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Clean or replace gas tank in 2005 2575RL Supersport w/F250

BamaAF

BamaAF

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Wetumpka, Alabama
I am 3rd owner of boat - this is my 5th season and it started hesitating in-frequently last year (noticed mostly when fuel would get below half tank) and this year was minor with full tank, so added some ring free and all seemed well until it got below 3/4 tank yesterday. I want to remove tank to clean - it is under non drivers side rear sun deck pad. Pad does not lift up as the one the engine hits when trimmed all the way up, so figure I will have to remove that pad to get tank out. This is a guess on the problem, but figure I need to rule it out - have thought about getting a small tank and connecting to engine to see if it ran fine without using the perm tank, but not sure how I would go about that - also, has anyone removed one of these tanks (it is a small plastic tank, I think it holds just north of 20 gallons) - any help suggestions welcome - thanks
 
Do you use stabilizer ALL the time? If you are using ethanol fuel and no stabilizer and don’t run through a tank all the time it could be a fuel issue. As asked, fuel filter, then you can “try” some dry gas/stabilizer but after fuel phase separation it’s pretty much a moot point. New to drain it.
 
Try loosening the gas cap first. Sounds like your pulling too much vacuum on the tank when the gas level drops, causing a gas flow restriction. Easy test. And another reason to go boating! Your charcoal canister could be plugged and not letting the tank vent properly.

Or, don't loosen the cap, and wait for the engine to act up, then loosen the cap. If you hear a loud whoosh of air going in, that's where I'd start looking.
 
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I get it winterized and summerized each season - oil/filters/impeller -- I did try the cap to see if it was a vent issue, but did not change anything - ordered fuel line, small tank (3 gallon), and Yamy quick connect and will try to run on clean tank this weekend to see if it runs OK - if it does run on clean tank, I may order a larger tank and just go through the pain of using it for the Summer (hate to pull boat out during the season) and deal with pulling tank and cleaning it during off season. It looks like I need to remove the very rear right corner of sun deck and then lift the smallish plastic tank out; have also heard that I need to remove the anti-siphon from tank (the fuel line hooks to it) and either make sure it's working correctly, remove the spring and ball (punch out) or just put in a straight flow for the fuel line. Supposedly they are known for going bad on older boats. Got everything but small tank delivered, just waiting on tank -- to answer questions on fuel, I do run some ethanol during the Summer when I know I will burn through a tank by pulling tubes etc, but if fuel will sit in there, I run non-ethanol, and do use stabil during winter; however, being 3rd owner, don't know what happened before me.
 
I have an 03 2050, so maybe it is similar. It has the rear sun deck on the rear port side with the tank underneath. The tank is held in with a bar on top which is riveted in. Pretty easy to pull. Just remove the fuel filler and the fuel hoses then remove the rivets. The tank will pull straight out the top. Only weighs 5-10 pounds.
 
Just remember to be careful of fuel vapors when drilling the rivets out. Drills can create internal sparks which could ignite vapors. I’d drill rivets first, then remove hoses, and even then make sure to have good ventilation.
 
Skeester said:
I have an 03 2050, so maybe it is similar. It has the rear sun deck on the rear port side with the tank underneath. The tank is held in with a bar on top which is riveted in. Pretty easy to pull. Just remove the fuel filler and the fuel hoses then remove the rivets. The tank will pull straight out the top. Only weighs 5-10 pounds.
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Just saw this - but you are right on the money - I hooked a small 3.5 gallon tank up and put it under the sundeck/changing room compartment and when I was connecting the new fuel line from small tank to the fitting on outside of cowling I noticed the rear corner of sundeck had hinges - so got out on dock to explore and it would not come up until I figured out you put your finger inside the vent hole and push a lever much like opening the hood of a car and presto, the rear corner sundeck lifted up and there was the tank, with the bar, just as you said -- it is a Moeller 35 gallon tank - I have had the boat nearly 5 years and have never got much more than 20 gallons in it, even when empty, so there must be a lot of garbage on the bottom. The engine ran great hooked to the little 3.5 gallon tank, so I ordered a 12 gallon to do the same thing until I can get the main tank pulled, cleaned and put back in. Figure I need to put a new anti siphon and new sending unit in while I have it pulled and run new fuel lines. Did not realize how bad the lines were until I started hooking the new tank up (but they are 19 years old now) - did you clean your tank or go with a new one - and if I may, how did you clean or what model new - I can't find the model that is in there now, so guessing they don't make them anymore. SemperFi, thanks for the advice on sparks and fumes -- here are a coupld of pictures - note that there is some kind of old nest, you may not be able to see it; the guy I bought from kept it dry docked at a resort and guessing Rats or something built a nest under filler tube, doesn't look like a bird nest - also the dirt dobber nest on vent tube, but it is on outside and tube is clear - the tank is filthy, had to clean the plate off to read the modeltank2.jpg tank3.jpg
 
