Strange fuel...

[wimpus]

Friend of mine has been busy getting his spitfire on the road after 22 years of standing.

He cleaned the tank with petrol until it came out nice.

Went to the mot and would not run good.

 

Once home.. 

This was in his fuel filter.. 

Changed it and some fuel poored on some wood under the car..  strange !

He then got some fuel into a bottle to take a look... 😬🤔🤔

 

What could this be ?

Dont think its not only some rust...

 

Water ?

[Firefly]

 

        Rusty water perhaps ??

[johny]

yes water has come from somewhere and must have been around for a while to pick up the rust  Best to drain system and change filter?

[wimpus]

Figured it out now it was water.

Will drain the tank and clean it again.

[Pete Lewis]

it could be from whatever was used to re fill the tank and thats anything from a  can or the station pump 

even the filler cap not sealing if theres been some hard rain about 

Pete

[dougbgt6]

And the incident I had with water in the fuel. I had to use E10. Unfortunately E10 absorbs water and when it can't absorb any more it separates. Left over winter I set off in the Spring and juddered to a halt, managed to restart and kangaroo'd home. 

Doug

[Patrick Taylor]

I had a problem with water in the petrol when I have a TR7 DHC in the 80's: the filler cap sat in a recessed well -I choose that word specifically- in the rear deck which didn't have a drain hole (thanks for that, BL designers...!); so the well filled with water when it rained, leaked past the seal on the filler  cap and sat in the bottom of the tank. Firm braking caused it to slosh about, get drawn into the carbs and give a massive amount of stuttering/misfiring -usually at junctions/roundabouts. I only finally diagnosed it when the thing cracked a couple of piston rings two days before our wedding day -and we were meant to be going to France on honeymoon in it. The petrol/water mix was drained off and new rings fitted, but only after we got back to the UK: we now have happy memories of taking a Mini Metro to France -not quite the same. I  had by then lost faith in the car and sold it shortly afterwards.

[wimpus]

Car hasnt been outside at all.

Never seen rain in 22 years and is like new.

my only bet is bad fuel station, dirty can or he didnt clean the tank that well...

 

This coming weekend will drain it and clean the tank good + fuel pump + carbs.

Will check the fresh fuel first myself before pooring it in.

I bet it will run a lot better ! 🙃

Tgen need tune the carbs better (now setup a bit lean to pass emissions.

 

Then fix a brake leak at the rear and she can go for a re-test at the inspection center.

 

 

 

 

[Wagger]

Shame that you do not have the 'Reserve' facility. I never run on reserve except when I connect a pump to the tank outlet on a yearly basis (After Winter stand up) to clear the crud and water from the bottom of the tank.

With a new tank, always use reserve, but never with an old tank unless you want to continuously clear filters or invite blockages.

Learned that on my 1600/6 in the 1970's. That had a very rusty tank.

[Unkel Kunkel]

The most likely identity of a  rusty-coloured   liquid with a density greater than petrol, in a tank that has stood  for twenty years, is going to be water.

- Water that has condensed in the air space  above a  partially filled fuel tank (whether the  vehicle was in doors or not).The tank is not sealed to the atmosphere, so this is a recurring cycle.Whenever  the temp falls below the dew-point, it forms - and  sinks to the bottom of the tank.

Perhaps that pre- run drainage / cleaning process underestimated the amount that can accumulate..

Ethanol- containing petrol an assist a bit, as the alcohol is miscible with water - at least up to the point of phase change (when it then becomes a problem again), it can be  be “consumed” in the combustion process.

The ideal for long term storage would be either -   total tank drainage  or maintaining a full tank.

An in- line filter would now be wise,  as inevitably there is  going to be at least some corrosion debris coming through-  at least for a while, from the tank.

 

[PeteH]

7 hours ago, Unkel Kunkel said:

as the alcohol is miscible with water -

The landlord been watering the beer again?.☹️.

The Advice I got from the manufacturer, when I had a problem starting a Generator, was NOT to store modern (E) fuel, but to use fresh fuel whenever possible. That advice appears to be viable as the issue is virtually non existant if I drain after use, or run the genny dry, and fill next time needed with recently purchased Fuel. I now do the same with the Chain Saw and Strimmer too.

Pete

[NonMember]

8 hours ago, Unkel Kunkel said:

liquid with a density less than petrol,

<pedant> I think you mean "more" or "higher" </pedant>

[Unkel Kunkel]

7 minutes ago, NonMember said:

<pedant> I think you mean "more" or "higher" </pedant>

Not pedantic at all , you are absolutely correct! -edited to “greater than”

[wimpus]

He got his tank empty.

Asked him to already do this, so i dont loose much time saturday.

He also lives a bit far for me.

The tank i dont find to bad really.

The pick up line.. thats blocked.

 

Will clean out the fuel line from front to back,  fuel filter on his new pump, float bowls etc.

 

But already planned to check and clean it all.

 

[wimpus]

Last bit of fuel after sitting 30 min 😅😅

 

 

[ahebron]

Rhynas BMW F650GS motorbike stood unridden for nearly 2 years.
When I tried to start it it wouldnt.
The fuel filler neck looked it had started to corrode so I removed it and found it was a brown fuel residue that took a day in the US cleaner to loosen it enough to remove the residue.
The fuel pump was covered inside and out with the same looking stuff and after I cleaned out the tank and fitted a new pumpit ran fine. In the past I fitted an extra fuel filter so that is ok. I put the gummed up pump in the US cleaner for a day and it cleaned itself up nicely, must test it one day

[JohnD]

Modern fuel does strange things!

My engine rig runs off a 5L fuel can, with a dip tube that I made out of a spare length of pipe.  The tube may have been copper micro-bore central heating pipe, or else a piece of old brake pipe, possibly Cunifer a copper/nickel/iron alloy.    Anyway, after a few weeks when I didn't run it, the rig would not start.     I found green flakes in the float chambers and traced them to the dip tube, which was covered in the stuff!

That colour means it has to be 'Verdigris',   the compound that covers weathered copper, as Copper oxide is black.     Verdigris used to be made by exposing cooper to an acid, but why there was acid in the fuel beats me.

I replaced the dip tube with one in steel, and no more problems.

John

[wimpus]

Today got the tank dry and vacuumed the rust out 

Not much in it really.

Got the pump open, full of crud.

Got the float bowles open.. full of crud to.

Cleaned every line etc.

Fresh new fuel in  and it ran very nice.

 

Had a look at the carb setting up etc.

Testdrive, runs very nice and with power ! 

But another few gremlins to sort out.

 

Thanks all for your input and help (as always !).

[ahebron]

Damnit I have Strange Fruit in my head again after seeing this thread title.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-DGY9HvChXk

[Chris A]

2 hours ago, ahebron said:

Damnit I have Strange Fruit in my head again after seeing this thread title.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-DGY9HvChXk

that makes 2

[wimpus]

Today the car been to a re-test... passed his inspection, so can hit the road after 22 years ! 🙃

 

Next is to make a list of little problems to fix over the wintertime.