Water sinks. Fuel floats. Dilution may not be your solution.

---

Advanced Aero TopTube Storage for Road, Gravel, & Tri...ZeroSlip & Direct-mount, made in the USA.
DarkSpeedWorks.com.....Reviews.....Insta.....Facebook
--

There should be a fuel line coming out the bottom - unhook and drain.

It goes somewhere between the tank and the engine - you should be able to find it right out of the tank or where it feeds into the engine.

Alternative is siphon the fuel out.

Chances are you will be ok but you would feel pretty stupid if it caused problems and all you had to do was drain it. Dilution doesn't work, the whole oil doesn't mix with water applies to gas too.

---

I'm beginning to think that we are much more fucked than I thought.

Yeah, I’m aware. There doesn’t seem to be a fuel dump valve (which would probably be a nice feature to have on ATVs) so if I’m running it as is my thought was it’s better to run five gallons of fuel with a thimble full of water than it would be a higher concentration. But that may not prevent problems, Not exactly my wheel house.

---

The devil made me do it the first time, second time I done it on my own - W

It must have one, just haven’t found it. Easily worth the effort to find it though.

---

The devil made me do it the first time, second time I done it on my own - W

I can tell you right where they are on our motorcycles and all the small engine stuff (mowers, rototiller, etc.) :)

---

I'm beginning to think that we are much more fucked than I thought.

Maybe some of this in the tank?


Mostly isopropanol which is miscible with water and flammable.

---

_________________________________________________
"The will to win means nothing without the will to prepare" - Juma Ikangaa

http://www.litespeed.com

Fuel pickup's in tanks are at the bottom, Gas floats on water. It would not take long before water coming in would get to bottom of tank. How long after rain did she drive it?

Everyone who is saying drain tank, I assume missed that she drove it. So now you are looking at the entire path, hoses, filters, the whole thing.

SO What if I do nothing.. Ice engines work by putting gas usually as some kind of spray or mist, into a cylinder, as cylinder is being compressed, when cylinder is nearly fully compressed, a spark is initiated, this causes the gas to burn, and the combustion gasses expand, pushing cylinder down.

Now if I spray water in there well it wont ignite for one thing so now power (maybe some gas gets in so reduced combustion). But even worse water is an incompressible liquid. Exhaust ports for fumes are at top of cylinder, water wont leave, as you run it the water builds in the cylinder, and eventually engine breaks.

Now more than likely (assuming she drove it 30 min or more after rains) and she did not experience any hesitation or rough running, (I think 1 mile of running was probably 5 min or so) water would have made it from bottom of tank into engine (guessing here, could probably do math and figure it out for sure, but I don't think you get 5 min from whats in filter and lines).

3 options I think.

Low risk, High work -- Drain the entire fuel system hoses, filters, engine, carburator?, tank.. dry out, rebuild, and fill. (zero chance of further damage)
Med risk, Low work -- Drain tank -- If she ran engine 5 min and after water had time to settle, its in the lines, this option is good for well I did something, but I think in reality, to late to really solve anything if water got in
High risk, no work -- Drive it like you stole it.

Just thought of another Med Risk, low work solution, go get some K100 Fuel Treatment and add to tank, it bonds with/breaks up water in a tank.

great lots word, what are you saying.

In my best guess, if it was long enough after rain, and the engine was on long enough, any water in there is in they system. I don't think you have enough water in there to cause a hydro lock and blow up the engine. (assuming she did not notice any rough running / loss of power) You probably got minmal to no water in the system. I see 2 options, depending on risk tollerance, finances and mechanic skills.

I would either tear it all apart and empty all the fuel from everywhere (or pay someone to) . Or get some K100 add it to tank and then run engine, under no load (Idle it) for a 30 min or so to flush the k100 into all parts of system and get what ever water is in there out.

given my assumptions and general attitude about things being overhyped and feared, I would add the K100 and let it run say 1/4 tank through at idle. Probably continue to use k100 treatment for a couple tanks (water-rid is another, there are many products that do this) (not sure how much of a bottle goes into a small ATV tank, so maybe only 1 bottle needed).

Now if you tell me she did notice engine not running well.. yup full tear down.

side note, they sell the water remover because in tanks that sit, condensation can build up and add small amounts of water to tanks over time, this reduces / eliminates that water.

Good Luck

EDIT -- sorry just reread saw its a canam not ATV.. so 1 mile happened faster, but bigger engine.. Don't think it changes anything I said. Well probably a mechanic trip instead of DYI, but other than that. all the same.

