Kombi Water Tank - this is a good one!!!

Some questions for you, I'll let you draw your own conclusions from these questions, suffice to say, my girlfriend is VERY embarrassed!!

1) Is there a drain plug on the tank?
2) Is the tank lined with anything, or is it just metal?
3) What happens if you mix water with fuel and run it through your enginer?
4) Can you seperate water and petrol?
5) What product should I use to flush out the water tank and remove all traces of fuel!!

You've got to see the funny side, she's never filled a Kombi up with fuel before, and probably never will again!!!

Cheers guys, I appreciate your help and support during this troubling time!!

:P

Lol, bless her, sounds like the tank will never be free off petrol again, the fuel will be totally useless; whatever you do dont put it through the motor, it will stop, but it may bend conrods as the water will act like a hydrolic system,

Andy

lol. should be a drain plug. suggest u drain it and flush it for a while. and remember that its bad to pour petrol down ur storm water, especvially with mordern stormwater systems that incoperate bio-filtration etc.

Hmm, There should be a drain on the bottom of the tank. The bad news is the water tank will more than likely be stuffed. The petrol will effect the lining on the tank and the tank will taste like petrol for ever more.

You should be able to get a new tank from a caravan supply house or similar.

heres a few ideas, but i dont really have much of a clue of the situation or tank material.

1. if the tank has no lining, see if you can set it on fire (better off the van i spose!) and burn the residual fuel off.
2.alternativley, fuel has a low evaporation temperature, maybe try heating the tank!
3. spike your water with cordial
4. tell everyone thats petroleum tasting water is the newest fad on the market and you imported the taste additive from the states.
5. make the wife buy you another one hahaha.

hope the first two lines may of helped, good luck!!!

Ha Ha!! Actually I think the last suggestion is by far the best. Shame her income doesn't quite stretch to it though (how much does a tank cost?).

However, I have managed to syphon the tank empty, it's got a few patches and leaks anyway so needs replacing. The issue now is whether the fuel can be used. She put 24 litres of fuel in and we syphoned out about 30 litres in total, so around a fifth is water and four fifths fuel.

Useable? or seperable? or just kop the $20 lost fuel and be done with it?

Hey, at least it wasn't water in the fuel tank, then I wouldn't be laughing!!

Points to note:

- Fuel tastes nasty
- Fuel is purple (why is this, does it react to the water or is it coloured?)

Ho hum, anyone know where I can buy a new water tank on the Sunny Coast, QLD?

Cheers

[Edited on 23-6-2004 by Shrek]

Dump it on your Mother in Law for raising such a silly child!

Don't bother trying to save $20 in fuel. It's a cheap lesson. That is if she doesn't forget and do it the other way around in the future.

Definitely dispose of the petrol, it's useless with that much water in it and the effort to separate it wouldn't be worth it.

Petrol is coloured pink/purple with a dye for identification purposes.

Yep, that's pretty much the conclusion I've come to, $20 of fuel is much easier to swallow (metaphorically, although very nearly literally with the syphoning), than a massive repair on bent con rods or whatever.

I've told her that all of AussieVeedubbers knows of her stupidity, and that's punishment enough!!

So next question: Where does one dispose of 25 litres of unleaded petrol, legally and safely?

Shrek wrote:So next question: Where does one dispose of 25 litres of unleaded petrol, legally and safely?

Take it to a petrol station, they should have the facility to dispose of it. Or take it to the local tip they will have an area where you can place (not dump) old oil and toxic stuff like paint etc. Take it there.

ur local council will be able to deal with it. just give them a call and ask them. just tell them how much water is in how much fuel and where you can dispose of it.

maroochy waste management

ok ya scrooge, lets see if you can save $20!! :P

water isnt compressable, try compressing a water filled syringe with your finger over the end (minus needle of course). water in the cylinder results in bent rods(!bad!) but at 1/5th of the mixture you'd get away with not having to compress the water as its such a mini amount, where u would run into trouble though is that due to water being heavier then fuel the two seperate,and the fuel sits on top of the water. with morning start up then u'd be sucking straight water. bang. bent rods!!!!! (these two liguids would mix under normal driving conditions though and give you some pinging and loss of power)

thats how i see it anyway with my old physics and chemistry put to good use
2)

dont tempt it, whats $20 of petrol and a good laugh compared to a full rebuild and possibly having to replace alot of parts?

Cool, thanx for the link.

I agree with BiX.. dont try it.. just asking for problems later on down the track🙂

tell the missus she made a good effort.. and everyone makes mistakes.. better a cheap $20 lesson than perhaps her filling the fuel tank with water, and trying to drive away!! 🙂 im sure somone has done it :jesus

:P:P:P:P:P:P
what a laugh.....am in stitches now....not only all aussie veedubbers know about it but even her boss......:P:P:P:P
go girl.......

