Are you with an expectation that you have water in the gas tank and want to know how to get it out? Water in the gas tank is relatively common, especially with older cars with rusty tanks, but it can also happen with newer vehicles, especially if they don’t ventilate their tanks well.
If you don’t know already, cars will not run on water, and if you have water in your gas tank, your car will dislike it.
So, how do you know if you have water in the gas tank and how will you get it out? I will cover all of that in this article. Let’s get started!
What Are The Symptoms Of Water in Gas tank?
The main symptoms of water in the gas tank include:
- Rough acceleration
- Misfires
- Rough idle
- Check engine light
- Steam from the exhaust
- Slow acceleration
- Hard starting condition
- The engine does not start at all
- The problems appear after the car has been standing for a while
Here is a more comprehensive list of the symptoms of water in the gas tank that you should look out for:
#1. Rough acceleration.
The most common symptom of water in the gas tank is probably rough or shaky acceleration. Since the engine is treating water in the gas tank as fuel, the air-fuel mixture through the combustion chamber will be very strange.
#2. Misfires.
Due to the situations I explained earlier of what will happen when the water makes it into the combustion chamber, you are probably going to notice misfires when the water is in the combustion chamber of the cylinder.
Misfires and rough acceleration can be two pretty similar symptoms, as misfires can cause rough acceleration, but you can also notice the misfires when the vehicle is just idling.
#3. Rough idle.
Rough idle is also going to be a common symptom due to the faulty air-fuel ratio and the misfires. The car is very sensitive to small mistakes at idle, and it is at idle when you will notice most of the symptoms of water in the gas tank.
#4. Check engine light.
Modern cars have continuous monitoring of all of the engine’s sensors. If a sensor is giving a faulty value, it sends it to the engine control unit, where it will save a trouble code in the memory, and if it is serious enough, it will sometimes turn the check engine light on.
If your check engine light is on your dash, it is most definitely urgent to check the trouble codes with an OBD2 scanner.
#5. Exhaust steam.
When you have water in the combustion chamber or exhaust pipe, heated water vapor will combine with exhaust, and turn to steam.
We all know what happens if you cook water above boiling point of 100°C – it will evaporate to steam. Steam is water vapor, therefore if you see a lot more steam is coming out of the exhaust pipe, then there may be water in the gas tank.
#6. Slow Acceleration.
All the sensors in the car are made to ensure the air-fuel mixture is at a perfect mix at all times. For example, if a water molecule go’s through the engine which the sensors read as a fuel molecule, then this causes the air-fuel mixture to run too rich, or umbrages as lean.
These effects can also come as power reductions, and you may see symptoms such as slow acceleration.
#7. Hard start condition.
The startup moment of any car engine is very crucial. The fuel mixture must be close to perfect, or the spark plug will not receive enough fuel to ignite the fuel, or it may be drowned to a point where it cannot ignite at all.
Water in the gas tank will disturb the fragile balance, and you could have complications with the start of your engine. If you have long cranking period then fuel in the gas tank could be something to keep on your list of things to check.
#8. The engine does not start at all.
It is possible to have enough water that the engine will not reach ignition at all. You also have the possibility if it won’t crank, it is hydro-locked, that you may have hydro lock.
Water is not compressible like air, so when the piston is trying to compress the air mixture, it will be trying to compress water into the combustion chamber, and this is not possible. This will create icing up of the engine, and may have also caused damage such as bruising crankshaft rods.
This is not common, and there would have to be plenty of water in the combustion chamber for this to occur. If you think this is the case, to ensure it is possible to turn the crankshaft, to make sure, remove one spark plug demonstrating issue.
#9. The problems after the car has sat for a while.
When the car sits for a while. The fuel floats on top of the water, and when the fuel is used, and the water remains to the bottom of the tank. When the fuel pump pumps, the fuel turn water from the ignition chamber.
If your vehicle is sitting, the water will stay at the bottom of the tank and if your fuel pump will suck the fuel from the bottom of the tank, and if your car is sitting, your fuel pump will only suck water to the engine.
How to remove water from the gas tank?
Now that we know what to look for and what to do if there is water in your gas tank, let’s look at how to remove it.
There are a few different methods of doing this. Here are some ideas, based on the amount of water you have in the tank.
#1. Empty the tank, replace the fuel filter & refill.
The best way to remove water from the gas tank is to empty the tank with a vacuum machine, replace the fuel filter and refill the tank.
In order to remove all the water from the tank, you will need a vacuum machine to suck everything out, which leaves it up to a mechanic workshop with these machines to do the work for you.
You could also pump it out using the fuel pump there is a caveat in that some fuel pumps are fitted a few millimeters up from the bottom of the tank and there may be water left on the bottom.
#2. Fill with a little methanol or special fuel additives.
If, after reading this you think that you have a little water in your tank you could try to remove it either using methanol or using a special fuel additive for this purpose.
This of course will only dilute a small amount of water, if you have a lot of water in your tank this will not help you.
Either way, make sure to read the instructions thoroughly to ensure you are not damaging your engine or any other part of the vehicle. If you try it with methanol be extra cautious and only use small doses of methanol.