I think I have a little water in my tank???

[bassman]

I do have a heated shop and I do not always fill the tank befor it goes in the shop so condensation buildup may have left me with a small puddle of water in the bottom of the tank cause this is what is happening .

car run good but if it sits for a few minutes just idling it stalls when i touch the gas.
I shake the car and it will go and run fine .
I have been using gas line stuff but I last fill I didnt and the problem is back...
is there a drain on the tank??
do I just use more gas line stuff and maybe try run the car right out of gas??
thanks

shayne

[Maxtiva]

Try to put 1 liter of methyl hydrate (Wood alcohol) in your tank during your next fill up this is what I did on my Suzuki Samurai when I've got water in my tank.

[jglutz]

Try to put 1 liter of methyl hydrate (Wood alcohol) in your tank during your next fill up this is what I did on my Suzuki Samurai when I've got water in my tank.

^^Also called Denatured Alcohol...available at any hardware store in the paint section right next to the mineral spirits and paint thinner and stuff.

This is the primary ingredient in Dry Gas.

[Pu241]

Try to put 1 liter of methyl hydrate (Wood alcohol) in your tank during your next fill up this is what I did on my Suzuki Samurai when I've got water in my tank.

^^Also called Denatured Alcohol...available at any hardware store in the paint section right next to the mineral spirits and paint thinner and stuff.

This is the primary ingredient in Dry Gas.

Denatured alcohol is not wood alcohol!
Denatured alcohol is ethanol that has been made "not suitable as a beverage" by the addition of methanol aka wood alcohol, or any number of ketones, or even gasoline.
Methanol/wood alcohol doesn't need to be "denatured" as it isn't suitable for human consumption.

"Dry gas" depending upon who the manufacturer is, can be composed of methyl, ethyl, Isopropanol or a mixed of a any two or all three alcohols.

If available, use Gasohol at your next fill-up which should contain 10% ethanol which will form the required azeotrope with the water and help run it through your engine without too much of a problem.

Actually, a better means of removing water is the use of Isopropanol.
But anything you add needs to be nearly 100% pure. You can't use "rubbing alcohol". Even the 91% isn't good enough.
Just depends what you can find!
Easiest and cheapest is probably the gasohol option.
Try and keep you tank full.
Also, are you sure the station you last got gas at didn't have contaminated fuel?

[bassman]

will too much alcohol harm valves??
I was told that you will burn valves because of the way alcohol burns??
the small 5 oz bottle says it will treat 67 litres ...
OR?????? is my fuel pump on the way out??
what do they do when they are almost dead??
car has 180k and is a 93 FI..
shayne

[Pu241]

will too much alcohol harm valves??
I was told that you will burn valves because of the way alcohol burns??
the small 5 oz bottle says it will treat 67 litres ...
OR?????? is my fuel pump on the way out??
what do they do when they are almost dead??
car has 180k and is a 93 FI..
shayne

Alcohol burn valves, new one on me!
Alcohol burns cooler than gasoline so just don't know how that would be possible. Also have higher "octane" rating than even premium gas so detonation is also not an issue.
Also you will be running a mixture of mostly gasoline so too much alcohol is going to be hard to reach.
As I said above Gasohol is 10% ethanol so if you fill your tank you will have at most 1 gallon of ethanol in your tank which should be more than enough to absorb any condensates that may have formed over a few days in a shop.
Yes, there is a drain bolt!
You could drain the gas out via the bolt and put clean fuel from a know good source in with some dry gas or use the gasohol, because you can not drain the tank completely dry via the bolt.
Also it is a messy operation to get the last dregs out of the tank.
Insert obligatory "DO NOT smoke when doing this; DO NOT have any open flames near by ie gas fired water heater, boilers, furnaces, or the like"
Best to do this outside if that is an option!
My experiences with electric in tank fuel pumps are:
They run fine till they quit!
They may draw more current before they quit!

Is it possible your screen which is attached to the pump is clogged?

[Maxtiva]

If you drain the tank dont forget to put back the plug on the tank before fill up. LOL One of my friend make this on his car.

[packrat427]

OR?????? is my fuel pump on the way out??
what do they do when they are almost dead??
car has 180k and is a 93 FI..
shayne

Mine did just exactly that , start and idle low and bog and die as soon as you touch the gas , it did it in my parking lot at work , just happened to have a new one under the spare tire in the well .

It was my pump , it had just enough lbs. to idle but no more than that .

[jglutz]

denatured = not from natural synthesis (yes, to the scientiffically trained, ethanol is a product or fermented grain sugar, beyond that it is denatured, but not all denatured alcohol is ethanol)The stuff in the hardware store is methanol based (ask for a MSDS) with a lot of nasties added,,,,,primarily sold to thhin shellac (bug do-do)
100% isoproponol = good stuff = hard to come by for the average consumer
Also try alcohol based camping fuel (a few more $'s)
In any case 1/2 the price as Gasohol and just as good.

[sasquatch]

i dident feel like reading everything so im sorry if someone allready said this. an easy way to keep water out of your tank is to keep the tank above 2/3 and never run it below 1/3, this way it has less condensation in the tank and less rust also the fuel helps to cool and lube the fuel pump so the pump breaks down less. i dont know if its true but dosent methol hydrate boost the hp, i have built but not tested a alchol/methol hydrate injection thing i used a windshild washer pump and a spray paint can tip to turn it in to a mist and then down the intake. i did not want to test it on my escort cause im trying to sell it and if it goes boom then i dont get anything for it. i want to try it on my festiva when i get it but i dont want it to go boom, i think ill try it on a old briggs or somthing. any input

[gdawgs]

Just dump in a bottle of Iso-HEET. Do that for the next few tanks and see if it helps. Ethanol blended gas works well too.

[bassman]

regular gas line antifreeze is working and the car runs fine with it but I missed putting it in once and the problem was back so I add a bottle every fill .
I have also switched to gas with ethanol in it.

[neanderpaul]

14 mm drain plug drivers side bottom of the tank.

[freshtiva]

14 mm drain plug drivers side bottom of the tank.

News to me. Good to know, do all festivas have a drain plug ?

[stefan]

^- i think so. There just hard to spot cause there plastered in undercoating.