On Jul 21, 10:45*am, DownTime wrote:
DownTime wrote:

Thanx to the responders so far. I've decided to replace all the rubber
from the top of the tank to the intake to the engine. Next is to replace
all filters as well.

While in the local neighborhood marine supply store, in talking to the
very helpful clerk, he mentioned he's heard recently of quite a few
people having problems more related to the latest shipments of ethanol
enhanced gas.

In speaking with a local tank cleaning company, who by the way are
coming tomorrow morning to clean the tank, he mentioned that ethanol is
really more like a solvent and will work to strip away any built-up
sludge or deposits from inside the tank. Even in speaking with my
regular mechanic, the nut in the tank is more a coincidence than the
problem. Once the tank is cleaned and everything back together, I'll
post an update.

By the way, I had also recently received an email notice from the BMW
dealership stating that use of ethanol products in my M3 could
contribute to invalidating the warranty.

Stay tuned...

Odds are good the tank cleaning will also remove the offending nut.

It's pretty easy to get most of the water/sludge out with one of those
hand oil pumps on a lot of tanks yourself. Remove the sending unit.
Then lower or raise the trailer so that the end of the tank that the
sending unit goes in is the lowest point. If you look down into the
tank with a flashlight you should be able to see the water layer on
the bottom of the tank. With a helper holding the flashlight put the
oil drain hose down into the bottom and watch as you suck up the layer
of water and sludge on the bottom with the hand pump. Stop when you
start pumping gas.