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Any suggestions on how to remove water from gas tank? We have a 2005 Lexus that when the tank gets below 1/4 tank, it hesitates. How do we know if there is water in the gas tank? How do we fix it? Thanks in advance!
You sure it is water in the gas tank?
You can go to Advanced Auto, Pep Boys or some auto parts dealer and buy some dry gas and follow the directions.
If it isn't water in the tank you may need a fuel filter.
If water is in there, then misfires will occur. This will flash the check engine light while the hesitation is happening. Is this what's going on?
Here's what I would do. Run the fuel as low as you can. The dealer can then run the pump with their scanner and pump out the remaining contaminated fuel, take samples, and add fresh gas. Should be about an hour shop charge.
this8384, could be true. It depends on the amount of h20 in the tank. The poster says the problem starts at the 1/4 mark on the fuel gauge.
I've seen many vehicles in my time fuel up at some of the crappiest gas stations and get massive amounts of h2o in there. And IF the gas station has close to empty tanks, guess where THEIR water is.
Should have said 'could' instead of 'will'. My bad there, but take a minute to read my bio sometime. In the past twenty something years with Toyota, yeah I've seen a misfire or 2.
kitch is correct here. Water can and will cause a misfire, particularly at the volumes the OP is stating.
I've once stopped for gas and then couldn't get out of the station. That much water won't respond to the bottle-in-the-tank remedy. You will likely need to have the tank pumped and possibly flushed, depending on how much water is in there and for how long.
Come to think of it....they're claiming it only hesitates when the fuel drops below 1/4 of a tank. If there's water in the fuel, it would most likely be running bad all the time, no? We're all dead-set on this "water in the fuel" idea, but they haven't really defined how it's "hesitating." Could be a number of things, now that I really sit back and think about it....
Anywho: kitch, I apologize for my "disagree"; I wasn't trying to imply that you're not qualified in any way, shape or form. It was kind of a knee-jerk reaction because I hate it when I hear about people dumping more money into their car than they need to. I didn't feel that all of that was necessary as the problem wasn't consistent; it just seemed like they'd be paying a whole bunch of money for something that wasn't a necessity at this point in time.
The original poster needs to come back and stop being so shy. Here we go again with the help us to help you speach.
I asked the OP in my first post, "is this what's going on"? I'm used to the shyness around here, but not the disagrees.
That being said, the vehicle in question is a Lexus. These people are used to their cars running 100% all the time. They truly are great cars and I enjoy working on them and helping with any problems.
Arivera's 2005 Lexus has water in the fuel tank. I'll be willing to bet it's a minimal amount and the gauge has to be just above empty to show up any hesitation.
When a Toyota/Lexus client says their car hesitates, 9 out of 10 times they mean it's misfiring, or the throttle by wire lag time. lol
This is for you, Arivera112 or anyone else with similar issue. just a little FYI:
When a misfire occurs in the engine, hydrocarbons (HC) enter the exhaust in high concentrations. If this HC concentration is high enough, there could be an increase in exhaust emissions levels. High concentrations of HC can also cause to temperature of the catalyst to increase, possibly damaging the catalyst. To prevent
this increase in emissions and limit the possibility of thermal damage, the ECM monitors the misfire rate.
When the temperature of the catalyst reaches a point of thermal degradation, the ECM will blink the MIL.
For monitoring misfire, the ECM uses both the camshaft position sensor and the crankshaft position sensor.
The camshaft position sensor is used to identify misfiring cylinders and the crankshaft position sensor is used to measure variations in the crankshaft rotation speed. The misfire counter increments when crankshaft rotation speed variations exceed threshold values.
If the misfiring rate exceeds the threshold value and could cause emissions deterioration, the ECM illuminates the mil.
If the misfire cannot be reproduced, the following reasons may apply: 1) the vehicle has low fuel, 2) improper fuel is being used, and 3) the ignition plug is contaminated
you can pour alcohol in the gas tank and it will cause the water to dissipate. but that may not be your issue. your car would sputter alot and not just on 1/4. i'm just a girl ya know but it sounds like the fuel pump.
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