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cleaning a gas tank

202K views 11 replies 11 participants last post by  tresi 
#1 ·
what is the easiest way to clean a gas tank. i have a truck that has sat and had gas in it for 6 years. that gas stinks and wont burn
 
#2 ·
gas tank cleaning

Hi,i had a gas tank in a boat that was really filthy,very bad gas. i drained the tank,put 1 gal of acetone in it and sloshed it around,did the same 2 more times.then shone a flashlight inside tank,to make sure it was clean. then filled tank with soapy water 3 or 4 times,sloshing it around . then turned tank upside down,drained and flushed tank with clean water. after draining as much water from tank as possible,i left the tank in the sun,with the cap off until it dried. worked great.
 
#3 ·
#4 ·
1/2 right!!!

home brew got it half right!......after the boil-out then put a alk.restant plastic sealer inside,(they do it at most rad.shops-for gas tanks),then what i use is a spigit at the bottom,(drain plug),put on the far left or the far right,of the gas tank.after that is done figure out the best way to set up the gas pick up or just use the spigit end and use a cuplink to make a gas outlet.you hook up you gas line from there.i do this because the lowest part of the gas tank is the lower outlet(spigit),make sure before you do the finial hook up you clean and blow out the remaining gas line,and you sperated the line from the gas pump,before you cleaned and blew out the line!!!!!!!!!!!(bourne51)..
 
#5 ·
If the tank comes out really clean there is no reason to use a poured in tank liner. I would not reccomend using a drain plug with a coupler for the fuel pick up. In reality there should be a gallon or two of fuel that is not usable below the fuel pick up. The sediment in the tank will sit at the bottom. If you make all fuel usable then all the trash that is pumped in at the gas stations will plug up filters and possibly go through the fuel system. also condensation will stay at the bottom and not be picked up if a few gallons are not usable.

gcrmcc
 
#6 ·
cool enought!

bourne51 here.......i use two filters on my gas line i have found that sealing a gas tank makes it last a very long time,and i have not had any problems with it and i dont let me fuel run to empty(well not usually),but i will take note on what has been said on this gas tank blog!!!!!!!!!!!!.........
 
#7 ·
If its really bad here's what I do. I put a few handfuls of 2B limestone gravel in the tank along with about a quart of acetone. Get you and a buddy to slosh the snot out of it. The acetone dissolves the gunk and the stone gets the stubborn stuff. Don't worry, the stone is big stuff, like the size of the end of your thumb and its not "dirty" -- as in having lots of stone dust and little bits along with it. Its just big stuff so its easy to get out and easy to tell if you've missed one.

I've also had pretty good luck sticking the nozzle of a 3500 psi pressure washer in the filler neck, but since you can't be assured of hitting all the gunky stuff it never inspired much confidence.
 
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