Help i have put water in the petrol tank ! (1 Viewer)

elly01

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Please can you help me, by mistake I put water in the petrol tank, I have got a tube to try and syphon it out but it just wont go far enough down to reach the tank, there seems a lot of bends that it has to go round. Please can anyone tell me if there is a knack of how to do it? Much appreciate your help. My camper is a 1987 talbot merlin.
 

stcyr

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Drain tank? There should be a nut on the bottom of the tank somewhere?
 
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TheBig1

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i dont recall the layout of the talbot fuel tank, but if I remember correct it has a fuel pipe at the bottom on one side. place a container underneath and disconnect the fuel pipe to drain it.

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Oh the joys of anti-syphon traps.

It might be possible to drain the tank without removal but, given that you are dealing with petrol, it might be best to let a garage do it.

Your breakdown cover should pay for getting it there.

Looking on the bright side it would have been worse had you put petrol in the water system.

Good luck.
 
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Aug 30, 2012
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Don't what ever you do NOT try run it
Look under tank and see if there is a drain bung
Or take of feeder pipe from tank to engine and syphon it from there will be slow but will work
If you ran it till it stopped you will need to clean out pipes and carb
if not you may possibly get Away with it
2 things
If you don't know what your doing get help
If your doing it yourself petrol is explosive and its fumes are worse be very careful
 
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Peter JohnsCross MH

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The water will now be at the bottom of the tank, so drain it off from there, BUT if you dont know what you are doing get the AA or RAC if you are a member

Peter

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Depending on the age of your vehicle,older ones have drain plugs newer models have plastic tanks which have to be removed.
My vehicle is an 3 year old A-class, I was recovered to home and called out Speedstart
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cost me ÂŁ300 They did say a petrol job is ÂŁ120
 
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Feb 27, 2011
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Just put petrol in my diesel tank today :Doh:

I watched carefully when my mechanic was sorting it out for me.

He disconnected the fuel line from engine and connected a pump.
This was taking ages but he said because mine was an old model it doesn't have the "tank purge" option in the software otherwise he would just use the big pump built into the engine. Because it didn't have that option in software it times out after 10 seconds of running. I offered to stand and turn the ignition on and off to keep the pump running. took about 10 minutes to empty 20 liters :thumb:

Just done the 114 mile run down to Stratford without issues:thumb:

As others have said, not worth buggering up your engine if you don't know what you are doing. Contact your local garage they will have dealt with this many many many many times...

Cost me ÂŁ50+ vat including the tow. I spent a bit extra on an additive to ensure that things were good though.

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G8WVW

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If you do drain/decant, do so into a vessel with a small opening and not a large open tray or bucket. This will greatly reduce vapour escape, risk of ignition fireball! Open vats of petrol are dangerous!

You need to think also about the quantity of contaminated fuel you have to deal with; could be 70-80 litres which is ~15 x 5-litre oil cans worth.

Good luck.
 
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Jul 29, 2007
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Apply Try Wynns Dry Fuel additive - you just pour it into the tank and it emulsifies the fuel with the water and bingo, it gets burnt off. :thumb:

Halfords have some reviews on this:

"I had nearly half a tank of water in my diesel fuel tank - being female i havent a clue how to drain it all out, did some reasearch on this item and thought give it a go, 1st full tank and full bottle of wynn's and it did the trick, its doing more to the gallon now too so win win"

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Ian
 
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Oct 5, 2012
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Halfords have some reviews on this:

"I had nearly half a tank of water in my diesel fuel tank - being female i havent a clue how to drain it all out, did some reasearch on this item and thought give it a go, 1st full tank and full bottle of wynn's and it did the trick, its doing more to the gallon now too so win win"

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Ian

Hmmmmm what about the fuel filter & 'emulsified fuel' how will that be working out ?

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Well that`s our 13th year & still loving it.
It`s not as bad as it sounds, though circumstances need to be taken into account.
A, When did you do it?

B, Have you run the engine since doing it?

Ok hopefully there will be a drain plug in the bottom of the tank, so it`s as simple as drain the tank.
The fuel will float on top of the water so keep an eye on what`1s being drained out, first will be clean water, second will be an emulsified mixture, (this will depend on how long you leave the vehicle stationary before draining, the longer the better) then youn will get to the pure fuel/

Good luck.
 
