Gas tank clean out

[GarySeever 82]

Started working on the commando tonight . Have good compression ,good spark . Inside gas tank looks pretty bad not a lot of rust just a thick goo on the bottom. Any thought on what to clean the inside with.Thanks

[buckrancher 2,694]

lacquer thinner should clean the goo out  put a lot of small stones inside the tank  with some  lacquer thinner and shake the tank should remove all the loose rust

 

brian 

Edited September 10, 2018 by buckrancher

[GarySeever 82]

Thanks was thinking about stones but was not sure. Put some carb cleaner in it seems to start breaking it down. Thank for the help.

[Machineguy 877]

I’ve used a trick I got from an older fella that works great. Wash a few handfuls of small gravel and place them in the tank. Then put a liberal amount of Dawn dish detergent in on them. Fill to a little over half with water then shake vigorously. You can let it soak for a couple days shake, pour out and repeat if needed. Works awesome to scour the tank clean and the dawn really breaks down the crud! I found using an air nozzle and shaking the tank around works great to get the gravel out. 

 

Good luck with the project 

Edited September 10, 2018 by Machineguy

[ohiofarmer 3,333]

1 minute ago, GarySeever said:

Thanks was thinking about stones but was not sure. Put some carb cleaner in it seems to start breaking it down. Thank for the help.

 

Carb cleaner is essentially lacquer thinner, so you may find that it might be a bit cheaper

[GarySeever 82]

Thanks

[oldredrider 2,553]

Apple cider vinegar works great, doesn't attack the paint and is cheap.

[ebinmaine 70,707]

All good advice above Gary.

Aquarium gravel works good too.

 

Please...

 

Be sure to replace the screen/ shut off fitting when you're done.

 

[Jerry77 1,218]

Cleaning is one thing - preserving is another...the tank will rust again, and soon...there are a lot of tank sealers, but Eastwood products sells a good one - tried and true..don't let it get away from you after the work of cleaning it....

[Ed Kennell 40,465]

All good advice above.   I'll just add, If you get tired shaking a tank full of gravel and solvent,  block your spare tractor then jack up one rear wheel and bungee the tank to the wheel.

Let your tumbler do the work while you watch a football game.  

 

[pfrederi 18,325]

All good ideas but if you have a filter screen inside teh tank you will destroy it...  Take it out and plug the drain hole first.  My L107 used Ed's plan once to clean a generator gas tank...then used eastwood stuff

[Tankman 3,520]

19 hours ago, oldredrider said:

Apple cider vinegar works great, doesn't attack the paint and is cheap.

Be sure not to use "Hard" Apple Cider. That's for thirst quenching.  

[Digger 66 3,488]

We used to do our motorcycle tanks with sand and mineral spirits .

Just be sure to flush the H.E.-double-hockey-sticks out of it when you're done .

This stuff worked great after all was clean & dry http://www.kreem.com/fueltankliner.html