Getting Rid of Fuel in Tank
05-02-2016, 11:07 AM
#1
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Getting Rid of Fuel in Tank
Well I know I am going to get hell for this, but after driving my truck all winter and constantly filling it with 87, my mind went into full autonomous mode last night and I managed to put a tank full of 87 in my C5. Didn't even realize it till I looked at the receipt and was wondering why the total was so cheap.
Of course I had to drive an hour away so I took it real easy (under 2000 rpm, little throttle) for the trip. It was fine, but I need it out of there. The car is getting tuned on a week and I don't even want a hint of 87 left. What's the best way to get it all out without pulling the tanks?
Oh and on top of that, as I was driving my fuel gauge dropped to zero, which I've fixed in the past with techron but it doesn't help that now I don't know how much is left. Thanks for any help, I feel like an idiot.
Of course I had to drive an hour away so I took it real easy (under 2000 rpm, little throttle) for the trip. It was fine, but I need it out of there. The car is getting tuned on a week and I don't even want a hint of 87 left. What's the best way to get it all out without pulling the tanks?
Oh and on top of that, as I was driving my fuel gauge dropped to zero, which I've fixed in the past with techron but it doesn't help that now I don't know how much is left. Thanks for any help, I feel like an idiot.
05-02-2016, 12:18 PM
#2
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Have you tried using the reset button to reset the fuel gauge? It works in many instances.
You could try to drain the two tanks. One way to do that would be to disconnect the fuel line, perhaps at the fuel filter, install a rubber hose at the disconnect point and run it into a recovery container(s). Then jumper the fuel pump relay to allow the pump to run and turn the key to ON. Lots of issues to contend with doing that. Battery will likely get drained down before the near 18 gallons in the two tanks is gone, containers to hold 18 gallons of gas, gas fumes, spillage, etc.
I personally would prefer to drive off the fuel....
You could try to drain the two tanks. One way to do that would be to disconnect the fuel line, perhaps at the fuel filter, install a rubber hose at the disconnect point and run it into a recovery container(s). Then jumper the fuel pump relay to allow the pump to run and turn the key to ON. Lots of issues to contend with doing that. Battery will likely get drained down before the near 18 gallons in the two tanks is gone, containers to hold 18 gallons of gas, gas fumes, spillage, etc.
I personally would prefer to drive off the fuel....
I thought about pumping it out but I also heard if you run the pump dry it's hard to get it primed again.
05-02-2016, 02:13 PM
#3
Melting Slicks
Drain the left side tank "the old fashion" way and put that fuel into your truck. Now you have half the fuel to burn. Then if you're so inclined, run the car a bit to re-level the tanks and repeat the left tank drain. Now you're roughly at 1/4 the fuel.
Me personally, I might do the drain the left tank scenario once then put some octane boost in the tank while using up the rest of the gas if you're worried about 87 octane affecting your tune.
Me personally, I might do the drain the left tank scenario once then put some octane boost in the tank while using up the rest of the gas if you're worried about 87 octane affecting your tune.
Last edited by 3sACROWD; 05-02-2016 at 02:13 PM.
05-02-2016, 02:18 PM
#4
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Drain the left side tank "the old fashion" way and put that fuel into your truck. Now you have half the fuel to burn. Then if you're so inclined, run the car a bit to re-level the tanks and repeat the left tank drain. Now you're roughly at 1/4 the fuel.
Me personally, I might do the drain the left tank scenario once then put some octane boost in the tank while using up the rest of the gas if you're worried about 87 octane affecting your tune.
Me personally, I might do the drain the left tank scenario once then put some octane boost in the tank while using up the rest of the gas if you're worried about 87 octane affecting your tune.
05-02-2016, 02:29 PM
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That is how I understood it, thanks. So would leaving say a gallon in the left tank be sufficient for it to still jet siphon the fuel out of the right and after some driving fill the left completely again?
Also I did hit the reset button, but all it did was get rid of the "Low Fuel" DIC message. Gauge still read 0 and "Check Gauges" was still on. Is there another type of reset you were talking about?
Also I did hit the reset button, but all it did was get rid of the "Low Fuel" DIC message. Gauge still read 0 and "Check Gauges" was still on. Is there another type of reset you were talking about?
05-02-2016, 02:38 PM
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05-02-2016, 03:52 PM
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I would just jump the fuel pump relay and let it pump the gas out as suggested above... it won't get 100% of it out but will get dang close, enough to fill it with 93 and the amount of 87 left should not have an effect on octane... if your truck is low on gas just run a hose straight from the feed line into your trucks gas fill that way you don't need big containers to hold the fuel and less risk of causing a mess... either way gas will evaporate so I wouldn't worry about that too much... if the battery runs low just put a tender on it for awhile then repeat the process until you get enough of it out
05-02-2016, 04:12 PM
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I have seen the gauge return to normal operation when the reset button was used while driving the car. (My buddies 99 while I was a passenger) I have also read that the reset does NOT always return the gauge to operation. What codes do you have? There are different codes depending upon which sensor (drivers side or passenger side) is the problem....
I would just jump the fuel pump relay and let it pump the gas out as suggested above... it won't get 100% of it out but will get dang close, enough to fill it with 93 and the amount of 87 left should not have an effect on octane... if your truck is low on gas just run a hose straight from the feed line into your trucks gas fill that way you don't need big containers to hold the fuel and less risk of causing a mess... either way gas will evaporate so I wouldn't worry about that too much... if the battery runs low just put a tender on it for awhile then repeat the process until you get enough of it out
Never had faith in additive stuff like that, especially considering on a full tank it wont really mix into the passenger side very well.
05-02-2016, 04:18 PM
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that's what I would do... either take it off from the rail or take the line off from the firewall, whichever you prefer... then slip a hose over the end and use a worm clamp to hold it tight and the other end in your trucks gas tank then jump the relay... you could pop the rail off and drain that as well but there isn't much in it
05-02-2016, 05:24 PM
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that's what I would do... either take it off from the rail or take the line off from the firewall, whichever you prefer... then slip a hose over the end and use a worm clamp to hold it tight and the other end in your trucks gas tank then jump the relay... you could pop the rail off and drain that as well but there isn't much in it
05-03-2016, 08:49 AM
#13
Melting Slicks
05-11-2016, 01:57 PM
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Just as a future reference for anyone else I ended up doing what neutron82 suggested. Jumped the relay and just left the key on. Also hooked up a battery charger to make sure the battery didn't die but it didn't take all that long to do so it probably wasn't necessary. Thanks for all the suggestions.