howed i do this,desperation i guess about 20 yrs back driving a vw rabbit gasser i sputtered out of fuel on a deserted road middle of night ,about at least 8 mile to nearest town,sat for quite awhile thinking it;s a long walk and in rain and I mean dark like no moonlite either what the hell empty coffee cup from last stop in hand ,hey try something, try 2 cups rain water in tank carry 1 for spare hit key,that old bosch system the best ever made brought the engine to life, man i wound out first second ,bam 4 i was cruiseing ,popped netural ,shut down coasted every foot possible and did thatover and over hoping i dont run dry again,had to add 1/2 cup more water after a stall at one point ,now its missfireing but i made it at least 12 mile or more, and one lowly quickfill station lit up," yes give me 5 in fuel,a bottle of drygas[i dont think you can buy that today] and a cappuccino"

40,195

Asked by James Jan 29, 2013 at 05:50 AM about the 1977 Volkswagen Rabbit

Question type: Maintenance & Repair

13 Answers

I'm glad you understand that Tom, because I read 2 cups rain water in tank got him going, and found that a bit difficult to swallow, so I am missing something

same as HEET? Would have drained the tank, said a little prayer and refueled. Cars WILL NOT run on water! what were you thinkin'?

Bob I am beginning to think by rain water he means Everclear. It will run, sort of on that

1 people found this helpful.

obviously there were a few CC's of fuel in front of that water slug, which filled up the fuel filter releasing some fuel. oy what a mess! Scrap this car for fifty dollars!

177,705

It's an old trick when you run out of gas back when there where mechanical fuel pumps and no return lines. The gas line in the gas tank stuck up a little to prevent sediment from entering. If you ran out of gas, you could pour some water in the tank. Gasoline would float on the water and enter the fuel line. --- Another trick was to quickly tap the gas pedal which gave you a squirt of gas from the accelerator pump until the bowl was empty.

1 people found this helpful.
Best Answer Mark helpful
177,705

When we prepared Rallye cars, we had to put several small fuel filters in line. The sediment in the tank got riled up with a car pitching around and would plug the first filter. If the driver reported a loss of high end power, we would remove a filter, pour in some gas, tighten the wheel lugs and sent them on their way.

2 people found this helpful.

Always keep the tank on FULL. This way the fuel pump will stay cool (chrysler immerses the pump in the tank) and NOT burn up. Dropped the tank and replaced this pump on perhaps a dozen chryslers- Some people never learn.

2 people found this helpful.
40,195

tenspeed you know what happend ,that little bit of water dropped to bottom as fuel is very lite ,the pickup tube is never down at bottom [debree] lifted fuel up ,grabbed by pump ,filled lines for a while not to long though cuz the last couple miles was stumbley i was lucky i was only that distance, never caused any problem afterwards ,I guess the drygas grabbed the water connected it to the fuel ,and probbaly actually did a little good,[carbon you know] jim

2 people found this helpful.

Call me skeptical. You guys, Tom, Bob, tenspeed offer explanations that make a bit of sense, but call me cynical too. sorry jimmy, one man's opinion

2 people found this helpful.
9,655

I would have just walked the 8 miles with a fuel can. I'd never get desperate enough to dump water into my fuel tank in the hope of getting it running long enough to get to a pump...

2 people found this helpful.

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