Water and gasoline do not mix. Moisture in your tank can ruin the quality of your fuel, cause corrosion, and cost you a ton of money in repairs. Unfortunately, condensation and even the pumps at gas stations can allow water to get into your gas tank more easily than most people realize.
Regardless of how it happened, when water gets into a vehicle’s gas tank, it’s a problem that can’t be overlooked. Here’s how to determine whether it’s happened and how to remediate the situation.
Signs of Water in the Gas Tank
The first sign you will recognize is when your vehicle does not perform the same. When you depress the accelerator pedal, the vehicle will hesitate prior to accelerating.
If you are on the freeway, your vehicle will simply not go as fast as you want it to. If you are trying to pass another vehicle, your car will not accelerate the way you expect. Your car may even hesitate and then jolt into high speed randomly.
If these symptoms just happen out of the blue, you may have water in your gas tank. The hesitations and sputters are the result of the injectors having water slugs introduced to them.
Water does not combust in the same way as gasoline, therefore, after the combustion chamber is sprayed with water and causing steam, your piston is not pushing anything upward.
So, when water is sprayed into the combustion chamber, you are probably at the highest risk of losing control during that event just ahead of the injector getting a water slug introduced to it. That describes how you are seeing a short-term burst of speed.
Reasons for Water in Gasoline
Poor mixing of fuel additives by the gas suppliers could make the gas contaminated. This would make fuel additives ineffective and allow for varnish in the fueling system.
For instance, if you do not have a gas cap and it rains, you could end up with contaminated gasoline.
If the fuel station’s water filter/separator was bad before supplying you with gas, then they may be at fault when you get contaminated gas. Additionally, some fuel stations’ tanks may have dirt, water, or corroded fuel, or possibly your own car’s fuel tank.
Filtration systems are never 100%, so even with the gas station’s filter, remnants or contaminants ultimately make it into the vehicle itself.
Lastly, some gas stations are unethical with their fuel. When they say their gas has a certain octane rating, it may actually be a couple of points lower to make the most money, regardless of what happens to the consumer.
Can Too Much Water in the Tank Ruin Your Car?
If you have too much water in your gas tank, it can damage the engine. You see, gasoline is a combustible liquid, while water is not.
Too much water in the fuel tank will block the gas from getting to the engine, making the car stall or not work at all.
Along with blocking the gas from the engine, if there is a large enough amount of water in the gas tank, it will eventually corrode the fuel line, fuel gauge sender, and other parts. This can cause damage that clogs fuel filters, which can be costly.
In reality, a little bit of water in the tank is quite common. That is because all forms of petroleum, including fuel, have some water content – typically, E-10 fuels (10 percent ethanol; 90 percent gasoline) have 0.5 percent by volume.
When water is at a level like that, you shouldn’t have any problems, nor symptoms from that amount of water.
The problem starts when you have a large amount of free water mixed into the fuel in the tank.
There is a general consensus that up to one whole cup of water should not be too serious, and it could be treated with fuel additives. Anything more than that, and you will likely have serious car problems.
Does Water Float on Gas?
Water does not float on gas. As you can see, water and gasoline don’t mix well at all. Water is denser than gasoline, so if water and gasoline were mixed, water would sink to the bottom of the container.
This is a serious problem for cars because if enough water gets introduced to the fuel, there can be significant damage to the engine.
How to Fix
The only way to fix the problem is to drain the fuel tank completely and rid yourself of the contaminated fuel. Then simply fill her up with fresh fuel. Make sure to clean the fuel system while doing this.
It would be wise to replace the fuel filter at this time. Additionally, when you run contaminated fuel through your vehicle, it can clog your filter with particles, and when you need to replace your filter in the future, it’s going to save time.
It’s normal to have some water in your tank, and this small amount won’t cause any of the above symptoms to happen. If you notice any of the above symptoms, then you likely have enough water in your tank to deal with it right away.