---

Just Triing
Triathlete since 9:56:39 AM EST Aug 20, 2006.
Be kind English is my 2nd language. My primary language is Dave it's a unique evolution of English.

OMG
this is not rocket science!
Toss in a can (bottle) of heet, fill tank and return to the LR to solve real problems.
Insert facepalm 🤦‍♂️ emoji here

---

I saw this on a white board in a window box at my daughters middle school...
List of what life owes you:
1. __________
2. __________
3. __________

Don't see what the problem is with this suggestion.

There may be a small quantity of water in the tank.

Water, if present, will settle to the bottom of the tank.

The vehicle has been driven for a bit - therefore, any water present would have been run into the fuel system.

The fact that the vehicle presumably ran o.k. indicates that if water is present, it is indeed a small quantity.

Add a drying agent to the tank to dry out and clean the entire system.

What am I missing?

---

_________________________________________________
"The will to win means nothing without the will to prepare" - Juma Ikangaa

http://www.litespeed.com

FOr everyone that lives in a northern climate and has to winterize a lawn mower and sumerrize a snowmobile, this!!! Put in the proper amount of Heet or other fuel treatment designed to take up water and then fill the fuel tank full. Run that bad boy and enjoy.

Not sure what model of CanAm you have but on an X3 the fuel pump is located in the tank and it's a high pressure pump.
Best path is to siphon out the remaining fuel in the tank, should not be difficult then put new fuel in along with a can of heat. Watch the amount of heat you put in it which should depend upon your tank size. My X3 I believe is 8 or 10 gallons, I would need to confirm in the manual.

For the X3 if you want to be sure you get it all out the tank is in the dash on the passenger side. Remove the dash panels and you will see the top of the fuel pump. Remove the ring which is about 8" diameter and you can take the fuel pump out. Mind the electrical connector as it can be delicate.

You can also get a siphon hose with a metal ball in it that you can use instead of sucking on the hose and possibly getting a mouth full of fuel.

Good luck.

This makes sense to me. All of the variables are accurately described. Going with the drying agent.

---

The devil made me do it the first time, second time I done it on my own - W

ETA: you own a UTV not an ATV. ATV is a rider active sit on top (4 wheeler). UTV is your SxS.


Sorry to hear you own a Can-Am... Just checked the owners manual for what we publish for "water in fuel" - "Drain the fuel system and refuel"

If you suspect there is still water in the fuel tank, you should drain that at a minimum. Should be able to use a suction pump to drain it through the fill neck.

I would run some iso heet through the fuel system and hope for the best, worst case, all the same stuff has to be replaced either way.

If it ran you shouldn't have to worry about water in the crank case, but an oil change might not be the worst idea either.

---

Pactimo brand ambassador, ask me about promo codes

That is the missing piece of the equation, on how to act. Sounds like your saying yeah it ran fine. Than count yourself lucky and some gas dry and move on.. Sorry for the mechanical lesson, but its how I roll, try to make people a little smarter on how things they use work.

---

Just Triing
Triathlete since 9:56:39 AM EST Aug 20, 2006.
Be kind English is my 2nd language. My primary language is Dave it's a unique evolution of English.

I would never add Heet to equipment that's going to sit for a while. Heet is intended to absorb water on a short-term basis. It is not a fuel stabilizer.

The best approach for a snowmachine is to use ethanol-free gas only. Park it in the spring with the tank only partially full. In the fall, fill it with ethanol-free gas and start it up. It's that simple.

For a lawnmower (or snowblower or other small engine) the best approach is to run it dry before storing. Otherwise follow the approach above.

If you're using gas with ethanol, it's a good idea to add a stabilizer like Stabil, especially if you live in a warmer climate.

No shit. sta-bil goes into the lawn mower in fall. If you forget it, heet goes into the tank in the spring. That is more an issue on big engines like a sports car you don’t drive in the winter.

My point was that folks who live in northern climates and do this every year know heet is a simple water in tank helper. On top of that we have other tools to do preventative maintenance before water enters the fuel system also. My dad liked to drop a teaspoon of oil right into the engine cylinders by taking out the spark plugs on our old snowmobiles when I was a kid.

DO NOT USE STABIL, use SeaFoam.

---

Pactimo brand ambassador, ask me about promo codes

I guess I misread what you were saying - thought you were suggesting storing equipment with Heet in the tank. My bad - I think we're on the same page.

A tsp of oil is a good idea. I don't always do that, but at a minimum, on any engine with a pull start, I pull it gently until I can feel it's at top dead center with the valves closed. It's best to do both of course.

Well at least for the CanAm you know it won't catch on fire like a RZR.