tank cleaning

[hotrod ford]

well the gas tanks is out and sludge came out when i put the fuel in a gas can. what have you guys done and used to clean your tanks?

[mrtleavitt]

Pressure wash as much as you can and then let a chain loose inside of the tank. Slosh the chain around to break up the rust and gunk. Repeat as necessary.

[Sam I Am]

Once you spray water in there, you need to get it filled with gas as soon as possible after you clean it to help prevent rust.
Take out the sending unit and pressure wash it (car wash) through that hole. I sat it on a milk crate upside down so it would keep drained while I was spraying it.
The fill hole sticks in too far to get much of an angle, you can get the far side okay through it, but you'll get most of it through the sender hole. I rodded out the fuel pick-up tube with a coat hanger and squirted the pressure washer in there too, just be careful not to foul the threads on its fitting.

Buy a half gallon of WD40 and pour in about half of it at a time with the chain slosh. Duct tape some plastic caps or jar lids over all the openings and get a friend to help you slosh it back and forth with a chain in it until your arms get tired, then slosh it some more after you've rested. The WD40 lifts off the water to keep it from rusting your tank again instantly.

If it's in your budget, look into a good quality tank sealing kit. But read the directions on it before you do the WD40 slosh in case the kit contains something better or to make sure the WD40 won't keep that stuff from sticking to the tank walls and setting up correctly. if you can't find the non-spray can of WD40, just use gasoline with the chain slosh and remember to dump a bottle of Heet in there to run the water out, because there will be a little bit of water left in there since the tank is shaped funny and hard to drain completely.

I put a see through filter on mine at the cab corner to monitor sediment. I know that a lot of people frown on these, but they are a lot easier to check and/or replace than wrenching the one off the carb on my stock Motorcraft 2 barrel. And as long as it isn't in the engine compartment, the fire risk is minimized. But if you feel the need to put it in the engine compartment, put it before the fuel pump. That way if it does break or leak it won't keep squirting with each fuel pump pulse until the carb bowl runs dry.

It is always best to keep the tank full to minimize rust. if you are going to let one sit, fill the tank and use Sta-Bil, available at any Wal Mart. It keeps the fuel from going flat so fast.

[71f100anddodgemagnum]

thats Great i will do this insted of buying a new take because that will save money in the long run....