The little black crap keeps clogging up filters and eventually the tank filter gets clogged again as it is now. I was wondering if they have to remove the tank to get the crap out or not, seem almost like they could stick a steam or HP water nozzle up in the take at the filter and clean it out. I was wondering if the cost of pulling and cleaning the crap out of the fuel tank is better served by putting the money toward just having a new tank installed.

So what seems to be the best way to go by those here that have faced the problem in the past? The problem I have is I don't have the place to do the work as it requires a lift and with my arthritis as bad as it is, doing it myself is out of the question.

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'10 Chrysler T&C Stow-N-Go White. Grandpa's ride.

'13 Chrysler 200 Touring Candy Red. Grandma's ride.

Age and cunning will always over come youth and vigor.

Getting the black crud out is a royal PITA. Having been in your shoes before and having taken the tank out on one of my vehicles to clean the tank I really do not see a viable method to clean out the tank without taking the tank out of the vehicle. In order to take out the tank out you need to remove the first aid kit container out of the rear package shelf so you can remove the fuel sending unit out of the tank, this takes a socket wrench of 1 13/16" or a channel lock pliers. Be careful not to pinch yourself with the pliers. Your will also need to remove the fuel strainer from the bottom of the tank where the fuel line runs to the hard fuel line, this is also 1 13/16", you will have a very hard time getting this with channel lock pliers, the socket is much better. Now you need to remove the cover that covers the fuel tank in the trunk, I believe these are 10mm or 9 mm. Then on to the bolts that hold the tank to the body in the trunk, I do not remember what size these 4 ? bolts are. Now you are ready to remove the tank the filler neck is attached to the tank and you need to do a little wiggle here and there to get it out. Once out you can bring it to a radiator shop and have them clean out the tank or with all the large holes open look in with a good flash light not a match and see just how dirty the tank is, also when you take out the fuel strainer on the outlet side it will give you a good idea as to what is in there. I also forgot to mention that while under the car you will need to remove the breather hose and the return line hose at this time is would probably be a good idea to replace those hoses with SAE30R9 5/16th hoses and replace the rubber filler neck seal. I personally would not replace the tank with another, I would just clean your tank. Good luck

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Gary
OBK #37

ON,

'You got a West Marine nearby?

Do yourself a favor,Belay all those labor intensive tank removal entertainmets.
'Dump one of the 8oz. containers in the Tank,drive it around like you stole it.
In a couple of days the Algae is dead or dying.

The 8oz. and the 64 oz. are both the same chemical formula.

It breaks down the Algae/Fungus so that it may pass the: Fuel sock in the
bottom of the Tank,Fuel Filters,Injection pump,Injectors without difficulty.

'Put an oz. or two in the Tank when it gets down to 1/4 as maintenance,
twice a year,and you'll not have this problem again.

No West Marine? 'Call Starbrite direct in Ft. Lauderdale,Florida ,They'll ship it to you. 1 (800) 327-8583

Attached Thumbnails

   

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'84 300SD sold
124.128

I was thinking the same thing and decided that if I used an 8 oz bottle from Wally-World I would have same effect as it would require only 6.5 OZ of the tank cleaner and normal for the 8 oz bottle for a 20 gallon tank would be about 3/4 of an oz or close to it.

Anyway just changing the primary & secondary filters made a big difference in way engine runs. So I will head shortly to the fuel center and dump in 4 oz's and fill it up and wait and see.

Think I will just dump the whole bottle in when I fill up the tank and see what happens.

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'10 Chrysler T&C Stow-N-Go White. Grandpa's ride.

'13 Chrysler 200 Touring Candy Red. Grandma's ride.

Age and cunning will always over come youth and vigor.

I went the tank pulling method as I am running homebrew BD and wanted to thoroughly clean my tank before starting with BD. Not really such a big deal since the tank is inside the trunk and externally clean and readily accessible. I power washed it a few times inside till all gunk was gone, Cleaned the strainer and the fuel sender tube, replaced all fuel lines with BD proof stuff and am happily motoring and I know what is in my tank other than fuel... nada.

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1981 240D 143k 4 spd manual -SOLD

2004 VW Jetta TDI 5 speed 300k -still driven daily

I like that blowback through the tank line to clear screen. I may try that later, if this Starbrite doesn't do the trick, until I can get the tank cleaned.

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'10 Chrysler T&C Stow-N-Go White. Grandpa's ride.

'13 Chrysler 200 Touring Candy Red. Grandma's ride.

Age and cunning will always over come youth and vigor.

Had the black algae issue with the 300CD.
Drained and removed tank.
Local radiator repair shop steam cleaned the tank to kill and remove algae.
Did some additional manual cleaning with degreaser and boiling water.
Used POR-15 Tank sealer kit.
Filters have remained clean as a whistle ever since.

Not a difficult job, but takes a few days. Did this while rebuilding the front end.

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Neil.


1991 190E 2.6 170k
1995 E320CA 57k
1999 Chevy Tahoe 98k
2000 R1150GS 45k
1983 300CD 178k - sold, but not forgotten

My biggest problem is I am no longer physically able to do that type of work. I am 63 and eat up with arthritis and screwed up back that has come back to haunt me.

