Large block of solid fuel in my tank, blocking pickup

[ljellio]

Kinda has the color of a piece of foam rubber. Does it smoke alot when burned?

 

[Diamondpilot]

I wonder if its not the result of some bad bio diesel? Maybe a home brew of oil and fuel or used automotive products like some ATF that had a chemical reaction that set up hard as rock.

Chris

 

[beenthere]

Diamondpilot
You might be onto something. Maybe someone just poured in some used vegetable oil, and these are the settlings? Deepfried chitlins or something.

 

[Gary Fowler]

I know plastic is made from oil but it takes more than just a chemical reaction, it takes a lot of heat also to make it transform. I stil say someone poured some type of polymer chemical into the tank either on purpose or for reasons that made sense to them. Perhaps it was some kind of tank liner that you use on rusty steel tanks, who knows. You should be able to saw it into smaller pieces and remove them.

 

[Zephrant]

Some more good suggestions-

Dave- The wire idea is great, but the material is so hard I don't think I could get enough torque on it without breaking the wire. I've have thought about attaching it to a battery and making it a hot wire, but insulating it to prevent a short would not be trivial. I'm also somewhat paranoid about an fire.

Leaving it in there may be the best idea- if I flip the block upside down, it no longer blocks the outlet and might be fine. But I'm too OCD to do that- I could not stand the idea of that block in there, waiting for the best time to strand me on the tractor by plugging the outlet, or breaking off a piece to clog the line.

When it burns it leaves a black carbon residue, a little like charred plastic. It does light pretty easily (about like diesel would), and sustains a smoky flame.

I'm heading out to do battle with it soon- I don't have an air nibbler, but I'm going to try the hammer/screwdriver, pruning shears, and whatever else I can get though the 2.5" neck hole.

 

[dcyrilc]

Some more good suggestions-

Dave- The wire idea is great, but the material is so hard I don't think I could get enough torque on it without breaking the wire. I've have thought about attaching it to a battery and making it a hot wire, but insulating it to prevent a short would not be trivial. I'm also somewhat paranoid about an fire.

Leaving it in there may be the best idea- if I flip the block upside down, it no longer blocks the outlet and might be fine. But I'm too OCD to do that- I could not stand the idea of that block in there, waiting for the best time to strand me on the tractor by plugging the outlet, or breaking off a piece to clog the line.

When it burns it leaves a black carbon residue, a little like charred plastic. It does light pretty easily (about like diesel would), and sustains a smoky flame.

I'm heading out to do battle with it soon- I don't have an air nibbler, but I'm going to try the hammer/screwdriver, pruning shears, and whatever else I can get though the 2.5" neck hole.

Keep us posted on how it goes. You certianly have in interesting problem here. I supose the worst thing that could happen is that you puncture the tank and have to buy a new one.

 

[simonds]

Maybe suck it up to the hole with a shop vac. Then nibble at it with pliers or something. Maybe sit bottom (a flat area) of the tank on a peice of solid board then hammer it with a soft metal drift or a wooden stick. If it breaks up dump it out or suck it out with the shop vac.

 

[Diamondpilot]

You said it was a rental I think, need to go back and check. Maybe someone put some crap in the tank so it would show full when they returned it because they were too cheap to buy a few gallons of diesel?

Chris

 

[CurlyDave]

It sort of depends on what a new tank costs, but as a last resort, consider choosing the easiest to repair spot on the tank, say the largest flat spot you can find, and cut it out with a jig saw. Remove the offending mass through this hole and then repair it with sheet metal, a gasket, and lots of small nuts & bolts.

 

[Zephrant]

Well, it turns out that brute force was a workable plan. I was able to use my longest screwdriver and a dead-blow hammer, to whack the snot out of it. It took about an hour to break it up and get it out, then flush the tank with gasoline, then with diesel.

I'm pretty concerned about remaining grunge. I hope the fuel filter protects the engine. I'll get a new filter soon, and have it on-tractor in case I get clogged up.

Thanks all for the help- I still have no idea how it happened, but at least I'm ready for the next snow.

 

[dcyrilc]

Awesome job.:thumbsup:

 

[Zephrant]

Got some seat time today. I am still having some minor issues- full throttle, up-hill can cause the sight-glass around the fuel filter to go empty, and the engine to starve.

I have not put on a new filter yet, maybe can get one on Saturday, so maybe that will help.

But it is certainly much better than it was.

 

[beenthere]

Good on ya to get this far.
Maybe a fuel line included with the filter, as this junk may have solidified in the fuel line going out of the tank as well. Wouldn't be surprised if it contaminated past the filter as well.

 

[aczlan]

Good on ya to get this far.
Maybe a fuel line included with the filter, as this junk may have solidified in the fuel line going out of the tank as well. Wouldn't be surprised if it contaminated past the filter as well.

I agree, fuel line is cheap. Get 6 feet of the right size stuff and an in-line filter. That way if there is anything left in the tank, it will get picked up before it hits the injection pump.

Aaron Z

 

[Zephrant]

Good idea, will do. I did blow out the line with the compressor when I had it out, but replacing would be best.

 

[RalphVa]

It's probably wax dropped out of the fuel. This usually only happens at 10 F or below.

Had 2 little globs of wax plug the outlet line on my 4010 last winter. Siphoned the tank and then fished the globs out with a grabber tool.

Only way to melt the wax is probably with very hot kerosene. No easy way to safely heat it hot enough (180 F about) to do this, probably. Hot kero is what we washed wax off our filter with in propane dewaxing.

Ralph

 

[slowzuki]

Looks like a can of tank sealant was poured in the tank and left to cure. Its supposed to poured in an empty dry tank and rolled around to seal small cracks and leaks.

 

[RalphVa]

Wow! Didn't take time to look at other posts before.

Can't imagine what caused such a massive amount of solid material.

Ralph

 

[Diamondpilot]

Wow! Didn't take time to look at other posts before.

Can't imagine what caused such a massive amount of solid material.

Ralph

I still think its a bad bio diesel mix. I know he is not the original owner so who knows what the last guy did to save a few bucks?

Chris

 

[Zephrant]

I changed the fuel filter and still had the same issue- the fuel just barely drips out of the fuel line.

I suspected a clogged line, so bought some new line and tore it apart again. Turns out the line was OK (but cracking some so I replaced it anyway), but there were a few tiny 1/8" pieces of the same yellow crap that packed together and clogged the tiny drain hole in the blow-molded tank.

I had pulled the fuel line off of the filter housing and put in in a can to drain the tank before I went to the store. Two hours later about 1 gallon had come out, and there was another gallon left.

I eventually pulled the tank and poured the remaining fuel out though the vent line holes.

I got the particles out and put it all back together. I'm filtering the fuel going back in though a blue paper towel over a screen, the closest I've got to a decent filter. It takes about 15 minutes a quart to go though.

We are getting 2-4 inches of snow tonight, so in the morning I'll give her a try again.