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Overheard a guy at the fuel dock say 'just run it dry, it'll be fine' and I had to bite my tongue
I was filling up at the dock in Morgan City last Tuesday and this older operator is talking to a younger kid about winterizing the dredge. He says something like 'don't bother draining the fuel lines, just run it till it sputters and it'll be fine.' I wanted to pipe up so bad because I had a buddy who did that and ended up with water in the injectors that cost him $1200 to fix. Has anyone else heard some jaw-dropping bad advice get passed around like gospel?
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evan_wilson184mo ago
I heard a guy in Houma say the same thing last fall and I just nodded. Running it dry might be fine if you have a clean tank and fresh fuel, but most of these old workboats have a half inch of sludge in the bottom. Seems like a lot of risk to save a couple minutes when you could just add some stabilizer and call it done.
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the_matthew4mo ago
Oh yeah, that's right up there with "just put a little diesel in the oil, it'll thin it right out" like that's some kind of pro tip and not a recipe for a rebuild. Running it dry doesn't clear the water out of the tank, it just lets the pump suck the crud straight into the injectors. But hey, if that guy wants to gamble $1200 on a $20 bottle of fuel stabilizer, that's his choice. I guess some folks just like learning things the expensive way.
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