Bumper and Bill,

I am not a chemical engineer but I think that you are
both on the right track. The ethanol aborsbs the water
and thus makes it 'burnable' but I think it still is
in the bottom of the tank. Corrections welcome. I
do remember that we used to pour straight water into
the carburetor to 'clean' the exhaust valves! Made
it run rough for a second or two but really did a good
job of steam cleaning the carbon off of them!)

At 05:18 01 December 2005, Bumper wrote:

'Bill Daniels' wrote in message
...
I think we may be on the wrong track here. If water
is suspected in a cars
fuel system, you add ethanol to get rid of it. The
alcohol combines with
the water and then with the gasoline. With enough
ethanol present, the
water/ethanol mixes with gasoline and is burned away.


A common method to test gasoline for presence of alcohol
is to put a small
amount of water, about 10% by volume, in a test tube
or similar container.
Add suspect gasoline and shake. If the water level
appears to rise, it's due
to alcohol coming out of solution with the gasoline
and joining with the
water. If there's no alcohol, the water level remains
the same.

bumper