Railroadman

Washed the Vette for the first time this spring and forgot to poke the pine needles out of the drain tube. Flipped up the gas lid and water was over the top of the cap. Got the tube opened fairly soon but still probably the better part of a minute with the deep water. Cap seemed to be on fairly tight so maybe no harm done.

Did a search for "dry gas" but could not find any discussion unless I missed it. Stock '92 LT1 - should I use regular dry gas, or one of the name treatments? I have a full tank of gas now, I figure to dump in a can of SOMETHING and hope that prevents any problems.

don hall

SeaFoam may help, depending on the amount of water in the tank: http://seafoamsales.com/sea-foam-mot...eatment-works/

gerardvg

Yes the cap has a vent so water can get into the tank, get a drill and drill some small holes in the rubber boot so it will never happen again.

I would remove the fuel pump assembly, that is real easy and siphon the tank and wipe it clean.

Since water is more dense you can put a hose in the tank, all the way to the bottom and siphon the first couple of litres of water out.

I would syphon the fuel tank and clean it real nice.

Railroadman

The "empty the tank and wipe it clean" sounds like the best way to go. Unfortunately, the very last thing I did before parking it for the winter was to cram every last drop of fuel into it I could (to prevent moisture from condensation ). So I'm looking at 20 gallons. And of course our other vehicles are a F150 and an Escape, both of which have a higher fuel fill than the Vette filler neck. So if I go that route it will involve a 2 gallon lawn mower gas jug and 10 cycles of syphoning.

When I worked at a gas station decades ago we had some goop we'd put on the end of the stick, and poke it to the bottom of the storage tanks to check for water. Do they still do that? Maybe I could talk the local gas station into giving me a little glob I could put on the end of a dowel. I don't suppose anybody makes a cheap simple version of that for a car? If it didn't take on any water after all, that could save a lot of hassle.

Or I could try a can of Seafoam and see if it is OK.

What pizzes me off is I KNOW all about the drain tube and have cleaned it out on previous occasions, just plain forgot about it this time.

antfarmer2

If you got water in it you would know by now only a min or so your fine just drive it

Railroadman

I HAVE idled it a while, but our driveway is uphill so it's possible water could be there but away from the pickup. I'm headed out now to get a can of Seafoam from the FLAPS, I'll throw that in and then take it around the block a time or two.

BOOT77

The gas cap is a spring loaded safety vent and should have been closed. I know because I took my 86 cap apart, removed the valve/spring, enlarged it(it's small and restrictive) and made it a constant vent. Only very old cars have constant venting caps. Because of emissions cars have charcoal(vapor) canisters too vent thru these days. My 77 is not old enough to have a constant vent and has a char can.

I turned my cap into a constant vent because when cars are used for racing with the oem tank, the biggest problem even if a big pump is installed is the small vent line to the char can(even see a plastic fuel cell sucked in because of too small a vent). A rollover vent installed into the top of the tank would be more ideal, but I have not pulled apart that area yet and decided to just enlarge my cap vent for now.

Put some drygas or seafoam in it if it makes you fell better. They say drygas is not needed with ethanol fuels if that's what you got in your area, but I know my truck still likes some once in awhile and that's what we got around here. Some stations will run the garden hose into their storage tanks or they just leak too much water in.

Railroadman

Boot, I have experienced the "whoosh" when I go to fuel the car after a long drive. So there must be a fairly stiff spring there which would have helped me in this situation.

I put a bottle of Valvoline Water Remover in, and drove it around the block a couple times. (I can't go too far, it's overdue for a state inspection which is booked for 10AM next Monday). But it never sputtered at all, and I did some weaving, accelerating and hard braking trying to slosh any water to the pickup if there was any. I think I'm OK.

I did get a can of Seafoam as well and next fillup that will be going in the tank.

Thanks for all the help guys, I think I dodged the bullet on this one. Keep those drain tubes cleaned out!

Mtn Billy

Your tank should have a 'cradle' that is not touching the bottom of the gas tank. this would keep water and debris away from the pump, unless you have lots of stuff in there. Dry gas is effective in lessening water problems. Unless you have a gallon or more your fine.

aminnich

Gas stations still use the paste to check their tanks. I always called it Water Paste, but there might be a more formal name for it. Sounds like you are all good, which is indeed good news.

Railroadman

Got the state inspection done and put 55 trouble-free miles on it today. Thanks to all for the input!

antfarmer2