Brown murky diesel

[Whitby-42]

I have a center tank full of brown murky diesel and wondering if it's worth trying to filter through multiple racors into a different tank or if it should just be pumped out.

Currently I have a bottle full of it waiting for it to settle out to see if there's water. The particular vessel is known to have a rotten center tank since everything going to the bilge runs across it stupid design.

[boatpoker]

How old is that fuel ?

[Lepke]

Old fuel will burn w/o hurting the engine. It won't have as much power and may not start a cold engine. Filters probably won't change the color unless they're extremely fine.
Add a high quality fuel conditioner. That will increase the cetane rating, improve combustion efficiency, add lubricity, clean the fuel system, and help a Racor type filter remove water. Because it improves combustion, it will also remove soot from the turbo and increase mileage. I would use a 2x or 3x dose. Ant then it should start and run like normal fuel.
I use a fuel conditioner every fueling and the mileage difference pays for the conditioner. I get mine here: archoil.com or from Amazon.

[Jammer]

Do you have cost effective, practical choices available for fuel disposal? Because if you do, I would take advantage of them.

[Whitby-42]

Originally Posted by boatpoker

How old is that fuel ?

It came with the sailboat... So my best guess is somewhere between 1982 and 2024

[boatpoker]

Originally Posted by Whitby-42

It came with the sailboat... So my best guess is somewhere between 1982 and 2024

Get rid of the fuel, you have no idea what contaminants are in there and adding cetane boosters or some magic chemical will not remove them.

[Whitby-42]

Thanks for the advice. After pressure washing the top of the tank I can see that there's holes completely through it so it does have water mixed in with it and bacteria. After leaving a sample set overnight I don't see any separation. I think my game plan is to polish it into the starboard tank I just cleaned had bio side, seafoam etc. repolish it into a day tank and see how it runs.

[SailingHarmonie]

Originally Posted by Whitby-42

Thanks for the advice. After pressure washing the top of the tank I can see that there's holes completely through it so it does have water mixed in with it and bacteria. After leaving a sample set overnight I don't see any separation. I think my game plan is to polish it into the starboard tank I just cleaned had bio side, seafoam etc. repolish it into a day tank and see how it runs.

Geez…. That’s probably all water—no fuel. I’d throw it away. Not worth the trouble to clean up, and surely not worth the risk to injectors.

But it’s your boat…

[Statistical]

Originally Posted by Whitby-42

Thanks for the advice. After pressure washing the top of the tank I can see that there's holes completely through it so it does have water mixed in with it and bacteria. After leaving a sample set overnight I don't see any separation. I think my game plan is to polish it into the starboard tank I just cleaned had bio side, seafoam etc. repolish it into a day tank and see how it runs.

Just get rid of it.