Left the gas cap open and now I'm paranoid

[cracker499]

Hey fellas,

I have a Yamaha SX-190 jet boat and I went out for a few hours in moderate chop. When I came back, I noticed that I had left the gas cap open the entire time. Needless to say, I am super paranoid about the idea that saltwater got in there. My question is, how big of a deal is this? Does anyone know if there is any safeguard built in down futher in the nozzle for this situation? The engine was running fine the whole trip, but what is the worst case scenario here? Thanks a bunch.

JL

 

[fatboyroy]

No experience leaving gas cap open but I would think that you are fine. It would probably help to put additives like seafoam on your next fill up, it claims it reduce water (due to condensation) on your tank.

 

[marcham]

If there was water, it would collect in the bottom of the tank. The fuel pickup is not quite at the low point. The risk would be in chop, the pump could suck up an unburnable mix.

Additives would help. Alcohol, a component of many fuel additives, will absorb any water and allow it to remain dissolved in the fuel, avoiding any issues. Short of emptying the fuel tank for peace of mind, that's probably your best bet.

I'd probably plan to burn as much fuel as possible on the next trip and not venture too far from other boaters just in case.

 

[Dave burke]

You’re probably fine as you likely would have had problems already if you're going to.

That said, if I were you, I’d fill up the gas tank (with super if you’re not already using it) and take it out for a nice long run as soon as you can.

 

[Beachbummer]

Put in some Heet which is made exactly for this purpose on the next few fill ups to totally inoculate against it, if you are concerned. Probably not even required, but just in case.

 

[212s]

I agree with the others...add fresh fuel and some Seafoam to help, then run the full tank of fuel through her as low as you can safely. Then fill up again and have some more fun. Once you burn a couple tanks without issue, you should be fine.

 

[cracker499]

These are all great tips. Thank you gents!