Notice that one side of bar has a nut - the side by the filler tube has rivets - was hoping I wouldn't have to undo rivets, oh well
 
Yep, looks exactly like my 2003 2050rl. The rivets are easy to drill out. Go to harbor freight and buy a $13 rivet gun and it will come with some different sized rivets. As far as cleaning it, I couldn’t find a local tank cleaning company to do it, so I used fresh gas, swished it around, poured out, rinse, repeat. Ran the “bad” gas in my lawn tractor. Now, if you can only put 20 gal in a 35 gal tank, swishing fresh gas isn’t going to do much. Call you local mechanic and ask him for a recommendation for a tank cleaning company.
 
If I get it out on dry land and remove the filler hose and the sending unit, I'm thinking about using some kind of soap and stick a pressure washer wand into the holes - maybe put some nuts and bolts in there while I'm cleaning - gotta be something I can put in it and allow it to soak. Since I will have the 6 gallon and a couple of 5 gallon jugs on standby at the cabin, I can take my time, and allow it to dry real good, maybe even take the leaf blower to it to dry it out. Since one end of the rail that holds it in is bolted, thought about just putting a bolt in the other side also - but I like the idea of buying a new tool, so may head to Harbor Freight for the rivet gun. Can't believe how dirty it is in there, but I guess I am the first person to open it since 2005.
 
Good Luck. Mine was full of metal shavings and I have no idea how they got in there. I would also recommend installing a water separator filter with a clear bowl. I mounted mine right on the rail next to the fuel tank.
 
Once done I’d install some screen or wire mesh over that opening to keep out future critters ....
 
Pulled sending unit and looked into tank -- I can see small debri, but no sludge to speak of - maybe the sending unit is bad as gauge is reading almost empty, but my tape measure says there is about 7 inches of fuel in tank and tank is 18 inches high - sounds crazy, but maybe that is why I could never get more than 20 gallons in tank, because when my gauge tells me it is empty, it really has about 7 inches of gas which is probably more than 1/4 tank. NEW PLAN - I took anti-siphon valve out and it appears to be working (which is surprising, if it is original) -- for time being I plan on punching it out and then screwing it back in and then take a hose to fuel pick-up, siphon rest out with some kind of pump (any ideas welcome). The reason I am thinking about doing this is to test the fuel pickup pipe without taking it off - I'm afraid of trying to unscrew the fuel pickup and mess up threads on tank and have it leaking later -- if I can siphon gas out through there, it should be fine. The sending unit I took out was a 17.5 inch Wema reed switch sending unit; I was surprised they used reed switches in 2005, and it does seem like original as gasket is shot (maybe water in gas?). Don't know if these reed switch units can go bad, but plan on replacing with same model number from Wema (now KUS), with new gasket -- I will wait to put the new sending unit it until after I get all gas out of tank. While still mounted in boat I will get gas out, as it may have a lot of water or something when it gets low in tank - I will look for obvious issues that would force me to remove tank, but if I don't see any, I plan on running new fuel line, add a couple filters on line that is resting on top of tank, do like Skeester said and add a water seperator mounted right in tank area - add a new anti siphon valve and put new sending unit in - put about 8 gallons of gas in and see if I register just below 1/4 tank - then with the new gas, filters (two) and water seperator (one) added, and new fuel line, run that 1/4 tank out and see if it works - hoping the filters will catch any trash -- if the 1/4 tank works - then I will clean up the dirty tank and holding area best I can while it is still mounted and hopefully will be fine and last a long time.
 
