Siphoning Gas 2002 Mazda MPV

Thought I would save a trip to the gas station by using a siphon tube to get gas into my lawnmower. The tube goes in but does not make any contact with gasoline. Tank is full. Anti-siphon in the filler neck?

Yep, it’s pretty tricky to siphon gas out of a modern car. That’s why gas theives have been resorting to punching a hole in the bottom of people’s gas tanks.

An old coworker of mine who mowed lawns on the side had a contraption that I’m pretty sure he made himself that had a female schraeder valve connection on one side, a 6-foot long hose and a little squeeze valve on the other end with a nozzle. He could screw the schraeder valve onto the fuel rail of his truck, turn the key to run and, viola, instant gas pump!

Yea as Greasy said, it is not easy or safe.

Buy a good gas can or as I did, an electric mower.

Years ago, I bought a siphon pump that consisted of a bellows with a check valve. One line went into the gasoline tank and the other to a container that was lower than the tank of the car. It never worked very well. In fact, I found it far easier just to go to the filling station with a good gasoline can. I really don’t like carrying gasoline containers in the car, but I haven’t found any other way to get gasoline to the mower.

BTW, I just read where the sale of gasoline power mowers is down because of the price of gasoline. However, I’m not ready to switch to a non-powered reel mower. I remember pushing one when I was in elementary school. When the lawns got ahead of us, it took three of us kids to operate the mower–two pushing and one pulling with a rope tied to the front of the mower. We got 75 cents a yard. If I could do it myself, it was all profit. Otherwise, we made a quarter apiece.

What’s blocking you is the anti-rollover check ball that lives in the filler neck…Sometimes you can slip a smaller hose past it, 3/8" tubing…But it takes a long time to get 2 gallons of gas…