Car wash blues (water in gasoline?)

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Car wash blues (water in gasoline?)

August 20, 2007, 10:47:58 AM

I was prepping my car for the Fun Ford Weekend Saturday and so I took it to the car wash to get all the off of it. I got "The Works" but the kid pushed the wrong button or something, so I ran it through a second time. That may have been a bad idea. Later in the day I was driving to get some plastic paint for my console and the car would misfire and sputter when I accelerated at low RPM. This was g me off so I went to get some gas as it seemed that it could only be the gas and I only had 3 gallons in there so...

When I opened the fuel door I saw a lake in there!!?? Apparently the water gets blown in there somehow. It was 2" deep and up to the filler cap. I am assuming that some water got sucked in through the vent in the cap because the car ran fine after I filled it.

I know I wasn't uncovering the sock because I just installed a new OEM fuel pickup with a new pump and I also wasn't seeing the tell-tale pressure dips on the fuel pressure gauge.

Just to put an exclamation on how much water the car-wash injected into my car, when I was replacing one of my tailights, I noticed there was about a gallon of water in the spare-tire well. All of this in a car that never goes out in the rain and is always garaged. You won't see me at that car-wash again.

Car wash blues (water in gasoline?)

Reply #1 – August 20, 2007, 12:04:54 PM

I don't have a vented gas cap.

Car wash blues (water in gasoline?)

Reply #2 – August 20, 2007, 01:42:38 PM

Car wash blues (water in gasoline?)

Reply #3 – August 20, 2007, 01:48:45 PM

Just a vague reference that I have my factory emissions system, which includes the non-vented cap, intact.

I'm guessing you disabled your EVAP system via Tweecer and went with a vented cap.

[Random Story] Once, before I knew squat about cars, I had a fuel leak on the return fuel line. The techs at the shop also noticed the charcoal canister was missing - vent line was plugged. They said they couldn't get a replacement canister and fixed the problem by installing a vented cap. A $16.xx Stant cap. The next week, I saw the exact same part in Wal-Mart for $7.

Car wash blues (water in gasoline?)

Reply #4 – August 20, 2007, 01:49:11 PM

There should be some sort of drain hole in the gas filler area. Maybe yours is clogged. Also there is a drain plug you can pull for the spare tire well.

Car wash blues (water in gasoline?)

Reply #5 – August 20, 2007, 02:21:53 PM

Quote from: ipsd;170638

There should be some sort of drain hole in the gas filler area. Maybe yours is clogged. Also there is a drain plug you can pull for the spare tire well.

There a hole at the bottom of the plastic cap surround. It connects to a drain hose that you can see from underneath. It sounds like yours is clogged with debris.

As for water entering other areas of the trunk like the spare tire you may have a bad trunk or tailight seal.

Car wash blues (water in gasoline?)

Reply #6 – August 20, 2007, 04:05:58 PM

I think the water got in the spare area from the undercarriage wash - there is a bit of an opening in my body-work that lets water in, but it's not the low point so the water got trapped. Shop vac sucked it all out so it's no problem.

I'm thinking either the gas cap let some water in (I guess it's supposed to be sealed so maybe not) or the wash also got water on top of the tank which I now found out is not sealing even with a new thicker o-ring I put in after replacing the pump. It's probably the rusted lock-ring & angled tabs that just aren't compressing the rubber enough to seal.

Has anybody ever used some compound to seal around that stupid rusty old pump mount o-ring? It was nice to fill up the tank for the first time in years, only to find out that it still leaks :( Nothing like the stench of ethanol & xylene (or toluene) sizzling your eyeballs to remind you that you have an old car with famously rusty fuel tank tops. :D

Car wash blues (water in gasoline?)

Reply #7 – August 21, 2007, 12:55:45 AM

That sucks pretty gay

Car wash blues (water in gasoline?)

Reply #8 – August 21, 2007, 12:02:43 PM

You may want to consider just purchasing a new tank. I know napa still sells them and I don't believe they are super expensive. The design of the fuel tank really makes this area of the tank pr0ne to rust because it traps salt and moisture.

Car wash blues (water in gasoline?)

Reply #9 – August 21, 2007, 12:17:00 PM

Quote from: 88BlueBird;170879

You may want to consider just purchasing a new tank. I know napa still sells them and I don't believe they are super expensive. The design of the fuel tank really makes this area of the tank pr0ne to rust because it traps salt and moisture.

Tell me about it. I have cleaned off all sorts of from the top of the tank even on the second go-round (only 2 years) - and I only drive the car on sunny days in the summer!

I'd love to get a new tank, but the ed sender for the electronic fuel gauge still works fine and I am loath to mess with it since it is solid rusted to the tank. I asked about lock-rings for the sender and/or the entire sender and the parts counter dude looked at me with that stupid look that make you wanna punch them in the face :flame: (as if they can't figure out why someone would want to fix an old car look).

Even a new lock-ring for the fuel pump sender would do wonders as the old one is so thin that it locks into place before applying enough pressure to the o-ring. I'm not sure how a new tank is gonna fix the situation unless they also provide the lock rings (which I KNOW that they don't). Some things are just meant to suck...

Car wash blues (water in gasoline?)

Reply #10 – August 21, 2007, 12:20:03 PM

Actually I think new tanks do come with lock rings. Ask Antonio or Gumby..

Car wash blues (water in gasoline?)

Reply #11 – August 21, 2007, 12:27:01 PM

Quote from: CougarSE;170882

Actually I think new tanks do come with lock rings. Ask Antonio or Gumby..

Really? I couldn't get the dopes at the Auto Palace to tell me WTF was included. Sometimes I wish I could carry around one of those giant hands from the ball games and give a massive ceremonial DOPE SLAP to people who can't get answers for you no matter how long you stand there pressing them to do something, anything - this IS important!

:rantmodeoff: