Getting Lube Oil out of Diesel Tank

[girnybairn]

its a long story but sailing the Greek islands i picked up some ersatz diesel which caused my engine to race just as I berthed in Datca Turkey .(Local island supplier apparently forgot to clean out tanker which presumably previously held some gasoline )
Local Turkish diesel " specialist " had a cure which he claimed he had used successfully on a Greek boat . This was to remove CW thermostat and pour some lube oil (15 W40) into the fuel tank containing about 130 litres of diesel at about 130 euros value .
Engine seemed to work ok and primary Racor filter trapped any carry over . However now that problem is apparently solved how do I get about 4 litres of cold lube oil lying in the tank sump out . Can't use my Pela as flow rate painful and Pela oil sump extractor would probably collapse under the vacuum . Any ideas ??

Also any ideas about subsequent treatment of fuel in tank to ensure any gasoline in it and crud is cleaned out

[James S]

Welcome to the forum.

Are you saying that lube oil was poured into the tank with 130lts of contaminated diesel and now the diesel has been used up but 4 lts of lube oil remain?

I would have thought that it would have been diluted into the fuel.

Why does it need to be removed?

How do you know that’s the quantity left in the tank…can you see into the sump?
If you can I would have thought you could “sop” it out.

[Boracay]

Are those vacuum oil change pumps available in your area?

[Martinini]

I had to pump out some bad disesel not long ago this way. Bought one of those little Orange plastic hand pumps from Walmart And found a piece of 4' 1/2 inch pvc pipe, stuck the intake hose into it and duct taped it in. Took fill hose off of tank and stuck pipe in to bottom of tank and pumped contents into 5 gal cans. my tank is glassed into keel and I was surprised how well that $7.99 cheapo hand pump worked!

[s/v Jedi]

sump drain valve?

cheers,
Nick.

[MarkJ]

Go for a run with the engine and use it all up.

And next time remember that Turkish people like to sell you something more than becomeing you life long friend

[girnybairn]

Originally Posted by James S

Welcome to the forum.

Are you saying that lube oil was poured into the tank with 130lts of contaminated diesel and now the diesel has been used up but 4 lts of lube oil remain?

I would have thought that it would have been diluted into the fuel.

Why does it need to be removed?

How do you know that’s the quantity left in the tank…can you see into the sump?
If you can I would have thought you could “sop” it out.

got about 60 litres left in tank . with boat static oil is in tank sump with level interface with diesel on top . idea was to stick pipe below interface and suck out without removing diesel . When oil was put in it flowed to tank bottom and ran along it till it met the sump and then filled it .

even if I pumped out diesel its a messy business sopping out 2 to 3 litres of oil with a sponge

[girnybairn]

Originally Posted by Boracay

Are those vacuum oil change pumps available in your area?

got one but doing it with cold oil is a long near impossible process

[girnybairn]

Originally Posted by s/v Jedi

sump drain valve?

cheers,
Nick.

unfortunately tank lies along one hull of cat and sump is in a recess in the hull hence no way can I fit a drain

[girnybairn]

Originally Posted by MarkJ

Go for a run with the engine and use it all up.

And next time remember that Turkish people like to sell you something more than becomeing you life long friend

60 litres in tank , consumption 3 litres per hour = 20 hours motoring round and round , and round and round and round and round and then back to marina with a little to spare of course

[Kapitan]

Originally Posted by MarkJ

Go for a run with the engine and use it all up.

And next time remember that Turkish people like to sell you something more than becomeing you life long friend

@ MarkJ

Thats a bit cruel to put everyone living in Turkey in the same pan of the balance. Everytime there is bad examples and good examples.

If you ever come to Fethiye/Gocek area, send me a message. I'd like to talk to you on a beer. We have customers whom we say our friends who make business with us.

It is the ethics of trading to define the exact problem and take action to solve it with a reasonable profit margin. This makes people come to you or ask you to come when they have a problem on board.

I am very proud to hear "I'm glad that I've had the chance to make business with people like you in Turkey" from 2 of 3 boat owners we work with.

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@girnybairn

To extract the oil from the diesel tank you can use a simple pump which is stimulated by a drill. We have couple of those and we use them to drain any kind of fluids on board.

If you cannot find one around, give me your location and I may have some friends there who would like to help you.