How to clean out fuel tank?

   / How to clean out fuel tank? #11  
I cleaned out a Corvette fuel tank many years ago, it was a 1975 with a large opening for little kids to climb on the back and put sand and small rocks in it, I used a vacuum cleaner and a garden hose to get in the tank and suck sand and dirt and small rocks out, changed fuel filters and the car was great !
6 feet of garden hose and some duct tape and a vac will do the trick when you have all fuel out and dried and have fumes evacuated, they will not like the sparks from vacuum motor at all
 
   / How to clean out fuel tank?
  • Thread Starter
#12  
Well, here's the rest of the story.

First, the tank holds (I'm guessing) over 10 gallons of fuel, or maybe right at 10.

We've been running the tractor between its stopping so it had about a half tank.

I bought a new yellow can and drained as much into it as I could. I topped the already topped backhoe off and with that 2 pints voided, was able to take the tractor tank to about 100% dry.

Upon looking in there which was VERY difficult to do I might add, I saw nothing. I really expected to see a fist sized amount of leaves, muck, sticks, stones or maybe even the lost pair of socks that go into my dryer but never come out :eek:

NOTHING

:confused: :confused: :confused:

I KNOW for a fact that this is where the issue is because of the no flow situation I have at the fuel filter (then after blowing air through it, a GUSHER of fuel)

I kept looking....

Finally, I'm forced to belive that I found it.

About 1/4" long and maybe just a bit thicker than a pencil lead. I don't know if it was a twig or some compressed dirt but I happened to have one of those reaching tools with a claw on the end and was able to extract it.

That is the ONLY thing I saw in there that was too big to fit through the fuel hole.

Also... I started the tractor up (prior to drying the tank out 100%) and was intrigued to see the amount of fuel returning from the return line. What THAT inferred to me was just how much was being sucked into the feed side. If I have that much being fed into the feed side, then just perhaps this little twig WAS enough to be caught in the flow and become an unwitting plug.

I also took the filter off and found some more "bits" in there that have made their way through so it's quite possible that I might have had a plug that has since broken up and been sucked out. I told my wifes cousin (tractor owner) that he might want to pick up another filter just so we can throw this one away.

The tractor was refueled and is now waiting for use. I'll be interested to see if we have any more issues.
 
   / How to clean out fuel tank? #13  
Richard said:
Finally, I'm forced to belive that I found it.

About 1/4" long and maybe just a bit thicker than a pencil lead. I don't know if it was a twig or some compressed dirt but I happened to have one of those reaching tools with a claw on the end and was able to extract it.

That is the ONLY thing I saw in there that was too big to fit through the fuel hole.


The tractor was refueled and is now waiting for use. I'll be interested to see if we have any more issues.

Mornin Richard,
If thats the worst that has happened so far I would consider you lucky ! ;) I will be waiting to see how the tractor performs now !
 
   / How to clean out fuel tank? #14  
Ive been watching this thread to see solutions. I have a case 970 with what looks like sedimate in the tank kinda looks like paint that has been stripped. Note that this tractor had been sitting for a while before i bought it. Ive took the tank off and tried rinsing it out no small feat here it has a 50 gallon tank but i still have the junk in it. A pressure washer wont work due to the shape of the tank no way to reach it all. Any ideas out there?
 
   / How to clean out fuel tank? #15  
Your solution reminds me of a similar occurrence I had a few years ago with a D-14 Allis. The tractor would start to stall when it got to about 1/4 tank. Looked and looked, problem plagued me all summer, till I finally cpotted the culprit, floating in the gas. Key word here is floating, as in sits on the surface of the gas, until the tank gets low, then it gets sucked down into the inlet of the bowl. It was a big bumble bee!:D Remember to check the top surface of the fuel, too:D
 

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