walexa

This past sunday I filled up at a local station that I have filled up at many times. At lunch Monday while in a drive-through, truck started stumbling. I thought it was an air leak, fuel filter only had 4600 miles on it. By Tuesday afternoon I barely made it home. Decided to change fuel filter and it had about a cup of water in there. I put a new element in and by Wednesday afternoon it wouldn't rev over 2800 rpm, and this truck has a 4kgsk in it. Apparently the water swells the filter media and prevents full fuel flow. Water in fuel light never has come on.

What I need to know is what is the easiest way to remove the water from the tank? I can handle blocking up the rear or front, and I've got something to suction out the tank........just want to avoid dropping the tank at ALL costs.

Waylan

1-2-3

How much fuel do you have? Full tank? Half Tank?

tool

Why do you not want to drop the tank???

I'm just curious, I have never dropped it on the Dodge but many other vehicles. That would probably be my approach.

walexa

Full fuel tank.........65 miles since filled up on Sunday.

To drop the tank I will have to drain most fuel first..........then drop it. Just seems like it will take alot of work. It would just be nice to be able to park the truck on a steep incline and use a hose down the filler neck to be able to vacuum from the lowest point until all the water was removed. I was hoping someone had done something similar to this with good results.

Waylan

htgreen3

here at work we had a water problem, got a hot dog size sock shaped thingy at local diesel shop that would asborb the water but not the fuel. You put in in the tank and pull it back up, ring the water out and try again until nothing comes up. We then left it in place for several weeks to catch any small drops. Just don't let the end of the cord get away from you.

Shovelhead

Did you get a receipt when you purchased the fuel from that station?
If so, I'd get a gallon straight from the pump, check it for water.
If it's as contaminated as the load you purchased, let THEM pay for the system purge.

walexa

Yes, I got a receipt for $55.20........but it doesn't show gallons or price per gallons..........just a receipt. I also have the date, amount of fuel, price per gallon, total purchase price, and mileage on my truck when the fuel was purchased........and the total purchase price agrees with the $55.20. All this information is recorded in my log book that I've kept since I purchased the truck. It's just a big hassle to try to get pin something on them.......but I may have to. Another kink in it all is that I just changed the oil in my truck and dumped that oil into the tank before I went and filled up. So.......my fuel is black like oil and could get the gas station off the hook. I know that the engine oil I added is not the source of the water. I drain my oil through an ez-drain plug into a 5 gallon blitz gas can that is always indoors and never used for anything else.

Waylan

Shovelhead

I'd still buy a fresh gallon and see if it has water in it.

1-2-3

I was thinking if it was almost empty, open the fuel line and let the lift pump send it into a bucket, but that muck, you might siphone it. it would be an almost impossible task to remove a full tank. You can siphon it, or remove the bed, open the top of the tank, and shop vac it out. You might try the siphon method using a shop vac to start it. Before you do anything, you'll need something to put it in. Not to mention a clean container to refill with.

I've never heard of the sock before. Where would one get such a thing?

walexa

watermagnet.com is what I've found on the internet, but I believe I will go ahead and drain the tank and drop it/clean it. I was just hoping to avoid that much work. I think I will transfer the fuel into a white 35 gallon drum so I can see the water/fuel separation. Would it be safe to take the fuel off the top and put it back in the truck, or should I just use it to burn brush with behind my house? I'm still open to other ideas.

Waylan

Tazman

Let your pulled off fuel settle overnight.

It'll be good to go.

Geico266

Dropping the tank is not hard at all. That would be my first step.

1-2-3

Dropping the tank is not hard at all. That would be my first step.

With it full, it might be a handful...

Timmay2

IMO if you want to reuse the fuel you pull out id do so in small increments.. IE every fillup add 5 gal from your drum then top off at a good station..

im not familiar with water seperation myself but id imagine without some fancy equipment theres not a good way to do it perfectly.

induchman

Dropping the tank is second step I do. The first step would be to get the fuel stop to pay for it! If they did it to you, then they did it to others too.....