water in fuel
 

spent some time today emptying water out of my friend's fuel tank :-( seems that water had been pooling in the recess under the filler sourrond to the extent that the rim of the tank hole was corroded enough that the rubber sealing washer thing on the lid wasn't sealing :-(

anyway, the engine would just about fire but giving it any gas above idle would just cause it to die

we emptied out the tank & got a fair bit of rusty water out of it, stuck it back on & put some fresh fuel in & it ran a bit better - it would run steadily up to ~2,500rpm but then die again if you gave it any gas above that (bike stationary in neutral)

anyone got any bright ideas?

many thanks

~andy

Winns Dry Fuel

Re: water in fuel
 

You need to drain the carbs too, there will be water in there. Might even need a strip and airline to banish it totally. You might want to consider an inline fuel filter??

Re: water in fuel
 

bah - I was waiting for someone to say that :-(

check that the metal pipe that works to drain water from the filler cap recess out the bottom of the petrol tank is clear and rust free, if it corrodes through you end up with fuel leaking out through it and it's new tank time :(

k, seems I have a very similar issue, one question though.

What do you guys do with contaminated fuel?

ain't got anywhere to burn it and don't want to pour it anywhere...

What you store it in, and does the tip take it?

I put the contaminated fuel in sombodies car, then have them top their tank up. Cars don't seem to be as fussy about the water/fuel ratio as bikes do.

thanks for all the suggestions :-)

my friend called me back, she's run some more fuel thru the engine, it seems to have cleared itself out & now runs properly. I'll get her to put in some of that Wynns Dry Fuel stuff to help dry the tank out. I'll have a look at the drain pipe also

we just have to get the electrics sorted on her bike now & then drop the suspension to stop her falling off any more

wrt damp fuel - you should be able to decant/siphon/etc the petrol off the top of any water, they will make obvious layers. the petrol should then be okay to use back in the bike

I am not familiar with Winn's but I was going to recommend an isopropyl based fuel drier, and stay away from the methanol based fuel driers

Use it to clean gunky bits when cleaning the bike