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My son just purchased his first Whaler a 1985 17' Newport. The hull is in excellent shape, console needs a little work, wiring has to be redone and the engine a 1985 Johnson 88hp needs some love. My concern is the 24 gal fiberglass Pate gas tank. Should it be replaced? The previous owner has recently run the boat using this gas tank.

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When i purchased my Montauk it had been sitting for over 5 years not used at all. I took out the tank, not sure if it was a pate, and got rid of it. I did not want to take any chances. I am not running off 2 portable 6 gallon tanks. I am probably going to add a moeller tank under the seat. If your boat has been used and the tank has had fresh gas and was stabilized you might be ok. Maybe add a good inline filter water seperator? Especially with the Ethanol issues. Ill be interested to see eveyones opinions and stories on this .

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Unfortunately, Pate plastics went out of business this last year or so. I have a 24 gallon Pate tank in my Montauk. I would not act to quickly to get rid of the one you have. The 24 Gallon Pate tank cost over $600 -- they are in my opinion one of the best tanks I have ever owned. You can flush it out and have it tested to make sure it is still sealed up tight. The olny issue I have ever had with mine is the seals in the vented caps are not the best. Do not try to fill full to the top or you will get fuel bleeding out of the cap. I usually top off around 21 -22 gallons and it works great.

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Gary -

Congrats to your son. Smart boy!

Pate tanks do not tolerate gasoline with ethanol. The ethanol reacts (not clear on the techy stuf) and bits of crap (techy term) get introduced into the fuel. It can lead to serious engine problems.

If ethanol blended gasoline is sold where you are, do not use the Pate tank. A substitute tank of the same capacity is a Moeller plastic tank. Link to Moeller tank at Overtons

If the boat has a fuel water separator, I would replace the cartridge. If not, install one. Check all fuel lines, bulbs and fittings for age.

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Guess I'm a little confused, seems some folks are able to run their engines using the old Pate gas tanks with no problem yet others found that the resin from the tank was solvated by ethanol/gas. This obviously would cause engine problems. I don't want to take the chance of causing engine problems, plan to install a new 90 hp Suzuki light weight 2009 when they are released, so off to West Marine we go today to get a new gas tank and gas lines. The old Pate tank is already sitting in the backyard. Got to find a way of disposing it

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I dont blame you.. Did you buy the Moeller tank? how does it fit under the RPS?

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Just a thought, Has anyone ever tried to re-coat the inside of a pate tank? There use to be a product for relining motorcycle gas tanks. I used it once many years ago, I think it was called Kreem. Don't know if it could be used on fiberglass though. The tank I did was metal. I figured if the 12 gallon tanks in my montauk ever got rust inside I would use it in them.

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I recently installed a moeller. It fits good enough. I think it was a 26 gal. the fittings were a little difficult. I had to use 4 in nipple to get beyong edge of tank in order to screw something on. The factory fitting was too close to tank to allow anything to spin on. For mounting I cut some starboard blocks to fit inside recess in tank bottom. Lined with rubber to prevent chaffing and strapped from side to side. It looks clean. I dont like the gauge much.

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Today we installed the Moeller 26 gal tank. The tank can not be filled if it is placed directly under the RPS. So we decided to move the tank toward the stern until the filler hole/gas gauge is not under the RPS. The tank sticks out from the RPS about 4". This does not cause any problems when seated toward the stern. But I must admit that it's not as pretty as the old Pate tank. I am not sure the Pate tank could be filled without moving it toward the stern and that would be an effort pushing a 240lb/filled tank back under the RPS. We changed the gas lines, bulb, clamps and added a new Racor gas/water filter with see thru bowl. Under the tank we mounted two pieces of 5/4 x 6" composite decking to raise the tank so that the gas line from the hole under the tank would not be pinched. We also cut two blocks to fit into the side cutouts of the Moeller tank and screwed them into the decking to prevent tank movement. Two tie down straps were also fit under and around the tank to prevent movement. Tomorrow we'll try to start the old 1985 88hp Johnson that seems to need some love.

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Gary -

I know the list of to-do's is really long when getting a new boat. Take the info below under consideration for down the road. :)

If you raised the RPS an inch or 3, would that allow filling the tank without sliding it aft?
When I got the Tempo tank, I raised my RPS legs a bit. Gave me the clearance to fill.

My Montauk had a secondary hole for the tank aft of the OEM opening. It was a 1" hole drilled into the tunnel and finished with a piece of thru hull (flared at one end). Very clean.

There is a photo on my personal page. In the picture, you can see the primer bulb goes straight down. The hole is just below it. My tank sat on the OEM mats.

Enjoy the boat!

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CBO
The fill cap and the volume gauge are in the same hole in the 26 gal Moeller tank. To remove the filler cap and extract the volume measuring tube the RSP would have to be raised at least 10". Looking at the tank and RSP today, well it's growing on me. My son is very happy with the set up. Some of our options were to use a 12 gal tank, get a custom tank built, or use to 6 gal tanks. The exit hole for the gas line is under the RSP and the gas line comes forward and up over the front of the tank. It looks very neat. My son wanted the 26 gal tank and did not want to push it back under the RSP when it was filled. He's happy. I'm happy. I'll be happier if the old Johnson start today! I'll be much happier when the new Suzuki is on in the late summer/fall.