How to drain gas tank?

After googling, it doesn't seem that this 3-year old gas in this car can be any good. And bad gas would certainly cause all the sputtering and dying this car's doing. What's the easy way to drain the tank? The gauge shows two bars. If I could just get most of that out, I could fill up with some new gas and probably dilute it enough.

I see the fuel line connection in the engine compartment...do you think that would take too long to just pump it out with the car's fuel pump, risk burning up the pump?

(Makes me think - maybe I need to grab the tank off my parts car before I haul it away.)

 

dang, nothing in this bootleg service manual.

 

OK, looks like the fuel line in the engine bay is where it drains. What I'm not getting is why the fuel pump has to be energized by an exterior source. Why won't it pump when the key turns on?

I'm assuming the issue is that the pump doesn't run very long that way, it only runs long enough to make sure there is pressure to drive the injectors. But, doesn't that mean there's a pressure cut-off, which can maybe be by-passed? Seems like opening the fuel line into a bucket would by-pass a pressure switch.

 

What do y'all think about just filling it up with premium, and not bothering to drain the last 2-3 gallons? I read another thread here suggested that bad gas lacks octane and adding premium balances that.

 

I didn't think any tube would fit down there. I may have a small one to try. Thx. The google results said that old gas could be restored by adding good fuel at a 3:1 ration. Our tanks are close to one gallon per bar, and I got 2 bars. So, if I fill it up, especially with premium, that should do it. Certainly enough to notice a change, if fuel is my problem.

 

You are exactly right, and it started before I could drain - my gas can was already full of some old diesel that I had no way to get rid of. So, I drove about 5m to the City of Houston Environmental Services facility and they wouldn't take the fuel without my $25 gas can. Nor could i transfer it to old milk jugs with screw on caps. The only other option they mentioned was to go buy a $5 bucket from Home Depot and give that to them. Minimum cost to dispose of fuel - $1 per gallon.

So, I knew of a restaurant that sells 5-gallon buckets, although I hadn't seen any in their store lately - they get them with some type of supply they regularly purchase and are just trying to recycle by selling them for a nominal fee. Sure enough, found a good bucket in their dumpster and used it to dispose of my old diesel just to have an empty gas can to fill up my Prius. Didn't bother draining it.

Not sure if it helped yet, I'm tracking that in the 3191 thread.