Petrol seperating ?

[DennisR]

I have the car laid up until spring, sat on axle stands, about once a month I start it. The petrol was put in the tank a few months back and I have had no problems. Went to start it yesterday, wouldn`t have it, smelt like I`d choked it so left it. Today had another go and did everything by the book, still no joy, then I noticed there were 2 layers in the glass bowl, a cloudy top layer and a clear bottom layer. I took the bowl off and cleaned it out, put it back turned on the tap and when it finished filling up I had 2 layers again ? Off came the bowl and when put in a jar the 2 layers combine into a cloudy liquid. Last time I had anything like this was with my homebrew !!!

[John Stone]

Is it possible you had some water condense in the gas tank?

[Tim B.]

Perhaps the station where you purchased the gas isn't checking their tanks for water and you got a bad batch of gas.

[SeaSlugs]

yea water in the gastank, could be bad gas, condensation buildup, etc.

[Mitch//pa]

Pour a small sample on a concrete floor... Any water will show up as bubbles.... We have issues like this all the time at the shop.. Sometimes water, diesel etc mixed....
After pouring a small sample on the concrete light it with a lighter.. If it lights the fuel will burn leaving the water behind or if it's real bad or a high level of diesel it won't light at all..
Corn gas should not be bad in a few months like that
Yes I agree you got bad gas or water got in through the cap

[burner31]

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You running corn gas by chance?

[Tom Wesenberg]

It's that London fog condensing in the gas tank.
Do you store the car with a full tank of good gas?
I've lit some crap gas after it set a long time, as Mitch mentioned, and it burned almost like kerosene, with lots of smoke.

[DennisR]

Thanks for the replies,
Mitch, I`ll try that
As John first said water might be the problem so I guess it`s best to drain down and put fresh in
This is where you get a laugh - what`s corn gas, I`m not wasting my JD in the car !!!!

[Mitch//pa]

If you have a zenith open the carb drain bowl plug to drain that

[40 Deluxe]

It's gasoline blended with ethanol, forced on us by the corn lobby and tree huggers. Corn is distilled to make ethanol instead of being used or food. Ethanol readily absorbs water form the moisture in air and turns stored fuel to junk. There is less energy in ethanol than gasoline so fuel mileage drops. Ethanol is corrosive to fuel system parts. Ethanol requires large quantities of natural gas to process as well as a lot of water. Ethanol cannot be shipped by pipeline because it absorbs water that is present in pipelines so must be shipped by rail tank car (think Diesel-powered locomotives). Farmers use excessive amounts of fertilizer to grow more corn, leading to run-off into lakes and rivers which ends up in the Gulf of Mexico, causing the "Dead Zone". And the list goes on.

[wrndln]

40 Deluxe,
Sounds like you are a real fan of ethanol gas! It appears maybe something is occurring concerning the mostly despised ethanol gas. Last I heard, ethanol gas is consuming about 40% of the nations corn production - wow! I think maybe even some of the tree huggers are starting to realize ethanol isN'T the panacea it was hyped up to be.
Rusty Nelson

[ursus]

US corn = UK maize. I believe corn is the term for wheat in the UK?

[mshmodela]

I'd drain your tank until you're not seeing water & or ethinol... Drain some fuel, place it in jar, let it settle.... once you see a single layer, your water should be gone...

[BILL WILLIAMSON]

"Maybe" it would help to VIOLENTLY shake your Jitney from side to side, a couple of times a week???? If nothing else, it would keep your spring leaves from SEIZING.
It would also help keep ANNOYING neighbors AWAY! Little KIDS are always WELCOME!
Bill W.
(An afterthought, I used to use McKay fuel additive, called Dryzit, or something like that, in my mowlawner/edger, it was supposed to keep water & gas from separating. "Wonder" if it would help??) Water is a great aid to combustion, IF it's held in suspension with the gas. P-51 Mustangs & some Old John Deere tractors used water injection to combat PINGING & OVERHEATING. Remember the old OCTA-GAIN water injectors for cars/trucks? Friend Frank, (RIP) had one on his 460 Ford, to prevent PINGING on STEEP mountain grades, when NOTHING else helped.)

[Cool Hand Lurker]

Alcohol mixes with gas. Alcohol absorbs water. When it becomes saturated with water it separates from the gas. Gas is lighter so it goes to the top. The cloudy liquid on the bottom is saturated alcohol and it is heavier than gas.
Drain your tank into a separate container and let it set for a day then siphon off the gas that is now on the top and use it. Throw away the cloudy stuff.

Simple. And notice that I did not get political and beat the dead horse. If you have to do that, then write or call your congressman!
I'm sick of hearing it.

[Pinesdune]

Originally Posted by BILL WILLIAMSON

"Maybe" it would help to VIOLENTLY shake your Jitney from side to side, a couple of times a week???? If nothing else, it would keep your spring leaves from SEIZING.
It would also help keep ANNOYING neighbors AWAY! Little KIDS are always WELCOME!
Bill W.
(An afterthought, I used to use McKay fuel additive, called Dryzit, or something like that, in my mowlawner/edger, it was supposed to keep water & gas from separating. "Wonder" if it would help??) Water is a great aid to combustion, IF it's held in suspension with the gas. P-51 Mustangs & some Old John Deere tractors used water injection to combat PINGING & OVERHEATING. Remember the old OCTA-GAIN water injectors for cars/trucks? Friend Frank, (RIP) had one on his 460 Ford, to prevent PINGING on STEEP mountain grades, when NOTHING else helped.)

You're right, my old D John Deere had a water injector, cant find a pic right now, it was mainly used when running it on keroseen to reduce "pinging" or pre-ignition just likeyou said (engine would run so hot on keroseen that it would make the plugs glow like a diesel engine glow plug) and as soon as compression hit that majic point of compression/heat she'd go off. I have a service bulliten on it somehwere as to how much water to add/where to set the injector. But back on topic, you can add Methyl Hydrate to your gas when you refill your tank to help "dry it out". That was what you use to thaw frozen gas lines in winter and it helps keep the water from freezing up carbuertor passages.It keeps the water in suspension and lowers it's freezing point. The auto places should have a "modern" gas line antifreeze, but I'd just use plain methyl as it works better (pure methyl is hard on rubber seals found in modern cars) You should be able to get it at the drug store.

Here's a link to a snowmobile forum where they talk about it more.
http://www.sasksnowmobile.com/forum/...php?t-388.html

[tbirdtbird]

Cool, you sound in favor of corn

Pines, methyl hydrate is methanol or methyl alcohol going under a disguised name. We already have too much alcohol in our gas. Oops sorry Cool

[40 Deluxe]

Originally Posted by Cool Hand Lurker

Alcohol mixes with gas. Alcohol absorbs water. When it becomes saturated with water it separates from the gas. Gas is lighter so it goes to the top. The cloudy liquid on the bottom is saturated alcohol and it is heavier than gas.
Drain your tank into a separate container and let it set for a day then siphon off the gas that is now on the top and use it. Throw away the cloudy stuff.

Simple. And notice that I did not get political and beat the dead horse. If you have to do that, then write or call your congressman!
I'm sick of hearing it.

Aw, c'mon Lurker, haven't you been in a small town café in Minnesota on a rainy or snowy day? What are the locals doing but beating one kind of dead horse or another? Been there, done that. Now we have the internet! Don't need the Cup 'n Saucer anymore!

[Mike V. Florida]

Originally Posted by tbirdtbird

We already have too much alcohol in our gas.

And not enough in our homes!

[Keith True]

I didn't realize the UK used alcohol in the gas.Do they?? Yes?No?Some?