A locking gas cap could have saved the day.
When just about any petrolhead hears the intro to a ChrisFix video, they know they’re going to learn something. In the latest installment of his series about fixing up a vandalized Chrysler 200, he demonstrates how to flush the fuel system.
Luckily for Chris, the “sugar in the gas tank” myth has been busted. With a quick demonstration, he shows that sugar doesn’t actually dissolve in gas and therefore doesn’t kill engines. That said, even though the fuel filter will stop the sugar granules from flatlining your motor, some work is still required to get the car up and running properly. In the instance you are only dealing with sugar, the gas tank needs to be dropped out and cleaned, then the fuel filter must be replaced.
With a modern vehicle, Chris says that this is quite an easy job. On the Chrysler 200 that he is nursing back to health, the fuel pump and tank are very easy to access and work on. He says that removing them would take 30 minutes max for someone with a bit of experience. Following the gas tank cleanse, Chris moved to clean out the fuel filler hose.
After using a screwdriver to collect as much sugar as possible, the next job was flushing out the hose with some water. Although sugar doesn’t dissolve in gasoline we probably all know by now that it does dissolve in water. Once the line was flushed out he ran some isopropyl alcohol down it to dissolve any leftover moisture.
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While that’s the only required work for sugar in your gas tank, Chris also went through how to flush the rest of the fuel system. All good knowledge to have if you face other issues like a rusty tank or filling up with the wrong fuel.