# Water in lawnmower gas tank?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/water-in-lawnmower-gas-tank/453059
**Category:** Factual Questions
**Created:** [June 15, 2008, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/water-in-lawnmower-gas-tank/453059 "2008-06-15T23:22:45Z")
**Posts on this page:** 4
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@aaelghat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aaelghat)
#### Post date: [June 15, 2008, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/water-in-lawnmower-gas-tank/453059/1 "2008-06-15T23:22:45Z")
Hi, my two-year old son poured some water in our lawnmower gas tank.
I’m not sure how much water, but before my wife told me what happened, I had started the lawnmower and it ran for about five seconds, then it sputtered out. Each time I started it it would do the same thing.
Any advice? Thanks in advance.
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### Author:  [@Xema](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Xema)
#### Post date: [June 15, 2008, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/water-in-lawnmower-gas-tank/453059/2 "2008-06-15T23:26:03Z")
It likely that simply draining the tank and then filling it with fresh gas will solve the problem.
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### Author:  [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)
#### Post date: [June 15, 2008, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/water-in-lawnmower-gas-tank/453059/3 "2008-06-15T23:26:24Z")
Drain it out completely and replace with fresh gas.
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### Author:  [@Napier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Napier)
#### Post date: [June 15, 2008, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/water-in-lawnmower-gas-tank/453059/4 "2008-06-15T23:29:10Z")
You might also take the bowl off the bottom of the carburator. Just watch out you don’t let any little pins in the mechanism in there slide out of place. And, you could try running through it some alcohol, “dry gas” I think is the name for it, which is miscible with gasoline and also with water.