As a fellow Canadian (and Albertan to boot! ) and a Pontiac partsman, I thought I'd ask you this question.

I'm not sure if you've seen my previous posts about the trouble I've been having with my car.......anyway, it turns out that it IS water in my gas tank. And quite a bit too it seems. :(

Do you know of any chemical sold in Canada that will absorb water from the gas tank? I found this stuff on the net called Gas Zorb....but I don't think it'* sold here. I've tried Rubbing Alcohol (95% ethanol) and it works for awhile....Or am I just going to have to bite the bullet and have my tank dropped and emptied?

Thanks!!

im no expert, but i've heard ppl say that you should put alcohol in there to get rid of it. Wait for a second opinion before you do this tho, I dont want to mess ur car up.

Heath, it depends on how much you really have in there. It will work itself out after a tank or two. My concern would be how you got so much water in there in the first place. There should be some type of fuel conditioner available at your auto parts store for this. It'* very common stuff, especially in colder climates where condensation can be a problem.

willwren ~ That'* exactly my concern too. There is just toooooo much water in there for it to be just condensation. I can't understand how so much got in there....could the gas I got last have been 'contaminated' with water? Or maybe a leak in my gas tank? Cripes, I don't know. What a crappy week this has been.

Ok, we had a member awhile back up in Canada that had the same problem. He discovered a rusty hole in the top of his tank. Not easy to get to. I suggest lighting a cigarette and crawl under your car. If it goes BOOM you have a hole.

Ok, seriously.....it'* possible you have a hole, but the problem sounds like it came on suddenly. I'd think a hole would happen gradually. Also, it'* kinda hard for water to drip onto the top of the tank. Once again, it IS possible, but the hole would have to be on top of the tank where you can't see it normally. You can reach up around some of it and probe with a finger. I'd be really curious to see you pull your fuel filter and flush it backwards to see what type of crap comes out. That could be an indication if there'* any rusty deposits or flakes in it.

It'* not nessary to condition and burn that fuel. get it out of there.
easy methods are siphon or a crank pump, for transfering fluids.
if water is heavyer than gas it will settle to the botom of your tank, if you can get a hose down to the botom it will come out first.
some old trick is to conect a small fountain pump ($10) to gas line where filter is and pump it dry. a 6' tall Q-tip could get the rest.

there are probably other ways to blead yor tank without droping it.

Glad it was only water

Good advise on checking for source of water.

Heath. I have a question. How old are you?

Could it be a possibility that some punk kids put gas in there to be a jerk?

I ask how old you are because generally a kid would do it to another kid. So if your an adult, this probably would rule that out.

But keep that in mind.

And heath....do you have the lock on the gas door that latches every time you lock the doors? If you do, that rules out the punks......had to be from a gas station or hole in the tank that way.

hey whut kind of punks do you have in yer area? if they are runnin around puttin gas in tanks, i would be much obliged to leave mine open for them.. its the ones that do water gotta watch out for!

Since the varied temperature changes lately this IS getting more & more common! You've got a couple of choices here!
1. Buy a "Water Remover" from PartSource, Cdn Tire, NAPA, etc
2. Drive it (if possible) and keep "diluting" the water in the tank with "fresh" gasoline!
*By this I mean, fill up with fresh gas, drive it too 3/4'* full then fill it up again!...Repeat as nessecary!*
3.Remove the water by "draining" the tank via a syphon hose. You'll have to get a long hose hose as gasoline "floats" on top of the water!
4.After all this ia all dealt with get a locking gas cap!

NOTE! I would do #1 & 2 FIRST before attempting #3!