how do you pump old gasoline out of 98 corolla?

[runnyeggsham]

My car has been sitting there for 2 years. I want to take out the old gas. Bought 2 pumps to do it but I cannot siphon the gas out for some reason. Is there something down the tube that is preventing the gas from being siphoned? How can I remove it? Friend told me to remove it from the fuel line but I am not sure where it is in the engine bay. Is there still a way to siphon it out still?

[BigTDogg (MA)]

Originally Posted by runnyeggsham

My car has been sitting there for 2 years. I want to take out the old gas. Bought 2 pumps to do it but I cannot siphon the gas out for some reason. Is there something down the tube that is preventing the gas from being siphoned? How can I remove it? Friend told me to remove it from the fuel line but I am not sure where it is in the engine bay. Is there still a way to siphon it out still?

Trace the line back from the fuel rail. Pull the fuel pump relay and crank it a few times to relieve the pressure, if you're doing that method.

There may be a drain plug, similar to the oil drain plug, on the bottom of the gas tank. I'd look for that under the car first.

IMHO, the old gas shouldn't be a concern unless it was crap gas to begin with. My Z sat for close to two years and I just started it up. Ran fine and I just didn't boost till I emptied the tank. I then filled it up and got sideways

[AlaricD]

If you drain out the existing gas, what would you do with it? Run a lawnmower or snow blower?

How much gas are we talking about? If it's five or fewer gallons, pour in half a bottle of SeaFoam, or give it a good dose of Sta-bil, drive it until the fuel light comes on, then add about 5 gallons of new gas and drive it until the light comes on again (preferably all in the same day).

Fill it up, do a throttle body cleaning, and change the spark plugs.

[runnyeggsham]

I have a bottle of Sea Foam. I was going to put that in after I took out the old gas. It has a little under half a tank. The gas smells like varnish when I open the gas cap, so I am assuming that it's gone bad. Not sure if there are drain plugs underneath the tank.

The old gas goes to a repair shop that will pay someone to take it away. They will mix it with their waste gasoline.

I've looked at some Youtube videos. It might be that my plastic hose is not rigid enough to reach the bottom. They were using rubber hoses. A drill pump seemed the better way to go than my hand pump too.

[AlaricD]

Originally Posted by runnyeggsham

I have a bottle of Sea Foam. I was going to put that in after I took out the old gas. It has a little under half a tank. The gas smells like varnish when I open the gas cap, so I am assuming that it's gone bad. Not sure if there are drain plugs underneath the tank.

I suppose if it smells that bad, it's going to be pretty gummy.

The old gas goes to a repair shop that will pay someone to take it away. They will mix it with their waste gasoline.

The trees and our water table appreciate this.

I've looked at some Youtube videos. It might be that my plastic hose is not rigid enough to reach the bottom. They were using rubber hoses. A drill pump seemed the better way to go than my hand pump too.

That may well be true. I'd probably use rubber hose for most of it, then use clear tubing at the near end, and just try to start siphoning by mouth. (I've had to siphon liquids before and have long learned how not to get a mouthful!)

I'd be careful with a drill pump to be sure it's approved for pumping volatile/flammable liquids.

[runnyeggsham]

Thanks all. If anyone wants to know how to do it. The pump from Autozone didnt work. The hoses were too cheap. The $2.99 was just a waste of money. I am not sure you can suck water from a lake with that little thing. The $13 one was too $$$ it was selling for $9 at Walmart. You need to get a 5-6 feet hose from Wal-mart. I didnt see any rubber ones that long at the gardening section...besides those had holes in them for drip lines. I went to the pet dept and picked up a fish tank cleaning tubing material. It did it's job. While I was there I picked up another bottle of Sea Foam for $8, also cheaper than Autozone or Checkers( Oreilly). Anyway, stuck the tube all the way in and started pumping. Got close to 6-8 gallons even though the meter said it was below half tank.

So if anyone is trying to do this in the future, there you go. I never did go get the drill pump from Lowe's (powered by attaching a electric drill to one end).

The car ran fine but it gave out some white smoke for a couple of minutes. Drove it slow to the gas station and gave it some air. Runs fine now. Running it in the freeway to burn off any carbon build up and also for the Sea Foam to start lubricating engine components. Turned AC on as well to start circulating the hvac unit. Hopefully the hosing is all good still and this will keep it conditioned for summer usage.

Besides radiator/transmission/brake fluid flushes. It will probably be all I am going to do.

[AlaricD]

Awesome! Glad you found a solution.

Don't forget to change the oil, too-- sitting for that long, just natural condensation cycles will have done some damage to the engine oil.