I've got some serious gunk in my fuel tank. Just draining it and pouring fuel through it did not do the trick. I think it's fungus, but whatever it is, it's stuck to the bottom of the tank and will need a serious solvent or a pressurized sprayer, or both, or something else, I don't know...

So my first dilemma is can I clean it out myself, or do I need to take it somewhere? Secondly, do I have to remove it from the car, and if so, does anyone have any advice on how to go about pulling out the tank?

Thanks!

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1987 Mercedes 300D ~200K (Greasecar & Biodiesel)
1993 Ford F-250 7.3 IDI diesel 165K (Biodiesel)
1996 Thomas/International Bus with DT466 engine

Dose the Tank with a shock treatment of Startron Tank Cleaner(I'd use a Quart)
put in 1/3 tank of fuel and drive about vigorously for a couple of hours.
Take a primary and secondary fuel filter ,just in case.(Probably won't need)
You may need to repeat.

If you're patient ,this stuff will do the trick...with little or no effort on your part.

If you gotta see the bottom of the tank shine before next Tuesday ,pulling the
Tank and taking it to a shop to have it steam cleaned is the Quick way.
BUT,that involves a lot more effort on your part.

R+R instructions are here:
http://w124-zone.com/downloads/MB%20CD/W124/w124CD1/Program/Engine/602_603/47-4100.pdf

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'84 300SD sold
124.128

Thanks for the tip! I've heard of this stuff but never used it and was honestly a little skeptical of any magic liquid that you can just pour in and solve your problem. Maybe I'll see if I can somehow manually get some of the gunk out while I've got the tank drained, and then try this stuff. I really don't want to deal with pulling the tank, but draining it was a truly miserable job that I also do not want to repeat.

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1987 Mercedes 300D ~200K (Greasecar & Biodiesel)
1993 Ford F-250 7.3 IDI diesel 165K (Biodiesel)
1996 Thomas/International Bus with DT466 engine

Where I live I am fortunate enough not to have algae problems so I just used Marine Clean to get the poo out - there is mention of algae related information here as well:-

http://www.peachparts.com/Wikka/W123FuelTankhttp://www.peachparts.com/Wikka/W123FuelTank

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1992 W201 190E 1.8 171,000 km - Daily driver
1981 W123 300D ~ 100,000 miles / 160,000 km - project car stripped to the bone
1965 Land Rover Series 2a Station Wagon CIS recovery therapy!
1961 Volvo PV544 Bare metal rat rod-ish thing

I'm here to chat about cars and to help others - I'm not here "to always be right" like an internet warrior



Don't leave that there - I'll take it to bits!

Be sure what you think is gunk isn't rust. If its rust, your tank is toast.

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2009 E320 Bluetec 117,000
1995 E300D 306,000 Sold
1996 Ford Taurus LX 130,000 Sold
1985 300TD Still 225,000 Sold
2016 Ford Fusion 24,900