Clean a Rusty Fuel Tank? How?
 

My car has developed a bog down, stall, wait, restart, repeat condition which sounds exactly like a symptom of rust contamination in the fuel tank.

What are the known good DIY methods of cleaning and sealing the fuel tanks? Anyone know of shops that offer this service around Boston?


bostonmish

Drain the tank.
Remove the sending unit.
Pull the tank out.
Put about a four foot long chain in it.
Shake it all around.
You do the hokey pokey...
Rinse it out and shake some more until it's clean.
To keep it from rusting you can buy a kit from POR 15 or others to chemically treat and coat the inside of your tank.

[QUOTE=bostonmish;2400279]My car has developed a bog down, stall, wait, restart, repeat condition which sounds exactly like a symptom of rust contamination in the fuel tank.

which engine? Excellent idea to clean out a old rusty tank but its also possible the fault is elsewhere else .
mak

Put a lot of solvent in the tank with the chain.

how long do you wait to let the por 15 dry/set before re installing the fuel tank?What kind of solvent did you use?How about gasoline as a solvent or alchohol?

Check around the marinas, we clean tanks mainly for the boaters. I process that takes the sediment, algae, rust and whatever else the PO's have deposited in their tanks.

You would have to read the POR15 directions to see how long it takes before you can use it.
I use gasoline as solvent but it is a bit dangerous. You can make a lot of ignitable fumes in a short amount of time.

It's an M117.985 '79 450SLC I am pretty far along the diagnosis path, eliminating all other possible contenders. Here is some background: http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/showthread.php?t=270389

I should have made my original question less vague, but what I am really after is whether or not the SLC fuel tanks require anything special in the cleaning process.

I've looked at the three stage (flush, derust, recoat) approach and will likely try it. ...just curious if anyone has run into anything out of the ordinary when treating the R107 tanks.

bostonmish

electrolysis
 

before using the por15 products on a very rusty 5 gallon Honda generator tank i researched the benefits of reversing the rust through electrolysis.

using a solution of washing soda in the tank with an electrode suspended in it i hooked a battery charger to both the tank and the electrode. within a day or two the tank was ready for the por15 process and much cleaner than i could have gotten it using the chain method only.

do a google seach for 'rust removal, electrolysis' and you'll get results like this http://www.stovebolt.com/techtips/rust/electrolytic_derusting.htm.

What car is this from? You may be looking at more damage than just the fuel tank...

I am going through the same issue right now with my 260E.

Ball bearings or marbles work well at removing rust build up from tanks.

"Shaken not stired"