Water and gas combination in a car engine is not something you want to experience, especially on a winter morning. I have worked on many lawn mowers during the rainy season because of water contaminating mowers’ gas tanks.
What happens if water gets in your lawn mower gas tank? Continue reading and learn about the 9 easy steps you will take to remove water from your lawnmower gas tank.
How to Remove Water From Lawn Mower Gas Tank
· Step 1: These are the ways you will find out if there is water in your lawnmower’s gas tank.
First, find out if there is water contamination in its gas tank. Anytime you see your lawnmower exhibiting these characteristics after it was exposed to rain or a soggy environment, know that water may have entered its gas tank.
Hard Starting
Water is heavier than gas, which is why it sinks to the bottom of the gas tank. When you start the lawnmower engine, the water will be the first to get into the carburetor before the gas. This will result in a problem.
Poor Performance
The engine will have no problem starting when the amount of water mixed with fuel is small. However, the performance of the engine will be hampered. When you press the throttle, it will not accelerate the way it should.
Continuously starting and sputtering
If you have a small amount of water in your lawnmower’s gas tank, the engine will start without problems, but after some time, the engine will start to sputter or go off completely. Sometimes it may start again, but it will stop after some time.
Fuel System Damage
As soon as you notice any problem in your engine performance that may be associated with water in your gas tank, run a check through your engine. If you delay, it may significantly damage your lawnmower engine.
The lawnmower will be protected from damages that may come in the future, like corrosion or rust.
Smoke coming from the engine
You may notice that the lawnmower engine suddenly started to emit an unusual amount of smoke. This can be a result of poor combustion in the piston chamber.
· Step 2: Remove the spark plug
For the reason of safety, you have to get the spark plug removed.
· Step 3: Siphon the diluted gas
Next, drain the diluted gas out of the lawnmower gas tank. Use the drain tube of a hand pump to get this done.
Put the tube into the container where you want to get the diluted gas collected. Pump the hand pump to get all the gas out of the tank.
· Step 4: Dry the tank
Some drops of water may still hang on the inside walls of the tank, notwithstanding that you have drained all the gas.
For this reason, take time to dry the tank with a dry piece of cloth. You can alternatively use compressed gas or a WD-40.
· Step 5: Drain the oil
The next thing you should do is drain the oil. Carry the front of the lawnmower up to a block, and put a container under the engine drain plug to collect the oil.
You can see the drain plug outside of the mower engine. Use a spanner to unscrew the oil plug. Wait until all the oil in the engine has drained out into the container.
If the engine has no drain plug, remove the carburetor and pour the oil from the oil fill hole.
· Step 6: Empty the carburetor bowl
Get the carburetor bowl emptied. The carburetor bowl is a metal cylinder you will normally see on the side of the lawnmower.
Use a clean rag and a carburetor cleaner to thoroughly clean everywhere around the bowl.
Spread a rag under the bowl to soak the oil that will spill from the cleaning. You have to keep at least a set of bolt present. If there is a second offset of bolt you see, it must be the drain plug.
If you do not see any drain plug, unscrew the bolt, and get the oil poured through the carburetor.
· Step 7: Dispose of all the diluted oil
Now that you have collected the diluted gas and the oil, take them to a local hazardous waste recycling facility to dispose of.
· Step 8: Refill the tank
Get the fuel line reconnected, and fill again the gas tank with fresh gasoline and the engine with fresh engine oil.
Additive to remove water from lawn mower gas tank
Fuel additives will be of great use for you if you are residing in an area that has moisture as a problem. One of these fuel additives I am talking about is HEET. Its function is the removed water from your gas tank.
Using HEET to remove water from your gas tank may seem costly, but it is the best way you can avoid your lawnmower engines being damaged by water. So the money you spend on HEET is worth it.
Note: Ensure you have more gas than water in your gas tank. If not, the fuel additive will not be effective. Read through the fuel additive user manual for more information.
If you want a fuel additive that effectively removes that water in your lawnmower gas tank, go for HEET?
The product is an industry standard. ISO-HEET is a gas anti-freeze that can remove water as much as five times more than other gas additives from your gas tank. The product is easy to use, and you can use it in 2-cycle, gas, or diesel engines.
FAQs
What happens if water gets in your lawn mower gas tank?
Water can easily get into your gas tank during spring. If the gas in your lawnmower’s tank gets contaminated with water, it may result in poor performance of the engine.
The other damages this will cause the machine over time are corrosion in the tank, carburetor, and fuel lines.
How do I get water out of my lawn mower gas tank?
Step 1: Find out if there is water in the lawnmower gas tank.
Step 2: Remove the spark plug.
Step 3: Drain the tank of the diluted gas.
Step 4: Dry the tank with every drop of water.
Step 5: Drain the engine of oil.
Step 6: Open the carburetor bowl.
Step 7: Get all the diluted oil and gas disposed of.
Step 8: Get the tank and the engine refilled with new gas and oil
What will happen if water gets in your gas tank?
When water mixes with gasoline, it brings up problems in the cylinder. The engine injectors risk getting damaged when the water expands to the injector tip because of the inherent heat of the injector.
If water stays in the fuel system long enough, it can result in rust in the fuel system.