So I am clutching at straws here with the Starbrite before having to have a shop take the tank out and sending it to a radiator shop for cleaning and being out $500 or more if lucky.

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'10 Chrysler T&C Stow-N-Go White. Grandpa's ride.

'13 Chrysler 200 Touring Candy Red. Grandma's ride.

Age and cunning will always over come youth and vigor.

I will let you know how it does. If this stuff doesn't do the trick I will give you a holler.

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'10 Chrysler T&C Stow-N-Go White. Grandpa's ride.

'13 Chrysler 200 Touring Candy Red. Grandma's ride.

Age and cunning will always over come youth and vigor.

I just did this job yesterday. Removed the tank as getting to the screen above the axle shaft is impossible. I removed the line from the screen and my remaining fuel only dripped out. I took the tank out and removed the screen. It was totally covered with this black rubbery stuff. Gunk wouldn't remove it, but Greased Lightning and an old toothbrush did. I also had to use a dental pick to get at and pull/scrap off the stuff on the inside of the screen.

Once I had the tank installed, I wasn't finished. I had to blow out the lines but still wasn't able to draw any fuel into the IP. I confirmed that the lift pump wasn't sending fuel to the secondary filter, but fuel was very easily flowing now to the lift pump.

I happen to have another lift pump lying around, so I replaced it. Apparently, the black rubbery crap had gotten into the lift pump as well. I had already replaced the secondary filter with one from my other SD so I knew it was ok. The car started right up after a lot of priming to get fuel back into the IP.

My troubles weren't over. I was able to pull out the the neighborhood this morning, but couldn't get past 40 mph trying to get on the x-way. I pulled off and ran the car in a large parking lot for a while until it was running better. I then used the secondary streets to get to work. After 27 miles, it's running much better.

I'll stop at the auto parts at lunch and get something to help clean this thing out.

Funny thing is it happened all of a sudden. (kind of) I had to replace my filter twice in the last two weeks of driving and the last time, on Thursday, I had to replace it when leaving work. I drove home with no problems. However, on Friday morning, it wouldn't start. No fuel at all. It went from running fine in the evening to all stopped up in the morning.

Time to order more filters...

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Michael LaFleur

'05 E320 CDI - 86,000 miles
'86 300SDL - 360,000 miles
'85 300SD - 150,000 miles (sold)
'89 190D - 120,000 miles (sold)
'85 300SD - 317,000 miles (sold)
'98 ML320 - 270,000 miles (sold)
'75 300D - 170,000 miles (sold)
'83 Harley Davidson FLTC (Broken again) :-(
'61 Plymouth Valiant - 60k mikes
2004 Papillon (Oliver)
2005 Tzitzu (Griffon)
2009 Welsh Corgi (Buba)

Seems the Starbrite did not dissolve the black stuff, so I am taking it to a shop willing to let me supervise and with an owner with some common sense that I went to school with. He has a lift to be able to remove the screen from the bottom and install new screen. We will inspect the tank at that time and if needed we will remove the tank and wash it out at the car wash across the street, most likely this washing will be done.

Anyway what size is the nut holding the screen in place?

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'10 Chrysler T&C Stow-N-Go White. Grandpa's ride.

'13 Chrysler 200 Touring Candy Red. Grandma's ride.

Age and cunning will always over come youth and vigor.

I am also dealing with black algae crap in my 240D. I didn't want to remove the tank (too much work). First thing I did was add a clear Lexan whole house filter between the pre and secondary filter so I don't clog the secondary filter. I can see the black crap in the white filter element as it gets trapped. I have also been adding Startron to break up the Algae. I wanted to speed up the process and made a dialyisis machine from an old home heating oil burner unit (pump/motor) and the whole house filter (same one removed from 240D). I blew compressed air into the metal supply and return lines to clear the lines and pickup screen. Using clear PVC tubings on the dialysis machine, I stuck the pickup and discharge tubes in the fuel gauge sender hole and just moved the pickup hose all over the bottom af the tank to suck up the black algae and trapped by the filter. I did this till I saw no more blackies. Then I filled the tank with biodiesel (and more Startron) to clean out the tank. I'll run the dialysis again soon and see if there are anymore crap in there.

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85 300D turbo pristine w 157k when purchased 161K now
83 300 D turbo 297K runs great. SOLD!
83 240D 4 spd manual- parted out then junked

Here's link to my dialysis setup

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85 300D turbo pristine w 157k when purchased 161K now
83 300 D turbo 297K runs great. SOLD!
83 240D 4 spd manual- parted out then junked

Under the image in your alkbum there are 4 slections available, starting with email & IM and the last one being IMG Code. Just left click on IMG Code and then come back to this page and post it by right mouse click and then left click on paste. And then you will have a full size picture.

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'10 Chrysler T&C Stow-N-Go White. Grandpa's ride.

'13 Chrysler 200 Touring Candy Red. Grandma's ride.

Age and cunning will always over come youth and vigor.

OK done. Thx!

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85 300D turbo pristine w 157k when purchased 161K now
83 300 D turbo 297K runs great. SOLD!
83 240D 4 spd manual- parted out then junked