Ha ha!! She was so scared of you finding out coz she knows you will give her SO MUCH GRIEF over it!!!!!

She is SO embarrassed too!!



:P:P:P

Give her hell, Sleeper!

wait till you find out how much another water tank is🙁

I just bought a new Kombi Tank.... cost me $85 from the Camping shop... So call it a $105 lesson and you get a new tank out of it as well

To prevent such mishaps in the future place a sticker which says

"WATER ONLY"

over the inlet so your new tank doesn't suffer the same fate.

Good call Brad, thanks for that. Where is the Camping Shop? North Brissie?

Is it easy to fit? I'm assuming it just clamps between the underside of the bus and the straps bolted to the chassis?

Do the filler pipe and the tap pipe have seals that would need replacing?

Shrek wrote:Good call Brad, thanks for that. Where is the Camping Shop? North Brissie?

Is it easy to fit? I'm assuming it just clamps between the underside of the bus and the straps bolted to the chassis?

Do the filler pipe and the tap pipe have seals that would need replacing?

Ha Ha!! This I will do, without telling her, and we'll see how long it takes her to notice!!!

Great idea!! :thumb

Camp Mart at Lawnton , yep bolt on, they are Plastic and your seal question will depend on you van design

a bottle of metho will act as a catalyst allowing it to mix with the fuel and be burnt, as long as there isnt too much of it in there.

putting naked flames near any enclosed space that has petrol in it will most likely see you nominated for a Darwin award.

Secoh wrote:a bottle of metho will act as a catalyst allowing it to mix with the fuel and be burnt, as long as there isnt too much of it in there.

Do you mean that if I mix Methylated Spirits with the fuel/water mix that it will allow the water to combust with the fuel in the engine?

Hmmm, still think it's probably better just to dump the fuel. Any one else tried this method?

I'm not ready for a Darwin award yet, although with moves like todays, the girlfriend may be rushing towards one.

God, I dread to think!!

My brother put 35litres of diesel fuel into his camira about 8 years ago.
I put about 500ml of unleaded into my patrol about a year ago and it went alot better

Just reading back over everyone's comments. There is no way I'm going to even risk my beloved over $20 of fuel contaminated with water (beloved = Kombi, but you knew that, right?).

The fuel gets dumped, legally and safely of course.

And it's an excuse to put a new watter tank on it.

try setting fire to it!!! go on!!!

ACTUALLY, that is an idea.. set a match to the tap over the sink, it should work as a stove & eventually burn up the petrol,
let me know how it goes...............

Secoh wrote:a bottle of metho will act as a catalyst allowing it to mix with the fuel and be burnt, as long as there isn't too much of it in there.

I periodically do this to my cars to help remove any water from the tank caused by condensation, washing etc. I run 1 litre of metho through with a tank of petrol. I do this on a car that hasn't been used for a while as well.


[Edited on 24-6-2004 by MikeM]

Hmmmm, get the feeling I'm being lured for the earlier mentioned Darwin award.

Come on guys, you can do better than that 😉

I dont think petrol compresses either. If you sat the fuel in a drum overnight you could syphon off the majority from the top and be OK. It wont hydraulic lock unless the cylinder was largely full of water. It would do the same if it was completely full of fuel or oil. Its still being supplied through the same carb jet so probably wont happen. Any remaining water would make it run rough and you may just conk out. Main trouble is that water in the fuel sets at the bottom of your tank as the fitting in the bottom sits up so your tank rusts away. Late kombi tanks must be sealed well cos they rarely rust, unlike beetle/ghia tanks.

If you were in the desert and $20 short of salvation I would use it, but not worth the hassle.

Dodgy petrol suppliers deliberately put water in their tanks. The pickup is a fair way off the bottom of the tank so they dont suck up dirt and crud. So any fuel below that mark is wasted money. So they put water in, which (apart from probably rusting their tank and making more crud) is when it rains and some more water gets in, then all the VW shops get a long procession of unconsious VW's. There is one such petrol station out Caringbah way.

Don't know if anyone has asked....but how far did she/you drive before it ran out of petrol??????!!!

Hope you weren't in the desert..ran out of petrol...needing some water...:jesus:sandrine

Hmmm....I've never tried to fill a kombi with petrol....if I ever have too I'll read up in the manual first to see where the petrol goes .....you have me worried now...😉

She noticed immediately when the gauge didn't go up. And then had one of those light bulbs above her head moments. Got out to check and realised what she'd done.

Luckily she was only driving a k or so back home and there was still enough fuel in the tank to get back for a refill.

This time in the right hole!!!!

Well at least she checked the gauge....🙂

Hmmm...it's something we all do I guess...instictively....just to see if we could have squeezed a bit more into the tank or whether we'd topped it RIGHT UP!! 😀

Hey...I'm not the only one who thinks that way am I??? :jesus