[TR] Problem gas?

[Rick]

Peter,



The bubbles you see in the gas are water bubbles. With a lot of water in the
gas, youll see long worms of water (2) often containing debris. This was
a common spring-time problem for me with 3 pieces of British iron as they
are all put to bed in early November and restarted in late May, when I
return to Seattle. Ive adopted the following technique that appears to
avoid the problem: From mid-summer onward I use StaBil (cant tell any
difference between the marine and automotive products) additive in the tanks
and put the car and bikes to bed in the fall with their tanks < filled. When
I return in May, I drain a pint of fuel for each tank into a clear container
and check for water. My Triumph has an electric fuel pump, so I simply
detach the hose at the carburetors and use the pump to fill the container.
My bikes always show clear fuel, but I completely drain them (the discarded
and filtered fuel goes into my pick-up) and refill with fresh fuel. The
Triumph often shows some water (and debris) in the first few pints (larger
tank with a larger liquid surface), then clear. Before using StaBil the
separated ethanol absorbed too much water over the winter, and all vehicles
contained heavily contaminated fuel by spring start-up time.



Rick in Seattle

1960 Triumph TR3A

1970 BSA 441 Victor Special

1975 Norton Commando 850 Mk3