Fuel tank clean out?

silver1

silver1

Well-Known Member
I have a plastic tank on my Tecumseh that seems to have been abandoned with a lot of gas in it.
I have used the usual cleaners but it is still not clean and turns the gas brown.
What is the most effective tank cleaner? I have apple vinegar in it now. I will rinse with isopropyl
alcohol.
 
I have been there but only with steel tanks. They make a sealer that you can seal the dirt under the sealer but it I don't know how it would work on a plastic tank. That I have had just fair luck with is filling the tank with carburetor cleaner and let set for a week or two and shaking it several times as it sets. Then when the old gas gets softer I put small stones in it and just keep shaking it some more then remove the stones. Then I take it to a car wash that has a pressure nozzle and rinse it out real good. But I have found its not a 100% sure. Also if that doesn't work I have taken the tanks apart and cleaned them. Now I am working with steel tanks not plastic. I think if it is too bad you will need a good used tank or a new one. If you find something that works better let me know.
 
Sorry hit send to early.

The coffee pot cleaner is made for plastic.
What made me think of it was have you ever tried to clean a coffee stain

(( cowboy up and get over it ))
 
Carscw said:
I use coffee pot cleaner

(( cowboy up and get over it ))
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Would like to hear more on this?? Just what do you do mix it with hot water. Will it devolve the old hard dried up gas? I have a tank now that I just can't clean so I will try it. I have found if you don't get that old dried up gas out it just plugs the filter as fast as you can change it.
 
reynoldston said:
Would like to hear more on this?? Just what do you do mix it with hot water. Will it devolve the old hard dried up gas? I have a tank now that I just can't clean so I will try it. I have found if you don't get that old dried up gas out it just plugs the filter as fast as you can change it.
Click to expand...

I too have found that the filter gets clogged very fast and even find large chunks in it.
 
I mix it double strong with hot tap water leave it for a couple days giving it a shake when I think about it. Rinse it out with the hose let it air dry.

Have done two this way. Last one was on a 1990 ace riding mower that sat in a old chicken house for five years that I know of. Thinking I have put around 75 hours on it with no filter trouble

(( cowboy up and get over it ))
 
Over the years I have cleaned many plastic and metal fuel tanks with Marine Motor De-Carb from ValvTect and similar products. It is primarily intended to be sprayed into the carb of a running engine for the purpose of removing carbon buildup, however it is very effective for cleaning small fuel tanks and carbs. It is in an aerosol can and can be sprayed into the fuel tank and let it set for a while and then can be washed out with water. I have a Case garden tractor coming next week for service and the owner says that the fuel tank looks like a can of dried up varnish. I will have to do repeated applications on this tractors fuel tank to clean it up and it is a 3 gallon plastic tank. I'll have to do a lot of other stuff to this tractor before it will be running, but the fuel tank is a priority after I check out the engine which is a Kohler K 321 14 HP single cylinder.
There are other companies that package the same product, Johnson/Evinrude, Yamaha, Mercury Marine package it and some car companies do it also. I used to buy it at a local Ford dealer before they closed up a few years ago.
Mad Mackie in CT
 
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