TheSamba.com :: View topic - 87 won't stay running. Primary vehicle. Water in fuel?

Wed Jan 28, 2015 11:23 am

87 Westy with gw 2.4
History:
Driving to New Jersey Xmas eve and stopped for fuel. Van died as soon as we pulled out of station. Tow home, drained fuel, changed fuel filter (emptied with 80% water). Van started right up and ran great for the next few weeks.

Last week felt occasional hiccup so ran tank dry. Refilled. Stalled about .5 miles from station. Was able to limp home with high revs. Changed filter today (with 2 ft of snow on ground). Bench tested pump and ran in both directions to drain.

Van will start but not stay running. Seems too coincidental not to be fuel related.

My exhaust system is rusting away thanks to New England. Possible cat clog?
Plan was to replace with stainless next gw sale.

Was tuned in October by the fine folks at foreign auto supply with some other work and was great until that fill up in dec.

Any direction appreciated. This is my primary vehicle and snow-cation over tomorrow.

Thanks. Eric in RI

Wed Jan 28, 2015 11:28 am

Plugs and wires are 2 years old as well as all fuel lines and dist cap.
O2 unplugged due to rotting exhaust.
Replaced afm last summer and has electronic Tps

Wed Jan 28, 2015 11:41 am

Have you been driving in the rain/wet for a while? The gas tank expansion tanks (in the rear of the front wheel wells can get water on top of them and if they have a bad gasket can let water into the gas tank. Especially bad when going thru large puddles. Check the condition of the top of those tanks....

Wed Jan 28, 2015 11:51 am

Be very careful with the little plastic nipples hanging off the bottom. They should have rubber hose on them. My suggestion would be to slit the hose to remove it. Pulling the hose, might snap a nipple.

Wed Jan 28, 2015 12:10 pm

I think you can lower them for inspection without removing the hoses.... but I am not sure about that.....

Wed Jan 28, 2015 12:28 pm

Thanks. Will see if I can lower. The hoses have the non loosening clamps.

And the tank is new and resealed 1.5 yrs ago

Wed Jan 28, 2015 12:39 pm

you have a recent motor from GW - have you called them?

what was replaced when you put the GW motor in? is the Temp II sensor new?

"Van will start but not stay running." - does it die when it warms up?
- does it start ok when hot? or only when cold?

Wed Jan 28, 2015 12:50 pm

Crack in passenger overfill tank. Good call.
Will replace both. Any tips/tricks.

Only thing that still bugs me is that I ran the tank dry. Then filled up and the problem developed almost instantly with no precipitation.

Wed Jan 28, 2015 1:03 pm

Buy a kit for the fuel tank grommets and crossover pipe and install it while you are at it.

Wed Jan 28, 2015 2:49 pm

Any theories on why onset of symptoms were following a fill up?
Or why it won't run now after new filter and fresh gas?

I can't imagine a crack in the expansion tank would cause running issue.

Thanks all, sourcing a replacement tank as this one was brittle enough for my finger to bust a piece out through the crack

Wed Jan 28, 2015 3:26 pm

There is a reason why the word 'coincidence' exists.

Good to look hard at the fuel system, but you may also want to examine ignition for strong spark.

Wed Jan 28, 2015 4:12 pm

You may have water in a number of parts of the fuel system since the overflow tank was cracked. Gas stations almost never sell gasoline without water. Right after they get a tanker delivery is the worst time to gas up. Tanker fuel sloshes into the underground tank and mixes up the water (mostly condensation) that is always at the bottom of the underground tank (water being heavier than gasoline). Then you get a tankful of "special" gasoline.

Methyl hydrate is miscible with both water and gasoline. Adding it to your gas tank and is the solution for now. Add the prescribed amount and turn your ignition key to "on" a number of times to cycle the fuel pump and, hopefully, move the water-affected gasoline out of the fuel rails.

Fuel injectors do not like pure water and can corrode surprisingly quickly, thus sticking open or shut (more likely shut).

A quick solution to that scenario is to add Yamaha Ring Free to your gas tank. (Most Yamaha dealers stock it and all Yamaha outboard dealers sell it. Amazon too. As with the methyl hydrate (which you should add regardless), cycle the fuel pump a few times.

Wed Jan 28, 2015 6:49 pm

I had the same trouble. I believe the fuel pump sucking fuel also pulls water spray into the cracks. No need to replace the filter-just drain fuel from the tank into a clear receptical until no water is evident. Water sinks to the bottom of the gas tank and is therefore first to be pumped into the injectors.

Wed Jan 28, 2015 8:48 pm

Pump or drain some fuel into a glass jar and swirl it. The water will separate and settle to the bottom. Repeat as often as necessary.

Preflight 101

Aloha
tp