Ethanol problems in older Fiberglass Gas Tanks

[Wet Dream]

Fiberglass gas tanks made before the mid-1980s should be checked if you use newer alcohol-gasoline blends. Boat/U.S., a large American boat owners association found more than 30 cases where tanks made before the mid-1980's produced sludge or began leaking after being filled with 10% ethanol-gasoline mixture. The ethanol may be attacking the resins used in making older fibreglass. This sludge can destroy the engine. Inspect the underside of the carburetor for a black, gummy film.

[BRAWNY]

very good advise. i have fisrt hand experience---
i had 1 tank split wide open last june while on vacation,fix that problem with new aluminum tanks.this past sunday we went to the lake for a test ride and lost the upper end of the motor(3 cylinders).pulled the heads sunday afternoon,found the valves gummed up with black crap,other then carbon.
this is a good warning --- please be advised.good luck brawny

[Squirtcha?]

Ditto with the first hand experience. Fortunately my fiberglass tanks started leaking and I replaced them with stainless steel gunnel tanks. The old tanks appeared to be breaking down/melting from the inside out.
Prior to swapping out the tanks I was running a good in line fuel filter, and would check it religiously. It would pack up with the residue from the tanks and I'd have to empty it out.
My boat is a 1976

[MADDOG355]

We discovered this last summer A friends jet had fiberglass tanks and he had been having problems with parts of fiberglass stopping up his fuel filters. (we never made the connection to the fuel till hot boat did a article on the problems with the new fuels). Apairently it reacts with a chemecial in the reisen. I will have to look for the article to see what month it was.

[zudnic]

Read the article in HB and herd from a few other sources. Little leary the previous owner looked at me like I was nuts asking about fiberglass tanks, like tanks are not made out of fiberglass.......

[malcolm]

I just had my port tank apart last year to fix loose baffles and besides a little varnish growth it looked fine inside. Maybe the gas up here in WA is a different mix?

[zudnic]

Not sure of the mix ratio in WA the gov did have a mandate to get production of ethanol and ultra low sulfer on the market earlier than the feds deal.
WA gov. said Senate Bill 6508 mandates fuel dealers to sell 2 percent biodiesel out of their total diesel sales and 2 percent ethanol out of total gasoline sales. This new state biofuels standard makes Washington a leader among other states that are moving in the direction of supporting renewable energy. It also complements a similar Federal law called the Renewable Fuels Standard (RFS) that mandates the US reach 7.5 billion gallons of biofuel use by 2012.
I wonder why WA often has the highest fuel prices in the US even when every other state drops their prices? :idea: