Water in gas lawn mower could not only waste your precious gardening and lawn mowing time, but most of all, it can also damage your ever-reliable lawn mower.
You can prevent this from happening by knowing how water collects in a lawn mower and the ways to fix it – usually by accident. Read on and find out which scenario is applicable to your gas lawn mowers.
Contents
Why Is There Water in Your Gas Lawn Mower?
There is water in your gas lawn mower because of three main reasons: carelessness, accidents, and fuel usage. Water has a tendency to accumulate in your mower.
Despite your good intentions and caution in taking care of your machine, this doesn’t keep you safe from having to encounter this problem.
– Carelessness
Yes, letting your mower sit outside your garden for too long will expose it to moisture and condensation. This happens when the gas tank is left under hot day and cold night conditions. Moisture and condensation will eventually collect in your tank, settling at the bottom and waiting to be sucked in by your lawn mower machine.
Not checking your gas caddy tank could also lead to water getting into your lawn mower. Checking every part of your lawn mower and its nearby materials is imperative, more so when the lawn mower engine has been left out for too many days.
Also, you have to check if your gas container tank has an ill-fitting or loosely fitted cap or perhaps there are small cracks or small openings where water could enter unnoticed.
Forgetting to winterize your lawn mower will also result in some water condensation gathering at the bottom of your gas tank. Leaving your gas tank full for the whole of winter may give you more trouble than ease, especially when you want to start using your machine once again.
If this has happened to you, you should ensure you take
better care of your gas lawn mower the next time winter comes.
– Fuel Usage
Before buying your mower, first, be familiar with its fuel usage. Although there are alternatives being used today, most lawn mower owners still use gas that has large amounts of ethanol to fuel their lawn mower machines. At 10 percent to 15 percent, ethanol is a water magnet.
It draws in dew, moisture, and condensation from the surrounding air, which will eventually contaminate the gas and lead to the unsuccessful operation of the mowing machine.
– Accidents
Accidents do happen, and your gas mower is no exception. It may be one of the reasons why water goes into your gas lawn mower. Numerous people have been using forum sites like Quora to ask for advice on how to get the water out of their lawn mower tanks, in which they admittedly poured water instead of fuel.
Now, even if you’re not yet an expert, here’s how to tell if there is water in gas lawn mowers. Seasoned gardeners may easily detect if there is water in their lawn mower tanks. However, that may not be the case for newbies in gardening and lawn mowing.
- Before turning on your lawn mower, look at it closely. Peek through its tank, and observe if there are any spots of moisture, globules, or bubbles at the bottom of the tank that could possibly be water. This is especially applicable when your tank has not been used for weeks or months already.
- As you crank up your engine, listen for any stutters and stumbles while your machine is switched on. You may not hear it at first, but these symptoms of bad gas in a lawn mower would eventually emerge as you continue using it. If any of these disturbances are present, then by this time, water must have reached the engine part already.
If left undetected while the mower is used continuously, the water in the gas lawn mower would lead to corrosion of metals and damage the machine.
In other cases, despite the presence of water in the gas lawn mower, the mower engine can start running as if there’s no problem at all. However, if you would observe and look closely, you would notice other signs that would point out the deficiency in the mower engine. These are the symptoms that water is running in the engine.
Splutter and stutter
When you hear that the engine is coughing when you start running it, water in your lawn mower gas tank could be the problem. In some cases, the sputtering and stuttering of the engine may not happen at the onset but rather in the middle of your mowing.
These troubles would eventually hinder you from continuing the work that needs to be done, and they indicate that water (or perhaps other elements) is present in the engine.
Smoke
Another one of the water in mower gas tank symptoms you could observe is the belching bout of unusual smoke. Smoke coming out of your mower is somewhat thicker compared to that of a lawn mower gas tank where water is not present.
This happens because the fuel does not combust well in the piston of the engine because of the presence of another element, which is water.
