Best way to siphon gas from a gas tank....Legally.

I have an older model toyota that has bit the dust - Quite literally. However it has a full tank of gas… is there a safe and easy way to siphon the gas from it’s tank into another tank? I’d hate to waste it with the gas prices back up in the small fortune range again. I’m trying to find a safe, efficient way where I’m not going to get a mouthful of petrol…

I’ve done it quite a few times with a piece of garden hose. Just try not to get any gas in your mouth. (If you do, don’t light a cigarette. :smack: :smiley: )

Most auto parts store sell syphon devices also.

There are bulb/hose set-ups sold in petstores to empty aquaria. I don’t know if the plastic tubing is ok to use with gasoline, but it is one way to avoid the mouthful of gas (which I’ve always just accepted).

How long has it been sitting? Gas goes stale and old gas, while it can still be used, should be mixed with fresh gas to avoid problems starting the car it is used in. I’d get a syphon from the auto parts store and pump it out a gallon at a time into a gallon-sized gas can. Whenever you would normally refill some other car go ahead and fill it at the pump and then top it off with the gas from the old car’s tank. It will take you a while to go through it, but it is the safest and most environmentally responsible way

I had a 5-gallon gas can I bought for the lawnmower and I was cheesed off when I had trouble starting the mower the next season with the gas I had kept. They sell “gas conditioner” at the local Home Depot and after I had used the last of the old gas I made sure to condition the gas I put in the 5-gallon can this time.

Enjoy,
Steven

1 Make sure the receiving container is below the fuel in the tank.

2 Use a long piece of transparent tubing.

3 Insert one end ot the tubing into the tank------------blow into the tubing to listen for bubbling which will tell you that that the end in the tank is submerged.

4 Reposition,if necessaty until blowing produces a heavy bubbling effect.

5 Hold the outside end so that it is higher than fuel in the tank ,forming a loop…

6 Suck on the elevated end until there is fuel apparent in the bottom of the loop.

7 Squeeze the end closed to prevent any revrerse action.

8 Place the end of the tubing in to the receiving container

9 release the "squeeze.

Have fun!

EZ

Sounds like your method inadvertently draws gasoline fumes into the lungs–and thus into one’s bloodstream. Might have been okay at the Battle of the Bulge, less so in suburbia.

The question was how to siphon which ,I notice, you ommitted answering.

As to the posible disadvantages which may accrue----------I’ll leave THAT to the nitpickers with time on their hands!

EZ

Just a quick nitpick: it is possible to start a siphon without drawing air into the lungs. This is accomplished by creating a vacuum in your mouth and then drawing the air from the siphon tube in (no inhaling necessary). It’s really no different from sucking a drink through a straw - your lungs are not involved. One may also having success puffing on the tubing in a manner similar to lighting a cigar. Again, no inhaling is necessary - only creating a pull with your mouth.

Granted, there is the possibility (and not a remote one at that) of pulling gasoline fumes into your lungs and into your bloodstream. That is why starting a siphon of gasoline with your mouth is no longer recommended - and there are so many new products to do it for you. End nitpick.

The Doctor

By the way, to the OP: if you do a google search for “siphon pump,” you’ll find the best way to siphon gas from a gas tank and not end up with a mouthful of petrol.

The Doctor

Actually, question was how BEST to siphon.

Carry on.

<pet peeve nitpick>
Really?
</pet peeve nitpick>

Carry on.

And STILL no reply to the question---------!

Nitpicking is contempt----------------beyond!

And EZ has more important thing s to waste time on.

Not over ,but OUT!

Find a piece of garded hose about 5 feet long. !/2 inch diameter is best
Place as much of the hose as you can into the gas tank.
Do the bubble thing as described above.
When you’re sure the other end of the hose is under liquid,
Place your thumb over the end in your hand and at the same time pull as much of the hose as you can without exposing the other end to air and drop it into your container. Make sure the container is lower than the gas tank.
You should get a siphon without a mouthfull of gasoline.
Don’t ask me how I know this. :wink:


Most if not all late model cars have an anti-syphon device in the tank or filler neck.
Don’t wonder why a syphon won’t work!

Not sure how much gas is left in the tank, but I once had great success with emptying a fuel tank by removing the “bung” that I found in the bottom of the tank. (much the same way that you change your oil)

If you are mechanically minded, I once saw a home made device that “got around” anti syphon devices by using a very small diametre pipe / hose linked to standard car fuel pump and a car battery…worked quite well too, if rather slow.

As another option (not sure if this works in the US by the way)…but the petrol stations I worked at had syphon devices, (for the poor schmucks that put the wrong fuel in the car) if you are on good terms with your local, perhaps they would let you borrow it?

Or if its not too inconvenient, take the poor deceased toyota to the station and ask for their help. (the ones we had were supposed to work even with anti syphon devices)

Nitpick. The worry is not so much that the gas will get into your bloodstream, it is that if it gets into you lungs it will disolve them, after which it becomes immaterial whether or not any gets into your blood stream.

OK. Safest way to do it without a pump?

Insert the hose as and to the bubble test as prescribed above. Seal off the area around the hose inside the filler area with a rag.

Instead of sucking on the hose, blow into the hose as hard as you can.

This will create a pressure inside the tank.

Quickly close off the hose and isert into the receptacle gas can as quickly as possible before the tank pressure leaks out. I MUST be placed lower than the gas tank to be emptied.

I refuse to answer any and all questions about how I know this works…

Pay NO attention to that little gas thief behind the curtain!! He can’t type either!

Depending on how old the Toyota is, it probably has the fuel pump back at the tank. You could always disconnect the fuel line, route it to an appropriate container, and turn the key to the run position. This will energize the pump (assuming the battery/ electrical system/ fuel pump have not also bitten the dust) and get the fuel flowing.

YMMV. Kids, don’t try this at home, etc.

There’s probably not so much an anti-syphon device as a rollover protection device (and vapor valve) in the tank, which will stop you from inserting anything more than a couple of inches into the filler neck. This is a little spring loaded contraption that is always pushed closed in order to prevent vapors from escaping through the filler neck. The spring is so finely balanced, though, that just a teensy bit of weight will completely open the stopper, so things like gasoline can get into the tank. In a rollover, all of the gasoline weight is on the stopper, which stops the stopper stoppierly. The net effect is, you can’t get anything in past the stopper, because even when it’s open, it’s in the way.