Hey guys, I wanted to ask if anyone can help me figure out how to remove fuel from a 2013 Toyota Prius gas tank? There's a few posts about siphoning gas from the tank but it seems like there might be an anti theft device ( a steel mesh ) in the neck of the tank. My 2 year old took a water hose and added about 5 gallons of water ( I am assuming ). I do not remember how much fuel I had before the water was added but currently I have 4 bars of fuel. Please Advise...
Well... Obvioulsy don't let the engine run or you'll have to clean out the entire fuel system. If you haven't let the engine run yet, the easiest solution would be to find a used fuel tank from a wrecked Prius and swap it out. There's a youtube video I watched once where the guy cuts open a Prius fuel tank to see what it looks like inside. Can't remember if they still used rubber bladder on 2013 or they stopped using them by then? Seems cleaning out the existing tank would be easier if there was no rubber bladder involved. I'd call around and get a sense of what mechanics have experienced with situations like this and what kind of hassles they'd run into fixing it.
I called Toyota dealer and they said it is a bladder fuel tank, and the fuel has to be squeezed out. Said that its a 4-5 hour job, them removing the fuel tank and cleaning it... I am just trying to see if I can get around another way? Also I did run the engine and per the mechanics that I spoke to they said that even if the engine runs the water will not damage the engine. It will miss fire like hell but wont cause any damage... Any Idea where is the fuel line in the engine on the Prius?
I think I would quite simply unhook the fuel line in the engine compartment, run a hose from it into a bucket, plug in a battery charger to support the aux battery, put the car ignition-ON and use Techstream to tell the fuel pump to run, and let it pump itself out. (Watching carefully to stop the pump when there's no more flow, so it doesn't burn out.) Dilute by pouring in some more straight gasoline and do it again. Without Techstream to tell the pump to run, I'd just pull the relay and use a jumper, to the same effect. How to find the fuel line (and the trick to disconnecting the weird hose coupling) is all in the repair manual. This wouldn't get 100% of the water out right away, and the water will always tend to stratify out at the bottom of the tank, but I'm pretty sure if you get enough out, you'll eventually succeed in diluting and removing the rest over some number of tanks. Drive on some bumpy/twisty roads. People have had water in fuel before and not always taken tanks completely out to totally dry them. Some fuel-line antifreeze additive might help with the last of it too. Where you can take a bucket of water/gasoline mix for disposal might take a phone call or two to find out. -Chap
There is no bladder in the gas tank. I'd be cautious taking further advice from that dealership, check with a second dealership if possible/necessary. How did it sound, pretty much normal? Maybe he got little or no water in?? If it's sounding ok, maybe just fill it up and see how it goes. To be really cautious: get gas in another (approved) container, bring it home.
Thank you for you suggestion, I actually ended up doing something very similar. Instead of getting to the fuel line, I simply removed the fuel pump of the vehicle (with a special tool removal, there is a video on YouTube please refer to it for further detail, "Toyota Prius fuel filter replacement") and using a siphon pump siphoned out the gas. But as you mentioned you can not take out the gas 100%. There was still water in the engine and fuel tank/pump. I put about 3.5 gallons of premium fuel and drove about 100 miles (but the first 35 miles the car drove a little rough, but slowly restored back to its normal self ) and then filled it up completely with premium fuel again and by that time about 99% of the water had been disappeared! Again, thanks for all the help everyone, and my problem is resolved!
How did you measure that 1% of water was still in the fuel tank? What were the disciplinary measures taken on the child who put water in the tank?
Red flag alert: they were wrong, if they were saying this about your 2013. The bladder tank was only on North American 2004-2009 models. Neither my 2012 nor earlier 2010 had it.
