Anyone have any suggestions for removing water from the fuel tank?

My son was the last to fuel up the 97 and I think the gas cap wasn't completely tightened, or maybe the cap doesn't seal properly, but very heavy rain combined with a clogged drain screen in fuel filler has caused the gas tank to take on water which I have confirmed by siphoning out some fuel and letting it settle. Of course the car is barely running and throwing all sorts of codes.

What is the best procedure to follow to remove the water from tank and system?

Thanks....

 

Unfortunately, the "best" is not the easiest. IMO, the best way would be to siphon all the fluid you can get by siphoning, then remove the tank, dump it out and dry it thoroughly, taking care to address any existing internal corrosion.

The easiest way is probably to disconnect the feed-line at the fuel rail, attach a hose and route it into a suitable container, then hot-wire the fuel pump to empty it out. I don't know what the unusable fuel amount may be, so you may have to actually pour some more good fuel in once the pump quits producing, and keep at it til you get pure fuel out with no water. As to hot-wiring the pump, search some of the No-start or fuel pump threads. It may be as easy as putting a jumper in place of the fuel pump relay, but maybe not....depending how the ecm controls it.

Depending on how many miles and whether you have renewed the pump in former times, the easiest method may ultimately result in an opportunity to perform the best method.

 

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There isn't a drain plug on the tank, so as mentioned up thread, using the pump to remove as much as possible is probably the best. Also add methanol to the tank, that's used in colder climates as gas line antifreeze because it absorbs the water.

Once the pump stops I think there is still 4-5 litres left in the tank, so you won't get it all. I have removed the tank in my car previously and I can get all the fuel out by removing the pump and tipping the tank up to drain it.

 

Water sinks in petrol, so it shouldn't be necessary to pump the whole tank through. You could disconnect the pipe ahead of the fuel filter, and allow the fuel to drain off. I can't imagine you could have ingested litres of water from rainfall, so a few litres should do it. She should run thereafter, perhaps a little rough until all of the water is burned off.

 

I agree with the "hot wire the pump" method as a first try. As mentioned above, I can't imagine that much water got in. So adding a fuel water absorbent treatment and then pumping out a few times should get the worst out. Then just burn out the rest over time.

And even if there is a tiny bit left over time, at least it will clean your intake valves and combustion chamber like water injection

.

 

Doesn't the XJ6 have the fuel sender installed in the backside of the tank? After pumping the fuel out that could be removed to allow siphoning the remainder, then flush a couple of times with some alcohol. Either ethanol or methanol will do.

 

I think if you get it below 1/4 tank you can pull the fuel sender without any spillage.