@profisher You must be very frustrated by now, that is some rotten luck.
It may sound like overkill, but I would pull a sample from your tank as is and have it analyzed at finning. You may have some contamination that is causing that buildup. It may turn out to be something like aluminum oxide or a residue created when combining different additives. This is not unheard of; in fact I see it fairly regularly in diesel applications.
I will echo
@ClintR in that I’ve not had any kind of adverse reaction to fuel in the time since I purchased my boat in 2019, roughly 340 hrs to date. I use Motormedic(?) fuel stabilizer quite liberally but I generally try to stay away from other additives to prevent unintended reactions.
I have, however, had the following issues:
- Water ingress into the tank via snow/slush on the gunwale that caused a rapid fill up of my fuel/water separator
- Bad spark plug on Prokicker 9.9 that I mistakenly thought was a fuel issue as it presented as a hard start then rough running and low power
After the first issue of water ingress, I replaced the factory filter with a Racor S3227 fuel filter and bowl with drain valve. I check and drain this filter before and after every trip, and usually drain a little water in the process. I mention this because while Ethanol (Alcohols in general) can be hygroscopic, I believe the issue may be somewhat overblown. Finding free water in the filter bowl would suggest to me that current fuels are maybe not be excessively hygroscopic. Standing water in the tank, however, can certainly encourage biological growth as well as chemical reactions with different materials in the fuel system.
Filtration is very important, and perhaps a filter upgrade will improve your situation if you haven’t already explored that option?
Caterpillar arrived at the conclusion in the 1970s that a majority of engine break downs could be reliably attributed to contaminated fuel or poor storage and handling of fuel. They initiated a campaign to encourage better fuel storage and handling practices, including casting the sentence “Buy Clean Fuel Keep It Clean” onto aluminum fuel caps. I’m not suggesting you are careless with your fuel, but rather there is a long pathway from dinosaur to carburator/fuel injector and therefore a lot of opportunity for careless handling and storage, contamination.
1) refinery storage
2) transport truck fill hose
3) transport truck tanks
4) transport truck discharge hose
5) bulk storage tank (regional)
6) fill hose
7) truck tank
8) discharge hose
9) retailer storage tank
10) retailer metering system (pumps)
11) fuel nozzle
12) boat fuel tank
13) boat fuel lines
14) boat fuel filter(s)
15) carburetor or fuel injection system
With regard to additives, they can contain compounds that combine readily with gasoline but perhaps not so readily or not in a positive way with other compounds in other additives.
Good luck! I hope you get it sorted out quickly and easily!
Helpful Article outlining the very real risks of ethanol and how to prevent them, mainly keeping water out of your fuel tank.
West Marine
www.westmarine.com
This portion of the article outlines how the introduction of ethanol (a new solvent) into a fuel system can loosen old deposits and cause issues downstream.
