Solved Watered down gasoline from a local service station.

[allmyEXes]

If you want to take a sample or get the water out, go get 6 or 8 feet of 1/4 fuel line or clear vinyl hose, let the van sit on level ground for a little while so all the water will sink to the bottom, remove the schrader valve core in the fuel rail and attach the hose to it. Get a few 2 liter drink bottles and pump the fuel into them turning your key on and off several times. I started and ran one that I emptied once and it would still idle even with the core out and successfully emptied the tank. Your just trying to get the water out so you probably don't have to pump out the whole batch.

 

[BKennedy]

All of my experience is from California in the late 70's to early 80's. I am sure things have changed since then. There was no regulation of times per year that tanks were required to be cleaned. We never actually cleaned them out, just sucked sediment and water off the bottom. The tanks were checked weekly for water contamination. There is a screen filter on the pickup for the pumps. I always wondered why the tanks didn't have a pickup pipe on the bottom of the tank to suck out the water. They might have that now. I do know that when we replaced the tanks about 10 years ago at the CHP offices, the permits for underground tanks were difficult to get, even for a state agency. Had to remove the underground tanks and install above-ground tanks. The above-ground tanks we got installed have a built in water separating system.

 

[don-ohio]

The pumps are filtered to protect the pump. Water removes ethanol from the gas and the level of that mixture raises from the bottom of the tank,according to how much water is present. We used a yellow paste 6 inches up the dipping styick and if water was more than an inch and a half,we pumped it out. This was 30 yrs. ago. when I drove for Marathon and Sohio.

 

[shucker1]

Pumps should be calibrated yearly. Usually a sticker or seal on the front saying it's up to date.

Tanks should be leak checked yearly too to prevent ground contamination.

As far as water check or sediment check? That would be up to the owner. Doubt it was done.

 

[don-ohio]

Shucker, with Marathon gas, the drivers/deliverers and the owners MUST check for water or get shut down.

 

[Mbrooks420]

Really surprising they don’t have conductivity probes and automatic valves to remove water from the bottom of the tanks.

 

[don-ohio]

Yeah,with technology you'd think they would've solved this.

 

[Mbrooks420]

This was standard equipment in any place that uses alcohol in their processes 40 years ago. If the wastewater fails conductivity for being contaminated with alcohol valves change flow path to the incinerator/scrubber and switch back when they read as plain “water” for x.. seconds.

 

[BrooklynBay]

When I was questioning the attendant in the station, and told him that I had to put an additive into it to make it driveable, he took out a bottle of additive, and wanted to sell it to me. I didn't expect him to reimburse me for the additive that I had already put in a month before, but you would think that after hearing about the trouble I had he would have given it to me just to keep me as a customer since I was buying gas from him for almost 24 years with several vehicles. Everything is a business, and he gets more than enough business since he's one of the lowest priced stations near my house so losing one customer won't make a difference to him. So far the last fill up seems to be the same as it usually is from him.

 

[ptf18]

" I took a chance, and filled up by him".....

Seems like you went thru a real big head ache the first time. So you are willing to go thru this again....to save a few cents per gallon?

Hope it works out for you.

 

[BrooklynBay]

I questioned the guy before I filled up again. It seems to be fine so far.

 

[Turdle]

If you clean the tanks yesterday and have a flood today you probably need to clean the tanks again today. I do not think it is a "time" scheduale as much as it is a climate induced schedule. You guys have been getting record amounts of precip lately--yes?

 

[BrooklynBay]

We've gotten rain, snow, strong wind, and high humidity for a while.

 

[Mbrooks420]

I never understood why gas station tanks are so poorly engineered. Pavement level caps seem negligent.

 

[imp]

I never understood why gas station tanks are so poorly engineered. Pavement level caps seem negligent.

@Mbrooks420
Best story I've heard was from the Instructor when I took ARCO Dealer training. Advised locking tank fill caps. They had had a dealer losing gasoline regularly, convinced of tank leakage. Finally after keeping a long-term vigil, the caught the thief: guy had a van with a door cut out in the bottom, pulled up over the fill holes, sucked gas out into a big drum he had on board! imp

 

[don-ohio]

The tanks I filled years ago were pretty good. The lids,though, had a propensity for leaking because of years of dirt building up grit and never being cleaned or replaced. You just pulled up on the center bar and the lid would pop right off. A large gasket and a center pin gasket could both get grit in them. No way they'd keep out standing water over them.