Hi folks, I have a 98 4Runner 2.7 that seems to go through bouts of water in the gas. I live in the south end of the Pacific rain forest so it is quite wet at home. I travel alot though. I got a tank of bad gas in Nevada a couple of months ago and gradually got rid of it by adding 91 percent isopropyl alcohol to the tank for a few fill ups. The symptoms are a brief sharp buck that may be stronger or weaker and mostly occurs for the first few miles of driving but it could show up anytime. We are in central AZ right now. We got the bucking again but the temps here are 20-30 at night. Most of the bucking went away when we started garaging the truck but we still get it a little.
Should I change the fuel filter? More alcohol? Take out the tank and dry it once and for all?
This has happened on my vehicles before. I use Chevron alternating with generic gas. Any ideas? TIA, Edy

If you suspect that you still have water in your fuel system, I'd try running some fuel drier (HEET, for example) thru the next few fillups to see if that helps.

I'd also recommend changing the fuel filter, but if you change it before you get the system dried out, you'll need to change it again, since most filter media will hold water like a sponge.

I'm a bit puzzled by the temperature component of this. Although one would expect a bit of water in the gas to have a bigger effect on driveability when the engine is cold than when fully warmed up, I'm not sure there should be much difference on a warm engine whether you parked overnight in the cold or not.

Good luck! <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/patriot.gif" alt="" />

"I'm not sure there should be much difference on a warm engine whether you parked overnight in the cold or not."

I figure the water froze it was so cold.

I've used HEET in the past but it's basically isopropyl.

How hard is it to drop the gas tank on the 3rd gen?

It's a pita. I've got the instructions for the fuel guage inaccuracy TSB, which provides for dropping the tank to change the sending unit (no access panel like on the old Runners). You might want to crawl under there and look for a drain plug, actually.

Yeah, it's definitely a PITA. I've managed to do it twice - once to replace the tank with a new uncrushed one along with all new fuel guage/sensor TSB parts, and the 2nd time to add a better pump for higher pressure and flow rate for the supercharger with larger fuel injectors etc. The hardest part is unattaching and reattaching the fuel lines above the tank while you're almost underneath the tank. Make sure the tank is almost empty if you decide to drop it. There's no drain plug - you have to use a hand pump to another container or what I've done is just wait until you've almost run out of gas.

I remember I had some problem with one or two of the screws at the front of the tank (which also hold up the skidplate) so I ended up drilling out the nut that's welded on top and using a better nut and bolt to confidently hold everything.

Well that sounds like no fun. Actually the weather just turned dramatically warmer here in AZ now. The bucking is pretty much gone. I get the urge to prop open the filler neck with the truck in the sun. Think that might help?
Like I said, I've had this before on my trucks. Common denominator seems to be very high mileage and my home climate is super prone to condensation. Makes me think that eventually there is some sort of contamination in the tank that helps attract water somehow.
Anybody else want to guess?

>>>*I had that happen to my old truck, she sat neglected for about a year with just 1/4 tank of fuel. I simply forgot it or I would have filled the tank.

Naturally when I needed the truck, it was cold and ice out, no way was I going anywhere in a car.

The truck kept stalling, it never does that. Finally I realized there was ice in the lines.

I pushed the truck into my garage, turned on the heat. Once warmed up, I unhooked the fuel line and stuck the end in a clear glass bottle. I just used the pump to clean out the water, end of problem. No need to remove the tank.

Since I got almost a quart of water out of the tank, I would have been pouring drygas in there for weeks otherwise....*EB