water in fuel, now what?

[wrenchdaddy]

Got two full tanks of water tainted supreme at an exxon in coldspring about a month ago. Just happened to pop the caps when i got back to the lake and it looked like orange juice???? I've ran it a bunch since then and it only had intermittent problems, like stalling for a few seconds then clear up. I let it sit up for a few weeks and finally got around to draining the tanks and there was a bunch of water in it. I put stabil and some octane booster in it and filled it back up now she won't idle. every once in a while it'll crank and run perfect but it only lasts for 30 seconds then you have to constantly feather the throttle to keep it running. What could the water have messed up. Im gonna get a fuel preasure gauge to check the fuel pump tomorrow, what else should i do guys???

[Lucky7]

I had a friend who bought gas at a questionable station (they were exposed on TV for selling tainted fuel). He gave me a ring to see if I could help. He had the same problems as you. I took my electric fuel pump over and hooked it to the gas line before the carb. We pumped out 15 gallons of gas water mix until you could smell it was gas. then we put some dry gas in the tank, after shooting either down the carb it spat a few times then cleaned out, and started to run good enough to idle on it's own. he let it run for 10 minutes, then we went and got a tank of good gas. Problem solved.
Don't go to an off the beaten path, or bargin stations if you can avoid it. Go where they're pumping large volumes, and you'll get better gas.
One thing that comes to mind on Holley's is to shoot carb cleaner down the 4 air bleed holes in the choke tower area, if they're clogged she won't idle for sht. They might be plugged from popping due to the rotten fuel. Make sure you change the fuel filter for sure! You may have to buy new metering block/bowl gaskets, and get a couple of cans of Wally Mart carb cleaner to blow thru the passages. Clean the needle and seats too.
Good Luck! John.

[dm2bfree]

water can cause a a bunch of sediment to build up in your float bowls and clog the jets. it's happened to me a couple times with water in the gas issues.. i would take them out, clean the jets and the bowl, maybe also the fuel filter where the gas goes into the carb if it has one.. Mine would idle then die when i gave gas because it was starved of fuel. Backfiring is also a sign of fuel starvation.

[Keithb87]

:idea: Heat Gas Line Antifreeze may help to remove the water from the lines and tank as well. :idea:

[75 Eliminator]

You might need to take the carbs apart and rebuild them, I had same problem when I bought my boat it had sand and water in the tanks so I replaced filter, rebuilt carbs, and it ran like a champ after that.