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1995 BW Montauk 17 with a Tempo 28 gallon above deck tank.

I just got her ready for the season after purchasing this March and she would not start. Cranked and cranked and cranked.
I pulled the air cover on the carbs and the gas looked like yellow garbage.
Long story short I poured out 20 gallons of gas, 3 of which looked liked yellow crap, the rest was 2-stroke blue.

Questions
1. How did all this water get in the tank?
2. I assume it was from the gasket on the tank where the outlet hose comes from, I replaced this gasket. However there were no instructions with the new gasket, does any sealant go here?
3. Has anyone come up with a system of stopping the water from running down the RPS and directly onto the tank top?

Thanks

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If this is how the water got in I would certainly be fixing the gaskets. I suspect it is more of an issue with old, stale ethanol gos. Ethanol is alcohol and alcohol attracts moisture!!!

Dump the tank, clean out the carbs and lines and try again with fresh fuel. Never allow ethanol to sit around for more than 90 days and try your best to run the old fuel out before you ad fresh fuel.

The marine and landscaping environments are the ones who suffer the most from this BS fuel being shoved up our props!

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I now have a shed full of 5 gallon joint compound buckets of old fuel. I started the motor on a spare tank and it ran like new. Now to dispose of the old fuel...

I did replace the tank gasket and for good measure I threw a bit of gasket sealing compound on the outer edge of the gasket, however from what I have read installing this new gasket dry is fine.

Im thinking an RPS canvas cover would keep the water off the tank...

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Ethanol will still attract moisture even with a cover but it could help to some degree.

I won't win any awards for being green but old gas is a great weed killer and works especially well on poison ivy.

You don't need much water in your tank to mess up a nice day on the lake. I don't know of any legal way to dispose of this junk gas.

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My county has a site that will accept fuel at no cost if your a county resident. You may want to try contacting your local waste collection agency or city/county government. I had to dump about 15 gallons myself a couple years ago with nearly three gallons of separated ethanol/water.

If gasoline containing ethanol (E10) is allowed to sit too long and collect atmospheric moisture, it can eventually collect enough that the ethanol itself will separate to the bottom of the tank with the water. Its called phase separation.

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Put an ad in your local Craigs list for free "old" gas, someone will surely come and take it to power their lawn or farm equipment...