Does your fuel tank have water in it? Most do, but not from anything that happened at your local service station. For years it’s been a commonly held belief that water gets into fuel tanks at service stations. Although it’s possible it definitely isn’t typical. When someone does get water from a service station the quantities are usually large causing the car to quit in a block or two and not restart until the tank is drained. Nope, the real trouble develops very slowly and eventually leads to big repair bills and serious inconvenience.

Few people ever ponder what happens each time they fill their fuel tank. Off comes the fuel fill cap and in goes outside air. Outside air always contains moisture but it’s really bad on hot, humid summer days. Moisture from the outside air can condense inside the tank and accumulate over time. Add to this the moisture laden air entering the tank as it breathes and you could have a lot of water in your tank.

Nobody thinks about water in their fuel tank until something horrendous happens. Horrendous could come in the form of clogged fuel injectors, a failed fuel pump or even a frozen fuel line on a cold morning. These are all common problems and except for frozen fuel lines, seldom associated with water in the tank.

Never fear though, prevention is easy. Use fuel system drier (often called dry gas or gas line anti freeze) which prevents moisture accumulation. It’s available everywhere under a variety of brand names, but not all are created equal!

These products are made of alcohol, some from Methyl alcohol and some from Isopropyl. You want one derived from Isopropyl alcohol which unfortunately is much harder to find. It’s critical to shop till you find it as there’s a huge difference in the way the two alcohols deal with water and gasoline.

When you use a product produced from Methyl alcohol it soaks up any water in your tank. Sounds good you say, but guess again. In order to protect your fuel system the water and alcohol have to get out of the tank in a harmless manner. With Methyl alcohol this doesn’t always happen, it usually stays in the tank. Once the water and alcohol have combined the water won’t freeze but because it stays in the tank extensive long-term damage can occur.

You may experience early failure of parts such as fuel gauge senders and fuel pumps not to mention shortened tank life. The water and alcohol sitting in the bottom of your tank may cause tank de-plating and corrosion of in-tank components. As these parts corrode they often produce solid contaminants so small they could pass right through a car’s fuel filter. Once through the filter they can devastate other expensive fuel system parts, like injectors.

Use Isopropyl alcohol dry gas and the entire scenario changes. Isopropyl combines with water the same as Methyl alcohol but it does much more. It causes the water, alcohol and gasoline to blend together into one liquid. The small amounts of water and alcohol are harmlessly burned in the combustion chambers with the gas, eliminating fuel system damage.

By using Isopropyl based dry gas once every month, twelve months a year, the ravages caused by water in your tank will be avoided. For the frugal at heart, no, you can’t use Isopropyl rubbing alcohol, it’s already water saturated and won’t help your car a bit.

© Copyright 11/9/95 Pat Goss all rights reserved