rusty fuel tank

[tybilly]

Briggs tank is rusty on inside,will white vinegar do the trick?..new tank is 75.00

 

[reynoldston]

Briggs tank is rusty on inside,will white vinegar do the trick?..new tank is 75.00

Can't cost much to try so why not? Let use know how it works. I just had a Honda cycle in my shop with that same problem. I filled the tank with carburetor cleaner and let it sit for two days, then rinse it with water. Dried the tank and filled it with gas and a very rich mix of oil. Drained that and put it back together. The customer is running it so I hope its OK. They do made a kit for this that coats in inside of the tank, but you are looking at 50 dollars for this kit. I had a old snowmobile in my shop last year that was so bad that I ended up cutting out the bottom of the tank and sandblasting the inside of the tank then welded a new bottom in it.

 

[bertsmobile1]

First check the tank with a magnet.
Old ones were steel but most of the newer ones seem to be alloy.
What model B & S are you talking about ?
if it is a Sprint type engine then.

Swimming pool shop or hardwear store.
Muriatic acid or Hydrochloric acid ( same stuff just diferent guaranteed purity levels ).
Wash the tank with degreaser
then rinse with water followed by either a chlorine cleaning solution or an ammonia based cleaning solution .
Should have one or the other under the sink.

Keep the tank full of fuel. cover it with some heavy cotton based fabric when stored in the shed and be careful when refilling that you do not have water in the bottom of your fuel can

 

[reynoldston]

The problem I find with rusty gas tanks is that after you remove the rust from the metal you end up with a very find rust power that next to impossible to remove from the inside of the tank. The reason for this is because the openings are so small. The fill cap hole, sometimes a sending unit hole and the drain tube, all small openings. This rust power will plug a gas filter as fast as you can change it if you don't get this power out. This is a reason they make a kit so you can line the inside of the tank.

 

[Mad Mackie]

I remove the tank, remove any screen/shutoff fittings, dry it out, put in 5 or 6 sharp edged stones, cover the fill with duct tape and shake the tank for a while in different positions. I have an air operated vac with a long hose and suck out the rust dust. I've done this for years with steel 6 and 3 gallon outboard motor fuel tanks. The key to this is the tank must be absolutely dry beforehand.

 

[7394]

Older motorcycle tanks do same thing. (Rust). There is a kit called "Kreem" that has 3 parts to it, one is a acid-cleaner that etches the clean metal, 2nd is a rinse, then you add the Kreem, plug the openings & keep rotating tank for complete coverage. Then drain excess out & let cure for a couple days.

Other option is some Radiator shops will clean it & coat it with their own coating.

 

[bertsmobile1]

Older motorcycle tanks do same thing. (Rust). There is a kit called "Kreem" that has 3 parts to it, one is a acid-cleaner that etches the clean metal, 2nd is a rinse, then you add the Kreem, plug the openings & keep rotating tank for complete coverage. Then drain excess out & let cure for a couple days.

Other option is some Radiator shops will clean it & coat it with their own coating.

Kreem cam not be used with modern fuel.
Was great in its time, nothing better back in the days when we got petrol out of the pumps but useless now days that petrol has been replaced with fuel.
We fill motorcycle tanks with old ball bearings then wrap heavy cloth ( moving blankets ) and pack them in a concrete mixer so they can not move.
Once out some use Caswells liner, I do not as a perfectly clean fuel tank seems to resist rusting for a very long time particularly if some stabile ( or sillier ) is used when the bike is laid up for a month or more.

 

[7394]

I put KREEM in my ULH Flathead tanks back around 1990, it's still in there, in spite of the P4 Gas (piss for gas). Something more modern would be POR-15, I think it's very similiar to what Harley has been using in tanks for decades.

 

[Michael72]

Vinegar does the job and better still if you heat it in a pot....but must be white vinegar...

 

[reynoldston]

Vinegar does the job and better still if you heat it in a pot....but must be white vinegar...

Next one I get will give it a try.