water, it sounds like someone put a garden hose in your fuel cap and filled it...
Any issues with the locals??

[pstephens46]

You write that you have “good fuel at rail”. Have you measured rail pressure? How long did water sit in the system? Pumps don’t like sitting in water. Boat probably needs to come home from camp for more intensive therapy.

[James70818]

Besides removing a bunch of water, did any crap come out while draining, especially at the VST?

If so, the VST filter may be clogged with crap (even thou all the water is out).

I'd drain the VST and catch what comes out. Prime the primer bulb as well looking for any debris or water..



*Also, with that EXCESSIVE amount of water, it sounds like someone put a garden hose in your fuel cap and filled it...
Any issues with the locals??

I'll have to pull another VST sample. to see how it is now. We did remove some brownish residue from the VST tank and the fuel rail on the first times I emptied them. So, yes there maybe more inside. The boat was here at the house, my initial run through the systems were fine before we left. I think the fuel/water separator was doing it's job. Motor ran fine for 20 or so miles. Then the water just over came the filter. We do have spark so I do think it is an injector issue. I'm dropping of the boat tomorrow to let them pull and clean the injectors.

I think the water can when I had fiberglass work done to the transom. The split the hull open and would have had the filler hose off and during pressure washing or outside while there it might have gotten the water. I also inquired about the fuel at the station I bought 70+ gallons of fuel at. The regulating group for that will get back with me after they test the fuel.

[James70818]

You write that you have “good fuel at rail”. Have you measured rail pressure? How long did water sit in the system? Pumps don’t like sitting in water. Boat probably needs to come home from camp for more intensive therapy.

The water would not have been sitting in the system as it had fuel and the filters did there job at first. Once we started pulling water out of the tank during our trip the filters did all they could until it was just too much water. No way of measuring the fuel rail pressure other than to say it shoots out about 6 foot when you turn on the fuel pump and press the fuel rail valve in. She gets therapy tomorrow!