Kiff

So long story short, I got a jerry can that had mostly water and a little gas left in it. My truck was empty, not knowing that it wasn't straight gas in the jerry can, I poured about 2 gallons into the tank so I could get to the gas station and fill up.

Fired up the truck, got half way up the driveway and she died, tried to fire it up again, sputtered then died, wouldn't start after that. Found out about the S*$& mix, so I drained the tank, put about 8 gallons of straight gas in it, but it still wouldn't start. Towed it around the block trying to jump start it, still with no luck. So I'm wondering if I've damaged anything? do I have to purge my system some how?

4runnerx3

Maybe the fuel line between the pump and injectors is mostly water.

toyminator2000

Yeah. Bad Idea. Water Don't burn. Drain everything out of the tank. disconnect the fuel line at the fuel rail. Try to get a rubber hose to fit over the fuel line and run to a bucket. Turn the key to the on position but don't start it. you may need to repeat this 2-3 times. It should pump out any water in the lines. I would change your spark plugs too and while you have them out blow compressed air into the cylinders to dry out any water that got into them.

abecedarian

or put about 2 qts of rubbing alcohol in there.
then keep trying to start it.

stormin94

Take the plugs out and crank it over a few times? It works for wet engines....

BoostinChick

Also, if you don't feel comfortable turning the key on you can just keep priming the fuel pump by jumping two of the diagnostic terminals. If you do a search I am sure you can find which ones they are. I forgot off the top of my head.

You can also try a product called HEET in a yellow bottle. It's about $1 and works wonders.

Kiff

got it running again, undid a fuel line and purged out all the fuel until there were no traces of water, added a litre of methyle hydrate and she runs, but not too well. below 2000rpm she's sputtering, after that it's fine again and pulls like it did before. I replaced my plugs incase the water had fouled 1, but still getting the issue, not as bad as before. I'm wondering if maybe the fuel line is weeping, and I am not getting full fuel pressure? would that cause a sputter?

stormin94

Try a different gas station next time?

Kiff

it wasn't crappy gas from a gas station, it was old fuel left outside that got put in.

abecedarian

so... methyl hydrate... meaning methanol?
basically what I suggested- adding alcohol, but the more expensive kind. alcohol will combine with water and gasoline and will carry the water through the fuel system into the engine to be expelled in the exhaust. it will also combine with some of the chemicals that result when fuel sits too long.
It's going to run rough for a while, until all the water and other contaminants are gone. You won't notice the roughness at higher rpms since combustion cycles don't have much time to occur.
just repeat adding the alcohol to the tank for the next few tankfulls and it should go away.
once it does, change the fuel filter.

*edit- I suggest using isopropyl alcohol because: 1)it's cheaper than methanol; 2) doesn't corrode fuel system components as readily as ethyl and methyl alcohol do. And on the last tankful, add 1-2 ounce of acetone for every 7 gallons of fuel in addition to the alcohol. that should take care of whatever else is left in the tank.

M threezy

Related question, I removed my gas tank and put it back on. The fill tube from the body to the gas tank no longer reaches long enough to fully go over the tank and clamp on. I figured over the 20 years it shrank a little bit.

What's a quick fix to this?

scuba

Get another set of hands to helpp !!