fuel tank

[lonsutt]

I have a built in fuel tank not easy to gain access. The boat is in south Florida and used mostly in winter months. Last year I topped off the tank with 10% ethenol when I tried to get the the thing going I discovered the ethenol had turned to water and junk. I pumped the tank out and flushed with new gas and cleaners, I started using gas with no alcohol and the engine ran good for a time. I discovered the screen in the pickup tube would every so often get fouled with gritty residue. After I clean out the screen on pickup tube it will run good for awhile and then become fouled again. The engine runs good using a portable tank. Question is could I eliminate the pickup tube screen and install an in line filter jsut before the primer bulb? The inline filter would be much easier to replace than taking the pickup tube out. I could use a portable tank but the boat is small and would take up to much room. I also have a water seperator filter and an inline filter on the engine. Any advice would be appreciated.

[boats.net]

The ethanol is very corrosive and probably damaged inside of tank, replacing tank is probably only thing that will work.

[lonsutt]

Thanks, replacing tank would be a difficult and expensive job. I think I'll try eliminating the screen in pickup tube and install an inline filter ahead of the primer bulb to protect the bulb. If that fails looks like I'll be using a portable tank.