Water in the tank - what chemical will dry gasoline?

Feb 12, 2023 4 Replies

Kid thought he was doing me a favor when he used an old steel (leaking) gas can to bring it from empty to a quarter of a tank after he used the car.



It starts and runs but immediately triggers a cylinder shutdown which I can erase on the fly with an obdii tester on my lap but it happens every few minutes where the cylinder shuts down.



Car has a cat (which is why the cylinder shuts down) but the car is a $400 beater so it's not worth taking to a mechanic.



Hence my question is whether I just burn off the rest of the gas or if there's a way to siphon it out. I tried putting a hose down the tank but there is some kind of check valve that stops it cold.



How would you handle it on your own given it's not worth a trip to the mechanic?



Is there a substance (alcohol or acetone?) which "dries" the gasoline?


We used denatured alcohol several decades ago when it was cheap.

The Thrifty gas station filled our tank from their near-empty underground tank. We ultimately siphoned out a gallon, which was roughly 1/4 water. I took the jug back and screamed at the attendant, but it didn't do any good.

Take the hose that moves the gasoline from the tank to the fuel pump off and drain the gasoline tank. Then add more clean gasoline and do that repeatedly until you don't get any more water out of the tank.

All that gasoline that you get out can be put into a clear glass jar and the gasoline decanted off from the water.

Not with that amount of water.

[snip]

ANOTHER victim of crime prevention. They ASSUME someone doing that is stealing gas.

[snip]

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