Water in gas removal

WiOrange

New User
Rushing around a couple of days ago. Threw a couple of gallons in the gas tank. Melon-headed and left the the gas-cap off. Rained later that day.
Any suggestions for clearing the water from the fuel?


Thanks
 
Water will sink to the bottom. Try to drain or siphon it out from the bottom of the tank. Absorb the last of it with some alcohol additive.
 

Unless it POURED there should be a tremendous amount of rainwater that got in through the fill neck.

It should find it's way to the sediment bowl where you can watch for it and empty the bowl as needed. It has one, RIGHT?

Add some of your favorite ''dry gas'', then use up the gas this season and replace it with fresh gas before the ''off season''.
 
Assuming you have a sediment bowl, it'll collect there. Water is heavier and will sink to the bottom. It will be very obvious when you look at the bowl.
AaronSEIA
 
Did the gas have ethanol in it? If so, it will mix and probably form a puddle of snot in the bottom of the tank, either way, I would try to get it out as soon as possible.
 

I did the very same trick about 10 years back. The following day I discovered it when I went to use the tractor. I put the cap on and went to the field to do some bush hogging. I use E-10; if you are using straight gasoline I would add a bottle of Heet.
 
(quoted from post at 12:27:33 09/06/22) Did the gas have ethanol in it? If so, it will mix and probably form a puddle of snot in the bottom of the tank, either way, I would try to get it out as soon as possible.

adding water to ethanol fuel will pull the ethanol-water out of suspension and give you non-ethanol fuel floating on top of water.

The trick with emptying the sight glass will work if a 'small' amount of water. If there is a lot of water just leave the glass off and drain the tank from there.

In the future, make sure your last fall tank fill up is non-ethanol fuel. It's hard to find, and most gas station workers have no idea if theirs has it or not.

This is one in a series of testing fuel additives. The conclusion is only use non-ethanol fuel.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iWL7p0Pnb8Y

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(quoted from post at 16:42:07 09/06/22)
(quoted from post at 12:27:33 09/06/22) just leave the glass off and drain the tank from there.

In the future, make sure your last fall tank fill up is non-ethanol fuel. It's hard to find, and most gas station workers have no idea if theirs has it or not.

This is one in a series of testing fuel additives. The conclusion is only use non-ethanol fuel.

25 years of running engines and I've never once had an ethanol fuel related problem. Some sit for months on end.
AaronSEIA
 

Same here. I've run 10% Ethanol since it came out in about 1980 in our area. Never had a fuel related problem. Never had to add HEET to the fuel. No frozen fuel lines in Montana, Colorado, Saskatchewan, Idaho. Works in everything I have: pickup, car, lawn mower, boat (yes, boat!).
I guess I must be lucky...
 
Run 87 octane non-ethanol gasoline.

Pulled the carb feed line. Immediate drainage was a clear-ish off-white. Drained until it went back to completely clear fuel. Repeated this with the sediment bowl.
 
25 years of running engines and I've never once had an ethanol fuel related problem. Some sit for months on end.
AaronSEIA

That has been my experience, almost exactly. The only differences are that I have been using ethanol-blended fuels since 1976 (45 years, not 25) and have had two problems.

First, yes, E-10 has been in Northern Ill-Noise since before 1976, and that's the first time I tried it.

Second, both problems I had were related to carburetors, and the ethanol cleaning varnish from the fuel tanks and depositing that sediment in the bowls, eventually clogging the main metering wells on a Rochester 4MV (QuadraJet) and another in a Walbro for a small engine. Once the fuel tanks were cleaned and I became educated enough to install decent fuel filters, if never happened again.

Third, ethanol is a LOT safer than the old-fashioned HEET fuel treatment since their old formula is methanol. If you didn't know that methanol has an affinity for the lead in brass and bronze, you do now. The "newer" HEET formulations use isopropyl alcohol which is a LOT safer for soft metals and polymers, but no more effective at moisture adsorption than ethanol.

Fourth, the ethanol in E-10 fuel is FREE, not $6.99 for an 8 ounce bottle (also known as $56 per gallon).

Fifth, is a small container of ethanol in a different form that I will decant into a glass with ice when I return home from work today.
 

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