Engine won’t start
In severe situations, if the lawn mower won’t start, water in the gas tank might have flooded the engine already. It would be difficult to mend the situation because the spark plug and air filter might have been damaged, too.
Aside from damage done on your gardening and mowing deadlines, water in the mower can also bring damage to several parts of the gas lawn mower. Once your gas fuel tank has water in it, no matter how little, the water starts getting into the engine. Expect that your gas lawn mower will be damaged in no time.
Whatever the reasons why water has gotten into your lawn mower tank, you just need to remedy it to avoid further trouble in the engine and for you as well. So, you don’t have to worry too much, try the following to solve your gas lawn mower predicaments. These three easy steps tell you.
How Do You Get Water Out of a Lawn Mower Gas Tank?
To get the water out of a lawn mower gas tank you have to do a few things: First you have to drain the tank completely, second, you have to check out the carburetor, thirdly, you can try putting in additives.
– Drain the Tank
Removing all the contaminated fuel in your gas tank is the best way to drain the tank. Pour the gas or fuel out on a designated container, and keep it for other non-engine purposes. After draining, clean the gas tank, and dry it.
Draining your gas tank is applicable when there is a lot of contamination. Be careful to include the fuel that has been stored in a pocket-like basin right next to the main tank.
– Check Out the Carburetor
As you are now convinced that water did get into the inner parts of the engine, it is best to check your mower’s carburetor next. First, detach the spark plug. Then, track the water trail along the carburetor and other fuel lines. Dry it with a piece of cloth by wiping all over the surface. There are cleaners for carburetors you could find commercially to make this task easier.
After cleaning and drying are done, add engine oil as a protective coating. Then, you can fill your gas tank up with fresh fuel and then proceed with your tasks for the day.
– Try Additives
When the water present is only a tiny amount, other people no longer drain the tanks or do other tedious tasks. Rather, they add an additive to remove water from gas tanks contaminated with water.
Commonly used and commercially available additives go by the name of ISO-Heet, BG Ethanol. There are also lawn mower owners who confirm that the isopropyl alcohol available at home can be used as an additive. In the past, the most popular additive was dry gas. Dry gas for lawn mowers works like any other additive, with a small amount added to the fuel.
Additive products are added to your gas fuel, such that the moisture is absorbed and suspended until the fuel (with a little water) could be combusted by the engine already. Additives help a great deal for a small engine machine that must have undergone freezing and or has water or moisture in it, which is a problem mostly encountered by people.
Frequently Asked Questions
– How Do You Avoid Getting Water Into the Gas Lawn Mower?
You can avoid getting water into the gas lawn mower by being careful. Accidentally pouring water into it can be avoided. Also, provide proper care when storing your gas lawn mower for a long time. If using the mower for the first time, check that no water has accumulated.
– Is the Water in the Gas Fuel Tank Harmful to the Lawn Mower Engine?
Yes, the water in the gas fuel tank is harmful to the lawn mower engine. The water can corrode the tank and damage all other parts of the engine where it has passed through. This can cause the metal parts of your mower’s engine to rust and eventually degrade over time.
– What Is the Milky Liquid In the Lawn Mower?
The milky gas in lawn mowers indicates that the fuel and gas is contaminated with water. This happens when water reacts with petroleum products, such as gasoline. The ensuing chemical reaction between these two elements will result in an emulsified liquid.
Conclusion
One of the common problems encountered by gas lawn mower owners is the presence of water in their gas tank. Unknowingly, the water gets into the engine and causes heavy damage to the lawn mower. One must take note of the following to have a smooth operation of the gas lawn mower:
- Water gets into your gas lawn mower either by accident, carelessness, or choice of fuel used. Whichever is the case, you must act immediately to save your engine and your time.
- If there is a large amount of water in the engine, it is best to drain it and supply fresh fuel.
- Additives could be added when there is only a small amount of water that got into your engine.
- Proper care is necessary to avoid troubles and damage to the gas lawn mower.
Yes, water inside a gas tank can be a problem, but given the right information here, solving this dilemma would not be impossible for you.
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