Skeester said:
Good Luck. Mine was full of metal shavings and I have no idea how they got in there. I would also recommend installing a water separator filter with a clear bowl. I mounted mine right on the rail next to the fuel tank.
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Skeester, did you check and/or replace your fuel supply tube that goes into tank? I am going to pull my tank after I siphon the rest of the gas out - figure I will just bring the tank home and have the Summer to clean it and put new fittings in it, and in meantime just put my 12 gallon temp tank down into the area - will be a pain to gas up, but I can deal with that for a season - I bring the boat home on a trailer in the Fall, and will just put all new lines and put the cleaned tank in at that time, as well as install the water seperator - Don't know if I can inspect the fuel pickup tube through the sending unit hole or not, but hate to go to that end and not check everything - from what I've read, one issue could be sucking air through the pickup tube or even a partially clogged tube -- Unscrewing the pickup from the tank concerns me, don't want to mess tank up - if anyone has removed the pickup and has recommendation on best way to do it, I'm all ears.
 
I replaced all of my fuel lines. Overton’s has a really good price on them. I think paid less than $20 for the main and the vent. My local dealer wanted over $100 for the same hoses. As for the pickup, I didn’t remove the pickup or the level sender. I cleaned all of the connection and checked the wires for corrosion, which is what I would recommend for you. Also, you could have a gauge issue? Might be worth swapping the gauge out? I have had to replace most of the gauges on my 2003 as they start to act funky.

Another thought for the tool lover. You could get a borescope. They come in handy and aren’t too awfully expensive. That would give you visibility into the tank without removing anything.
 
Update (long, but maybe will help someone) -- good recommendations Skeester - but, saw this after the fact: Spent a few hours pulling tank yesterday (alone) - left boat in water - first thing I had to do was lose a lot more fuel than I thought was left in the tank; Gauge said empty, but I ended up siphoning almost 18 gallons of fuel (that's over half a tank!) -- I have two 14 gallon gas caddy's that have wheels on them, so I put one on dock thinking I would siphon directly into it -- wrong. The dock was not low enough from bottom of tank, so after thought, I took a 5 gallon gas can with handles, tied a rope to handle and other end to toon - it sat in water and was low enough to siphon into - I only put about 4 gallons in at a time so as not to overfill and get gas into lake - then I would pour contents into the big gas caddy. I had to do this about 5 times, and on the last time I was able to get a pole through hole for hoses from engine to tank area, and under tank, which made all the fuel go to one corner and I was able to siphon the last bit out. I just took a screw driver and small hammer and chopped rivit heads off to free the mounting bar and undid all hoses. I had to cut the fuel fill hose as it was so short that I could not get off either the boat or the tank to free the tank up (ordered another for 13 dollars) -- then I kept hitting things when I tried to lift tank, so I ended up having to remove the latch for the sundeck over the tank (it was also rivits, and did the same thing w/screw driver and hammer) - had to remove two screws holding the shock arm holding the sundeck cover over the tank and let the shock hang free on the bottom of cover (this allowed me to let the cover go further back for clearance, but the hinges stopped it from going all the way back (good thing) - then I had to remove nuts and back out about 4 or 5 screws in toon railings that would not give me clearance to pull tank. Finally was able to get tank out. Today I was able to remove the fuel inlet by putting vise grips on flat not next to tank - then I put a 3/4 open end vertical on the square fuel inlet, then put a small breaker bar through the closed end of the wrench (also sprayed it with PB Blaster and let it sit for an hour) - it was tight, but got it out - it actually looks fine, and screen is still attached - the screen does catch when you try to pull it out, so you just have to snatch it through and if it breaks or screen comes off, you fish it out through sending hole - mine came out intact. I am going back with a Moeller flexible one with a spring inside and a screen on end - you don't trim the bottom and the shortest is 22 inches, but it's ok because it just lays flat on bottom - I decided to go with this as I want the screen since I've decided not to put any more filters in-line until I have it on a trailer in fall. I am replacing the sending unit with a Moeller 16.5 inch reed switch sensor (tank is 17.5 inch deep) - putting new gasket in place. I cleaned tank real good earlier today with pressure washer, both inside and out -- both are really clean, and tank is drying out. Once parts are in I will install, add a new anti-siphon valve, and re-install and put 4 new rivits in place of the ones I removed. I have a new fuel line with bulb to go from anti-siphon valve to engine cowling (outside) - I will replace any lines inside the cowling once I pull out in Fall. I will leave the vent hose because it is clear and is in good shape. Hopefully will finish up and drop back into toon in a week or so - in meantime, I have a 12 gallon temp that I put into hole the tank came out of - just will be a hassle to put fuel in, but not that bad. Thanks all for the great advice, and maybe others can find this thread if it relates to their need.
 
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