A Rust question

[Peter Coomaraswamy]

Hi Folks,

I recently (about a year ago) purchased a Japanese KEI car. It's a Suzuki 4WD Axle Lock. I noticed that the gas was awful smelling and upon removal of the tank fount it was totally rusted. Here is my question; would putting a full tank of 93, with ethanol (High test US gas) into a car that was imported from Japan and always used non-ethanol gas, and letting it sit for a few months possibly cause a complete rust out of the tank in a short period. This is the gas I drained it (pic)

 

[Dick Steinkamp]

Water will get into any fuel tank...primarily through condensation. It is worse in non sealed fuel systems. If there is pure gasoline in the tank, any water goes immediately to the bottom (gasoline lighter than water). In a tank with ethanol (E10), the ethanol will absorb any water that gets in the tank and keep it in suspension...to a point. Products like HEET that you use when you suspect water is in the tank are methanol and absorb water like ethanol does and keeps it in suspension so that it can be burned in combustion.

Awful smelling gasoline means it has been there for a long, long time. If it was pure gasoline, the water has been at the bottom a long time working the tank. E10 in the tank may have delayed the water going to the bottom some, but with fuel that old, the ethanol was long ago saturated to the point the water has dropped out.

I'm no fan of E10. Lower fuel mileage, somewhat of a "pork barrel" politically, but it is far better than the MTBE it replaced as an oxygenator, and I don't think it causes every problem anecdotally ascribed to it.

If you keep your tank full, condensation has less of a chance of forming. Always fill the tank if you are putting the car up for the winter.

 

[Peter Coomaraswamy]

Thanks Dick, we bought this thing for one of the ranches about a year ago and I have a land rover on the same property that works fine (for a land rover), this was just really strange in how quick it jacked with the tank. I will clean, etch and seal and see what I come up with. Thanks for your input again!

 

[CSteve]

Thanks Dick, we bought this thing for one of the ranches about a year ago and I have a land rover on the same property that works fine (for a land rover), this was just really strange in how quick it jacked with the tank. I will clean, etch and seal and see what I come up with. Thanks for your input again!

My, my Peter, I detect a bit of sarcasm: "works fine(for a Land Rover). How true, how true.

 

[JayWltrs]

Had similar thing with a motorcycle a few of years ago—only 3 mos. idle w Stabil, no ethanol gas, and I had to have it pulled and cleaned. I also didn’t have much gas in it. So maybe it is like the backwash at the bottom of the Dr. Pepper bottle.