94 4 cyl Ranger, need help reviving

[modelageek]

I dont want to reread the whole thread again but is that fuel tha tyou bought recently. if it is something is wrong. could you have so much crap in your tank that it is ruining any new fuel you put in it? was the trucking sitting for a long time.

 

[chalkoutline]

I dont want to reread the whole thread again but is that fuel tha tyou bought recently. if it is something is wrong. could you have so much crap in your tank that it is ruining any new fuel you put in it? was the trucking sitting for a long time.

The fuel was purchased recently before the truck quit running. It's been sitting for three or four weeks since I only get to work on it maybe one day a week.

Found my siphon, so I'll be emptying the tank. Hopefully once it's flushed, it'll be fine.

I'll let you guys know.

 

[chalkoutline]

Got as much "milk" out as I could via siphoning and through the fuel pressure gauge relief valve.

What's left, at worst, is a cloudy yellow. The "milk" isn't flammable. The cloudy yellow is.

I put about 5 gallons of fresh gas on top of the yellow cloud. Hopefully I can burn through that in the next few days.

No idea what the "milk" was, though. It wasn't water. Water isn't white and the milk wasn't as viscous as a liquid. It was somewhere between liquid and gelatinous. About the viscosity of thick oil.

Maybe it's just been gathering in the tank over the last few years. And then again maybe I need to get a locking gas cap.

I'll do a little looking around to see if I can find out what it is and post back if I find anything.

Thanks again.

 

[Hopman]

Anybody pour Jell-O in your tank? That might be the problem. Check to see if any of your friends played a dirty trick on you, too.

 

[modelageek]

I would consider dropping the tank

 

[chalkoutline]

Nah. Been doing a little looking around. "Milk" is not hard to find on the internet.

Apparently it can be had a couple of ways: Filling up during a gas delivery - the underground tanks getting stirred up. Water (or even their milk) that normally stays on the bottom is now temporarily mixed in with the gas. Gas pump filters will keep the sediment from getting into your tank, but any liquids will still pass.

Also, there is a portion of Ethanol that will bond with water (not unlike the alcohol products we use to keep water out of our tanks) and sometimes form this milk.

Basically, milk is water-related. I plan to start adding a bottle of Heet or similar with every tank, as I've already begun to just to ensure the water doesn't get to the point up milking up again.

I'll probably still get a locking gas cap just to cover my other base, though

 

[chalkoutline]

I would consider dropping the tank

If I can time the fuel level right and do it on a decent day, I plan to purge the tank at the tank-side of the fuel filter. After it's empty, maybe throw in a few gallons one at a time and re-purge just to make sure.

For now, I have a sometimes-rough-running second vehicle. It's no worse than the week before it died, so I can live with it until I can completely empty the tank. Hopefully that's going to be just a couple more days.

 

[hartwrenches]

bad fuel

You can usually find a 500ml bottle of isopropyl alcohol for about $2 at wal-mart next to the bandaids. Its cheaper than the additive and the same thing.