Draining an E85 Fuel Tank

PaulN · Post by **PaulN** » Thu Jul 21, 2022 4:52 pm

Hi All,

Been a looooooooong time, would you believe still got the Z4, it’s fair to say probably in the same condition if better than when I got it 3 months old….

Anyway apart from a rare drive and MOT it’s not been used for a good while… I’ve got half a tank of now vintage shell nitro and want to drain the tank and refill with fresh before using…. Ideally the old petrol will be used on our petrol lawnmower….

My question is there an anti syphon filler pipe on the 2007 or should I be able to simply put a hose down and drain with a hand pump?

Thanks in advance for your help…

Paul

SonnyA85 · Post by **SonnyA85** » Thu Jul 21, 2022 4:55 pm

Just fill it with shell v power and you will be fine

Mr Tidy · Post by **Mr Tidy** » Thu Jul 21, 2022 6:47 pm

I'd be amazed if it didn't have an anti-syphon device somewhere!

Like SonnyA85 suggests I'd just brim it with some fresh E5 and drive it.

BumpyZ4 · Post by **BumpyZ4** » Thu Jul 21, 2022 8:32 pm

You can just stick a hose through the filler neck but you will only be able to drain part of the fuel because it is a "hump back" tank. So you will only be able to drain the nearside portion of the tank using that method.

PaulN · Post by **PaulN** » Fri Jul 22, 2022 9:10 am

Thank you guys, this is really great advice…. So how do these emergency tank drain company’s get around the hump tank?

I’m thinking about adding some injector cleaner refill the tank and actually use the car…..

Is there a life span with petrol you really must drain after, 2,3, 5 years?

PDJ · Post by **PDJ** » Fri Jul 22, 2022 9:22 am

Disconnect the fuel line in the engine bay rig up a pipe to a container and use the fuel pump that is in the tank

pvr · Post by **pvr** » Fri Jul 22, 2022 11:09 am

How old is the fuel? I still drive my Golf on 2019 fuel without issues.

PaulN · Post by **PaulN** » Fri Jul 22, 2022 11:27 am

Lol I darent say…. 5 years

SonnyA85 · Post by **SonnyA85** » Fri Jul 22, 2022 12:19 pm

PaulN wrote: ↑Fri Jul 22, 2022 9:10 am Thank you guys, this is really great advice…. So how do these emergency tank drain company’s get around the hump tank?

I’m thinking about adding some injector cleaner refill the tank and actually use the car…..

Is there a life span with petrol you really must drain after, 2,3, 5 years?

If you fill it with fresh and use it there should be no real issues.

Fuel does go off but I used 2-3 year old fuel in mine and it was fine. Had a full tank so I had to use half before I filled up with fresh. I then filled up after it got to halfway again.

I now need to try and use it all up and then put a full fresh tank in to really ensure it's all gone

patriot66 · Post by **patriot66** » Fri Jul 22, 2022 1:30 pm

Lots of variables when it comes to fuel lifespan but not as long as you may think

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PaulN · Post by **PaulN** » Fri Jul 22, 2022 4:07 pm

patriot66 wrote: ↑Fri Jul 22, 2022 1:30 pm Lots of variables when it comes to fuel lifespan but not as long as you may think Screenshot_20220722-132725_Office.jpgScreenshot_20220722-133149_Office.jpg

This is interesting stuff, I have mechanic mates who say run it it will be fine and I have mates that work in the design team at JLR who say it could damage the engine injectors particularly.

I’d sooner not spend a fortune getting it drained if I can get away with using the fuel…..

SonnyA85 · Post by **SonnyA85** » Fri Jul 22, 2022 10:33 pm

PaulN wrote: ↑Fri Jul 22, 2022 4:07 pm
patriot66 wrote: ↑Fri Jul 22, 2022 1:30 pm Lots of variables when it comes to fuel lifespan but not as long as you may think Screenshot_20220722-132725_Office.jpgScreenshot_20220722-133149_Office.jpg
This is interesting stuff, I have mechanic mates who say run it it will be fine and I have mates that work in the design team at JLR who say it could damage the engine injectors particularly.

I’d sooner not spend a fortune getting it drained if I can get away with using the fuel…..

it will be fine if you top it up. shell v power will clean up anything anyway. just fill up with v power.

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