Cleaning out difficult gas tanks--Honda Clone

[ohiofarmer 3,265]

  I hope this is the place to post this. Once you get to the smaller stuff or even putting a Predator on some of the riders, old gas can really be an issue because removing a gas tank is not nearly as easy as removing a tank from an early c- series wheel horse . Here is how you can clean one in place. The gas tank in question had a dry bowl, but as I bled out the tank through the bowl outlet, green stuff came out. So the in line and pre-filter  [catch] bowl had some nasty stuff going on.  After three ounces or so, the orange gas that was also cloudy showed up.  honda and Predator gas tanks will not completely drain, because of the filter screen/tank bung that is present.   The stuff that was left was perhaps 3 ounces with orange flakes present.

 

 Now for the cautions; you are gonna suck gasoline into a holding tank via a 1/8 diameter vinyl tube The vacuum hose goes over the fill spout hole and the gas is sucked backwards into the gas vent hole. It could be possible that raw gas or fumes could enter your vacuum cleaner. Vacuum cleaners have brushes in their motors, so access your risk. .You can always add water to the fuel tank and then suck it out if so inclined.   In my case and with my equipment, i was pulling tiny bits of gas into an intervening waste fuel tank with water already in it and it was not concerning to me.  YMMV

 

 That little tube suctioned out the little bit of fuel, and I sprayed some carb cleaner in to  dissolve the flakes to suction the rest. It took about two minutes and clean as a whistle. I will throw a bit of canned two cycle gas in the tank for this winter.  I suppose one could devise an even safer system from a five gallon bucket and introduce the old fuel into the bucket via a tube under a layer of water. That way, there would be no fumes at all

Edited December 29, 2019 by ohiofarmer