Gas tank rust removal Q

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doc308
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Gas tank rust removal Q

#1

Post by doc308 »

I have a good bit of rust in my gas tank and have been using the old "fill with nuts/bolts and shake" routine. It's been somewhat successful, but I still have some pretty badly rusted areas in the tank which this method isn't being that successful with. Here's the question: would it be safe to use some watered- down sulfuric acid in the tank? What I think I 'd do would be to pour the acid into the tank and gradually dilute it it with water. After sloshing it around, I'd hose out the tank real well. Any thoughts on this? Or--has anyone had any experience with Yamaha's fuel tank rust remover kit or Por-15?
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Re: Gas tank rust removal Q

#2

Post by NightShift »

Dear Doctor,
I think you are thinking of muriatic acid like any hardware store should have.

Put on your best hazmat gear and do it outside with a hose handy.
Then use bicarbonate real fast to keep it from starting to rust all over again.

Don't even consider a sealer.

The NightShift.

And Oh Yeah, Don't cork the tanks too tight, or smoke when you do it.
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Re: Gas tank rust removal Q

#3

Post by FlatHeadSix »

doc
there are several ways to skin that cat and they all work to some extent.

The last 2 sets of tanks I did were rusted BAD. I emptied a can of oven cleaner in the tank and them poured in a large bag of aquarium gravel, it has lots of sharp edges on the irregular shaped rocks. Put in about a quart of hot water and then shake and rotate. I bungy corded the tanks to the rear wheel of my small tractor, put it on the jack, threw it in low gear and let it idle for about 30 minutes. The rottiserie worked great, rinsed them again with really hot water and they were clean as a whistle.

After cleaning they will start to grow a light coat of rust inside almost instantly unless you either pickle them with a dilute acid solution (like parkerizing solution) or pour some WD-40 in there and coat the entire inside until you're ready to use them.

good luck

mike
doc308
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Re: Gas tank rust removal Q

#4

Post by doc308 »

Thank you. Actually, I have some battery acid (sulfuric) left over from filling my battery. Would that be OK vs the muriatic acid ? Also--why no sealer?
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Re: Gas tank rust removal Q

#5

Post by FlatHeadSix »

doc.
stay away from the sulphric acid, its for batteries ONLY. For a lot of chemical reasons (I won't bore you with the details) its not the right stuff. Bottom line is that the sulphuric will attack any exposed good metal and leave the rust. If you want to use acid then get the Muriatic (hydrochloric) or phosphoric.

I like pure casutic soda (lye), its safer, usually more aggressive, and won't harm the steel. All the idiots that are cooking meth in their house trailers have fixed it so we can't buy a can of lye anymore but old fashioned oven cleaner is pretty close.

mike
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Re: Gas tank rust removal Q

#6

Post by NightShift »

No lye no lie?
Dig a hole, this world is doomed!

When CNN says they just cracked a lab making TONS, it seems stupid to keep granpa from getting a can for washing down the kennel. Thank you NannyState.

About sealers Doc, there isnt much sense in putting something you dont need in your tanks thats gonna cause you grief later.
The chemicals to remove it will be illegal when we wake up tomorrow.

The NightShift
sleeper
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Re: Gas tank rust removal Q

#7

Post by sleeper »

doc308 wrote:Thank you. Actually, I have some battery acid (sulfuric) left over from filling my battery. Would that be OK vs the muriatic acid ? Also--why no sealer?
I use Por15 with excellent results & with the ethanol blended fuels.. It lasts & you can forget about rust..
http://www.por15.com/Fuel-System-Restor ... oducts/12/
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Re: Gas tank rust removal Q

#8

Post by Cotten »

POR-15 lasted 15 minutes for me.

It softened, expanded, and wrinkled in P4gas when I tested it a few years ago.
Caswell's two-part baked epoxy lasted a couple of months.
The unknown red stuff in the photo lasted over half a decade, until it suddenly turned fluid again.

Why gamble at all?

If you have holes in a tank, please fix them properly!

...Cotten
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Re: Gas tank rust removal Q

#9

Post by mbskeam »

doug_heisel
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Re: Gas tank rust removal Q

#10

Post by doug_heisel »

YUck and I used to like liver. I have two packages of creem sitting on a shelf in my garage now I was thinking of using them then was told the red liner is better. After reading these posts I'm glad I decided not to use any liner on my after market tanks. Thanks for preventing future headaches
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Re: Gas tank rust removal Q

#11

Post by VPH-D »

Muriatic acid works well, cut it by half with water. Wear long gloves, safety glasses, face shield, crappy jeans, etc.
VPH-D
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Re: Gas tank rust removal Q

#12

Post by NightShift »

Dear Doug,

If your Kreem bottles are sealed tight since the late eighties, it might just be the best around.

New Kreem ain't what she used to be.

But the BossLady's machine (which I gotta fix) still has it with no funkiness from the pump pee. And it actually ran Saturday night!
(They took the dam dog in the hack instead of me.)

That stuff would be priceless to a dude with a VL or a Chief. If'n you know whut I mean.

The NightShift.
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Re: Gas tank rust removal Q

#13

Post by plattd »

Doug--I've had really good success with the POR-15 tank sealer. I followed the prep directions carefully. I've had it in a couple of tanks now for over five years and it's still solid as a rock. The Kreem a prior owner had put in one tank had sagged off like on old bag. I used the nuts and shake routine plus a lot of hot water and a big bottle brush.
David
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Re: Gas tank rust removal Q

#14

Post by doug_heisel »

Do tanks really need sealers? If so There's a guy a block away that will do all the dirty work for $45 and If it sags or what ever I can always take it back for a diferent lining. Do OEM tanks have liners?
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Re: Gas tank rust removal Q

#15

Post by FlatHeadSix »

Doug,
OEM tanks, then and now, have no "liner", the welded tanks were pickled (parkerized) when they left the factory. They didn't need a liner when new and they don't need one now. If they are rusted through, holes, then they should be welded up if possible.

Soldered tanks are a different story, like harley JD or VL tanks, or Indian tanks. The only way to salvage some of those is to coat the inside with some type of sealer. Your local guy is probably an old time radiator repair shop and I'll almost bet he uses RedCote to seal the tanks. The jury is still out on the red coat stuff but they claim it will hold up to modern fuels. I have a set of VL tanks that have been red coated, the tech people at the source have told me that all of the fuels they tested it with did not attack the properly applied and cured sealer. The one thing they did tell me, and they were VERY clear about it, the red coat does not like water. They told me that if I exposed the coating to water that it would break down. My tanks are still leak free and there is no loose rust floating around in them, but time will tell.

The red coat people also asked me if I had access to aviation fuel. They suggested that, if I lived near an airport where I could purchase aviation fuel, that I should run that. It sounded to me like they didn't really trust their own product.

mike
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