Do I have bad gas?

[natrix19]

2012 Pro XS 225
S/N: 1b863739

Hey guys, I ran into an issue today and I'm wondering if it's bad gas? [insert fart joke here]

It had a hard start this morning, but brushed it off because it was a cold morning (42 degrees).
I fished for a little bit, then idled maybe 2-3 minutes out of an area. It was idling kind of rough and eventually stalled.

I was never able to get it to start back up after that stall and tried several times throughout the day
It didn't throw any alarms, and had no faults in the VesselView app.

I made sure it was in neutral, that the killswitch was on "run", and that the fuel bulb had pressure. Battery was strong and fully charged.
It cranks, but doesn't start

I put in 60 gallons of gas about a month ago at a Murphy's (Walmart). It was ethanol free, and I treated it with QuickKleen and QuickCare. My hunch says it's bad gas, but wanted to get your guys' take?

If it is bad gas, is it worth trying to siphon it out and putting new gas in, or is it going to require a professional to check the injectors and filters and all that?
If I do siphon it out, is it ok to put in the truck? I don't really have a place to store 30-40 gallons of gas other than my truck and the wife's car LOL.

I plan on changing the spark plugs and water separator filter on Friday to see if that helps. The plugs are going into their 3rd season, and I change the filter annually. I was planning on doing those anyway at the start of the season.

I do remember it stalling once last year, but it started back up and never happened again. Not sure if this is related?

[Bob G.]

Have you got fuel for your boat at that gas station in the past? Is it a top tier station with high turnover.

Have you ever replaced the fuel lines from the fuel tank to the pulse pump including the primer bulb? I would inspect the fuel line, pulse pump and replace the VST filter before pumping 60 gallons of gas out of the boat.

[SilverFox579]

For reference, spark plug and fuel filter service interval is annual or 100 hours whichever comes first so you're at least 2 seasons overdue on the plugs. Probably fastest way to diagnose would be to have a dealer read and print any stored codes in the PCM.

There are really good maintenance topics in the FAQ section, here are a couple...

Oil, Battery, Spark Plugs, Fuel and Fuel Additive Recommendations

Recommended Annual Maintenance or Winterization for Optimax Engines

[EuropeanAM]

^^^^ +1

I would also recommend that you carefully remove the flywheel cover, and inspect the belt, tensioner and air compressor for signs of problems.

[natrix19]

Thanks for the assist guys.

I'll pull off the flywheel cover on Friday when I do the plugs and VST filter and take a look. The belt was replaced maybe 1-2 years ago when I had the compressor replaced. So those are both fairly new, so hopefully they're OK.
I don't know when or if any of the fuel lines or the pulse pump have ever been replaced, but I did make sure the bulb was firm and had pressure.

I filled up at Murphy's (AKA Walmart) in Osage Beach at Lake of the Ozarks in the beginning of April. It was pretty busy there and I had to wait in line to get to a pump...doesn't mean they had a lot of people filling up with their ethanol free gas tho.

[natrix19]

Well, still no luck.

I changed the spark plugs.
Drained the vapor separator tank
Changed the fuel separator filter
Checked under the flywheel cover for anything that looked wrong...

So I pressurized the fuel bulb and tried starting it...no luck. It cranked but the motor wouldn't start.
I don't think it's the fuel pump, because I heard it prime when i switched the key to on.

The only thing I can think of is it's bad gas. Do you guys have any other theories?

I tried getting my shaker siphon down there to see what the gas looks like, but it kept getting stuck before it got into the tank. I'm guessing at the L bend.

Is it worth going to get a siphon pump?
I got 3/4 a tank of gas, will putting new gas on top of that help or just be a waste of money?
Can I put the "bad" gas into my truck, or will that make even more issues? I might be able to get the boat down to 1/2 tank if I "fill up" my truck with the bad gas

Or should I just bring her to the shop on Monday at let them do an actual diagnosis?

[EuropeanAM]

Did you drain the VST into a glass jar to check for water/separation?

Checked for SPARK?

[Bryanmc57]

Were the rails and injectors cleaned and flowed when the compressor failed?

[natrix19]

Sorry for updating a year later. Forgot all about it until I saw someone messaged me looking for what the solution was.
Turns out, I had a bad ignition coil. Was kind of surprised it didn't throw any alarms, but that's what it was.