Water in gas in cold weather

Not good ,

I fueled up the bug on the way home last night (no problems. no trouble).

Went to the post office this morning and it die as I was putting it in park, when I got there.

If not for luck of meeting up with a neigbor I would have been stuck there,they took me home.

I called my friend to pull it to his shop which we did .

Got the car inside in the warm shop. While I helped them unhook the trailer and after we talked for 10 minutes or so . We went in and tried to crank it one more time to see if it was getting fuel.

It started right up.. We checked every thing twice. and found water in the gas..

This Cheap ethanoled blended gas.. I put some HEET Fuel addiitive in it. and drove it home..

ARRRGGGG!!!! I HATEEEE COLD WEATHER!!!!!!!!!!!

Hate the gas, not the weather... It is truly pathetic.

angela

ethonal doesnt have water in it. its either condensation or the station were you buy it at is watering it down to make more profit. bill

Unscrupulous service station owners have a myriad of scams to pass off inferior grade product. However, if someone added water, they would be charged with felony stupidity.

Years ago my old Chris Craft cruiser would develop condensation in the fuel every winter. It was moored at Shasta Lake in Nor Cal. About a pint of drug store alcohol in the tank would always solve the problem.
Good Luck!

I also replaced the gas cap just in case. Last month I converted all the fuel hoses to the teflon core stainless steel braid hose.

My first though was the fuel pump went out. Im still using the manual pump but Im getting ready to go electric just like the speedster.

Im making my own aluminum block off plate with a filter holder. I put a steel shut off near the tank and allowed extra hose for the pump tie in. I still need to make and install a relay and harness for the pump.

But with all the snow and ice this week. No telling where it came from.. It was fine until I refueled it. When it warmed up in the shop it was fine.. So Im keeping a bottle of additve in the car.. i have used wood alcohol. But with questionable results.. I tried this stuff and its better.

Here is another thought the steel shut off valve is getting a plastic cover to keep it warmer it could be getting a chill..

Speedy always trys to sleep at the foot of the bed, but my wife insists I put it in the garage.

Most likely condensation...a common problem. Epsecially if you have your car in a warmer place and then colder, like in the garage and then out in the cold. Use some gasoline antifreeze or buy a quart of methyl mydrate (same thing). Put a bit in at each fillup when its cold and you won't have that problem. Just a bit though, about and once or two will do in our small tanks. Too much and you'll burn out your pistons. Don't ask how I know....

I don't think it was condensation it was colder thurday and friday and it ran fine.

I got watered gas friday evening. It had to be..

Interesting. I took Baby out to the Griot's cars and coffee event 2 weekends ago and upon starting her up to drive home, the car severely and repeatedly cut out on hard acceleration in the parking lot (yes I was showboating). Now that I read this thread, I wonder if this was nothing more than some H2O getting cleared through the system. I went from a warm garage to a cold morning where the car was driven for 30 minutes then sat for 2 hrs before restarting to drive home. Sure would be easier to fix than a redo of the fuel pump and surge tank system.

Tomm

Barry:

Has it been raining there lately?

I agree with you - it's NOT condensation. It's probably that it was raining or melting like hell when the gas station got their last delivery and, since the delivery port is below grade (pretty common these days) the water was pouring into the opening along with the gas being delivered. The delivery guy doesn't care (hell....it's not HIS station, is it?) nor does the kid manning the counter, but if water is found in there by a testing agency (highly unlikely, since they're all under-funded) the station owner has to get the tanks pumped out by a haz-mat disposal company and refilled - not cheap, so they throw in gallons of alcohol (just like dri-gas) and hope for the best.

We got a bad tank of gas on a rainy trip South at the Vince Lombardi rest area on the New Jersey Turnpike a few years back. Truck ran lousy on a randomly failing 6 cylinders out of 8 until we finally ran the tank out (just above Washington DC). Once we re-filled it with decent gas it was like Jim and Tammy Faye had both blessed my truck - ran like a Swiss watch for the rest of the trip.

So, the morale of this story is; Put in a couple of bottles of dri-gas in 10 gallons of gas and drive it out. Once you empty that tank, re-fill......but at a different gas station.

gn

Snow freezing rain and sleet. first of the week.

This stuff could pinpoint the prob , if your engine starts hurling after a bad gas-up ---
http://www.amazon.com/MDR-Water-Probe-Indicator/dp/B002IV6LMU

There are filters that remove the water. I know we used to use them up here for aviation refueling cause water, condensation, was a problem and you don't want it happening in the air. Bad enough the fuel itself was not certified for aviation use...

There are also funnels that have the filters built into them. I know I saw them at our local Home Hardware store last year. Not cheap and single use but if it protects your engine probably worth it.

There is also some sort of crystaline stuff that you buy and it comes in a bag that you lower into your gas tank and it absorbs the water in there. Usually used for heating fuel tanks but would probably work for gas.

Keep me posted on the funnel filters Brian,, It may come to that But I refueld it yesterday and add a bottle of Heet Just incase.

Oh! and this tuesday and wenesday Their callin for SNOW!!....8=(

Barry, if you go electric, get a rotary pump and mount it up front. They like to push the fuel rather than pull it.