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elly01

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Thank you so much for your replies, I haven't started camper up since my silly mistake it is actually parked up near the tap ! But its not at home I will go to it again today and have a look if there is a drain plug on it, would anyone know for sure if there is one on a 1987 talbot merlin? And if so is it easy to find? Thank you everybody
 
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Fireman Sam

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I know that it is stating the obvious, but if you do drain down your tank, do not dispose of the petrol in the drains. You would be surprised how many people have done in the past, often with explosive results.

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elly01

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Help i have put water in the petrol tank!

Been underneath camper today and can't find a drain plug at all ( Am I looking in right place on bottom of tank?) Thanks for anymore ideas.
 
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TheBig1

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if the tank has got a drain it will just look like a bolt in the very bottom of the tank. As said before, disconnect the rubber fuel hose and drain from there if theres no drain plug fitted
 
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elly01

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Help i have put water in the petrol tank!

Thanks once again for all your help. But as usual I still need your valuable information again. Ok so today I took off the fuel hose ,it was on the top of tank, so i then siphoned the water and petrol out from there, until no more was coming out. I presumed I had got it all out, so fixed the fuel hose back on, and was quite proud of myself. I just thought I would turn the key to see what the fuel guage was reading. I couldn't believe it was saying three quarters full. Now then this is where I am confused. It either means there is loads of water still in or , would the guage be confused because I siphoned it out. Please help me again. I haven't fired the engine up only turned the key to get ignition on.

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My fuel gauge went whacky on monday. I knew I only had about 10 liters in the the tank before stuffing up and I knew I had only put 10 litres in so 20 in total. After we had drained 20 litres and the pump was running dry the guage was still showing 1/8th of a tank. We put a little fresh diesel back in which duly came back through...

For some reason the meter decided to go nuts at this point where it had been reliable before. No idea why or how....
 
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Daveo2006

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My fuel gauge went whacky on monday. I knew I only had about 10 liters in the the tank before stuffing up and I knew I had only put 10 litres in so 20 in total. After we had drained 20 litres and the pump was running dry the guage was still showing 1/8th of a tank. We put a little fresh diesel back in which duly came back through...

For some reason the meter decided to go nuts at this point where it had been reliable before. No idea why or how....

I done the same with my work van (meaning the plonker that works for me)The AA emptied out the tank ,flushed through and put ÂŁ15 diesel back in.The gauge was all over the show until i filled the tank right up and it reset its self.
 
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stevensson10

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petrol tank

it probably as a drainage bung underneath the tank so drain it off and make sure all your pipes are cleaned out also be very carefull as its petrol. then put another gallon of petrol in let the motor tick over stationery for about quarter of an hour then it should be ok. if not then phone the rescue services you are affiliated to steve

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elly01

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Help I have put water in the petrol tank!

Thanks again for your help, I have hit another problem now. I got it all emptied out, put new petrol in it. fired it up and it was fine, started first time. then after about 5 mins it just cut out and won't start now ! please help me again. thank you
 
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stevensson10

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tank

Thanks again for your help, I have hit another problem now. I got it all emptied out, put new petrol in it. fired it up and it was fine, started first time. then after about 5 mins it just cut out and won't start now ! please help me again. thank you
disscnect the pipe fuel pipe that is from the carb keep turning your engine over then reconnect. this should do it sounds to me like there was still some water in the pipe or tank steve
 
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elly01

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Help i have put water in the petrol tank!

thank you very much Stevensson for such a quick reply. As you have probably gathered by my questions I am totally clueless at mechanical things. ok So where will I find the carb, there are a few small pipes coming out of the tank, please explain to this total novice in easy to follow instructions. much appreciate everything you have all helped me with so far.

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stevensson10

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thank you very much Stevensson for such a quick reply. As you have probably gathered by my questions I am totally clueless at mechanical things. ok So where will I find the carb, there are a few small pipes coming out of the tank, please explain to this total novice in easy to follow instructions. much appreciate everything you have all helped me with so far.
the pipe will fit at the top end of the carb so un screw tha and turn engine over a few times as im not there I cant honestly say so good luck steve
 
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