A while ago my old 99 2.5 stopped working and wouldn’t turn over and if it did I would shut off once the gas pedal was pressed. I changed fuel pump & filter in a 1 day job. It started working again, but was running rough. Auto shop said burnt valve and jumped timing, I tried taking it apart to see if it was worth fixing and found cylinder #4 and part of #3 were rusty and flaky on the wall and piston. Seemed coolant got into it from the blown head gasket. Sold it to my friend’s dad’s friend for $500. I didn’t think much of it since I sold it, but I went over to my friends house to give them some pecans and his dad joking asked me who was messing around with my gas tank. I didn’t know what he meant and said that while his friend was restoring he dropped the gas tank to replace something and found it had 10 gallons of water in it, that’s over half of the fuel capacity. I have no idea how 10 gallons can get in there. I can understand a small amount, but 10? I’m just wondering if anyone knows a reason why so much water came into the gas tank, it’s beyond me.

 

If bed was rusted out and it was kept outside, its possible water could enter the tank from the bed if filler tube or vent hose had an opening

You said you put in a new fuel pump, you WOULD have noticed the water at that time
And engine would not have started at all
Water and gasoline can not mix
And water is heavier than gasoline, so all the water goes to bottom of the tank, where the fuel pump is, so ALL the engine would get is water, no gasoline at all

 

The bed wasn’t rusted out at all and I did keep it outside in the driveway. It wasn’t beat up at all, from the outside it still looked good with the exception of the dent on the rear bumper and I never saw any underbody rust.

Yes, when I put in the new pump i siphoned out the gas Bc I originally thought I was going to drop the tank, but I just took off the bed after I got the torx bits. You’re right, I didn’t see any water when I did that, I ended up putting most of the gas I siphoned out into my other truck and it’s still running good well over a year since I did it. It still didn’t run right after the new pump was in like it did before I replaced it. I’m just dumbfounded at how that much could have gotten there.

 

Well when I was in High School I used to steal my Daddy's Vodka and replace what I took with water...............so level in bottle was always at same
He had some friends over, made some drinks, "Jeeze, whats the deal these are WEAK............"

Caught heck for that one

You got neighbors with drivers license's.............................and a siphon hose
Because that's what happened