Water in Gas?
Thread Starter
Melting Slicks
Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 2,089
Likes: 12
From: Port Saint Lucie, FL
Water in Gas?
When I got the car a year ago, I could still drive the car with just the reserve light on and no bars showing. I know this is not good, pickes up all the crud in the gas. But my problem is that now I can have 2 bars showing and it acts like is running out of gas. When I punch it, it boggs down pretty bad, and then goes. I read the post on the fuel filter and that is on my list, but why the change in the fuel reading on my dash? Water is the only thing I can think of. The car runs great when I fill it up. If it is water how can I get it out? Also there is something that can be added to the gas that they use in boats, will that work and what is it?
Safety Car
Joined: Feb 2002
Posts: 4,286
Likes: 4
From: Guam
Re: Water in Gas? (C4Cvette)
There are some products out there that will disperse the water and allow some of it to burn in the engine. However, I would almost guess that water of that quantity is not the culprit. I can almost guess that the probelm lies within the strainer on the pickup tube in your fuel tank. These strainers need attention every once in a while. The strainer has become clogged and is only allowing fuel to properly flow when the fuel level is at a significant level. At any event, you will have to open the tank and remove the strainer and pickup tube assembly to properly clean the tank anyway irregardless of whether the strainer is the culprit or not. I would clean the tank and replace the strainer at the same time. This is cheap insurance that you will not have problems for a long long time to come. It is a tedious task to remove the tank. Any water or rust sediment can corrode your tank from the inside out. Us pilots have been trained that keeping a fuel tank full will keep any extra condensation out and prevent unnecessary corrosion. Water and corrosion are very bad and may cause serious fuel injection problems.
Safety Car
Joined: Feb 2002
Posts: 4,286
Likes: 4
From: Guam
Re: Water in Gas? (C4Cvette)
Actually, the tallness is not the issue. The more fuel that is in the system, the higher the pressure of the fuel in the bottom of the tank due to the amount of mass from the fuel on top pushing down on the fuel molecules at the bottom. Divers can relate to this principle because the deeper you go in the ocean, the greater the pressure of the water is. The same works with all liquids. The higher the pressure, the easier it is to push the fuels through the strainer. Also, when the pressure is greater, the rust and dirt particles remain more stable on the bottm of the tank. When they are allowed to slush around, they will find their way on to the strainer surface and remain there until the car rests for a short period of time.
