[oldred]

Not a hot rod problem but a PITA anyway!


My ranger truck got a small amount of clear water in the gas tank when gas was added to the tank from a plastic gas container after replacing the tank, basically I have a brand new tank and water in the gas. Not checking that gas can before filling it was just plain dumb but whatever the fact is I am now faced with either removing the tank again or putting up with occasionally picking up the water until it's gone. This is just a small amount and as long as the truck is sitting level everything is fine but if anything causes sloshing it picks up small amounts of the water in the fuel line, is there any additives available that would solve this problem? Back years ago it would have been as simple as dumping in a can or two of alcohol based gas additive but if I understand it right that stuff is really bad for EFI systems so is there anything else that can be used on newer fuel systems?

[DanielC]

You can buy gasoline with alcohol already in it. E-10 gasoline has 10% ethanol.

How much water got in the tank? A quart? a cup? A few ounces?

If a few ounces, the next fill up will probably dissolve the water in the alcohol, the alcohol will dissolve in the gas, and run through the engine. When the water is going through the engine, the O2 sensor will tell the computer the air to fuel ratio is a bit off, and the engine will just run a bit more fuel to compensate for the water. It might even remove some built up carbon from the combustion chambers.

If you have a quart of water in there, the alcohol will dissolve in the water, and the water will not dissolve in the gas. Water being denser than gasoline, will settle in the lowest part of the tank, and if that is where the fuel pickup is, your fuel pump will send some water, with a little bit of alcohol in it, in to the engine. Your engine will not run on this.

So, how much water?

[matts37chev]

just dump some HEET F.I. cleaner in there the next couple of tanks and it will be fine
you can buy it in a 4 pack
may run a little rich/rough for a while
but it will clean out

or you can take the tank down

[oldred]

Heet may have been one of the additives I was thinking about from the carburetor days but I just read up on it and apparently it is safe for FI systems so I will give that a try.

Originally Posted by DanielC

the O2 sensor will tell the computer the air to fuel ratio is a bit off,

The first indication of trouble was the check engine light coming on which gave me a code for system lean, I erased the codes but it comes back every time I pick up a small amount of the water. When the engine roughness occurs and the code reappears I can remove the filter and find traces of clear water in the gas that comes out so no doubt you are right about the O2 sensor.

[396chevelle]

HEET should work. We used to race our modified ATV's through mud pits basically water over the seat the whole time. Of course they were snorkeled, but water always found a way to get some in the tank. It was fuel injected! ever time we rode I put some heet in the tank. It used to stall on me sometimes from the water getting in, so then we would have to syphon the tank. After trying the heet it never died again. Of coarse these were abused atv's, but should give same results.

[T-bucket23]

Just dump in 3 or 4 cans of drygas and it should take care of it.

[oldred]

Originally Posted by T-bucket23

Just dump in 3 or 4 cans of drygas and it should take care of it.

Drygas is the other additive I was thinking about but again being alcohol based I was worried about what it might do to the FI system. I did a bit of research and it seems that maybe it can do harm (Heet also) but only if over used so I added the Heet at the low end rate. I have driven it about 25 miles today and the check engine light came back on but the engine has not been running rough this time so I will give it a couple of days to see what happens and then erase the code to turn off the light.

[T-bucket23]

Originally Posted by oldred

Drygas is the other additive I was thinking about but again being alcohol based I was worried about what it might do to the FI system. I did a bit of research and it seems that maybe it can do harm (Heet also) but only if over used so I added the Heet at the low end rate. I have driven it about 25 miles today and the check engine light came back on but the engine has not been running rough this time so I will give it a couple of days to see what happens and then erase the code to turn off the light.

They have dry gas that is FI safe. I believe heat is one of them. A little wont hurt. I would keep the tank low, like 1/4 or less and just keep running the dry gas until it clears up. The less you dilute it the quicker it will get rid of the water.

[mitmaks]

Is there cheap pump that you can buy to pump out gas from tank

[T-bucket23]

Originally Posted by mitmaks

Is there cheap pump that you can buy to pump out gas from tank

Even if you pump it dry there will still be some moisture left.