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Update on de-rusting inside of gas tank

  • Thread starter Thread starter Tamara
  • Start date Start date
T

Tamara

Guest
Vinegar is doing a wonderful job of getting rid of the rust. Tomorrow, I'll drain the vinegar out, rinse it and then spray wd40 on the inside if it looks good. If not, I'll replace the vinegar and give it another couple days of soaking.
 
Agemax said:
cool, did you take any pics so we can see some before and after shots?
Click to expand...

I tried but I couldn't get a good angle to show the rust inside. I should be able to get a picture of the floatie bits though before I drain it.
 
fantastic tank cleaning tutorial

fantastic tank cleaning tutorial

a sure fire way to clean a rusted tank is to put a bunch nuts and bolts and drywall screws inside it ..

Wrap "several" blankets (like 4) or foam all around it and secure them with duct tape.

place in clothes dryer on the FLUFF setting ( no heat) for a half hour or until your spouse finds out..which ever comes first.

Disclaimer:

THIS WORKS FANTASTIC BUT WILL ONLY WORK ONE TIME IF THE SPOUSE FINDS OUT!!

don't ask me how i know this
 
I've used this same process with great results but when people say to coat it quick with WD40 they mean it. You really don't have more than 10-15 minutes before the flash rust is starting something fierce. What I've done is opened up the petcock hole to drain the vinegar and at the same time stuck a garden hose in the fuel cap hole and had it running fast enough that it would fill the tank while it's draining. Let that go for a good 20 minutes or so and then let it drain and as soon as it is empty start spraying WD40 in there, I think I emptied at least 1/2 if not a bit more (it's cheap) in the tank. Although once I was using the tank right away so I just filled it to the brim with gas and that was that. Every time I clean a tank like this I do run an inline fuel filter for a few months 'just to make sure' nothing goes into the carbs.
 
barnbiketom said:
a sure fire way to clean a rusted tank is to put a bunch nuts and bolts and drywall screws inside it ..

Wrap "several" blankets (like 4) or foam all around it and secure them with duct tape.

place in clothes dryer on the FLUFF setting ( no heat) for a half hour or until your spouse finds out..which ever comes first.

Disclaimer:

THIS WORKS FANTASTIC BUT WILL ONLY WORK ONE TIME IF THE SPOUSE FINDS OUT!!

don't ask me how i know this
Click to expand...
not me, my wife would find it hilarious lol:D
 
The flash rusting can be really fast when you drain off the vinegar so you have to be very quick with the rinse and the WD40. Have everything to hand - stop for a few seconds to get something and it could be too long.
 
I agree that even though it was soaked and the vinegar dissolves much of the crud, you should do the nuts and bolts, aquarium rocks, pea gravel, bird shot..whatever you choose..and tumple the crap out of it to further knock and stubborn stuff out of the tank.

I did it twice with pea gravel on the 73 TX 750 tank and wad glad that I did...even after a 3 day vinegar soak much more came out with the aggitation process.
 
Oxalic acid works great, buy it at a pool supply store or hardware store in the paint department, it's called wood bleach. I used to use it for taking rust stains on plaster in pools. You'll be amazed how well it works on rust on nuts , bolts, chrome......Years of rust gone in 15-30 minutes. A couple of before and after. Won't hurt stickers or rubber, don't know about paint. Just keep it in the tank and not on the paint.
suzuki4.jpg

suzuki3.jpg

suzuki2.jpg


suzuki1.jpg
 
Last edited:
Is it safer then muriatic acid? Ive used phosphoric before but turned the rust into a hard, thick, black shell that was really difficult to get off.
 
barnbiketom said:
a sure fire way to clean a rusted tank is to put a bunch nuts and bolts and drywall screws inside it ..

Wrap "several" blankets (like 4) or foam all around it and secure them with duct tape.

place in clothes dryer on the FLUFF setting ( no heat) for a half hour or until your spouse finds out..which ever comes first.

Disclaimer:

THIS WORKS FANTASTIC BUT WILL ONLY WORK ONE TIME IF THE SPOUSE FINDS OUT!!

don't ask me how i know this
Click to expand...

I don't think my spouse has ever used our dryer ;).
 
azr said:
I've used this same process with great results but when people say to coat it quick with WD40 they mean it. You really don't have more than 10-15 minutes before the flash rust is starting something fierce. What I've done is opened up the petcock hole to drain the vinegar and at the same time stuck a garden hose in the fuel cap hole and had it running fast enough that it would fill the tank while it's draining. Let that go for a good 20 minutes or so and then let it drain and as soon as it is empty start spraying WD40 in there, I think I emptied at least 1/2 if not a bit more (it's cheap) in the tank. Although once I was using the tank right away so I just filled it to the brim with gas and that was that. Every time I clean a tank like this I do run an inline fuel filter for a few months 'just to make sure' nothing goes into the carbs.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the pointers. I'll have to pick up a can of wd40. I know we're almost out and I don't want to start to find out the can was emptier than I thought.
 
Suzooki said:
Oxalic acid works great, buy it at a pool supply store or hardware store in the paint department, it's called wood bleach. I used to use it for taking rust stains on plaster in pools. You'll be amazed how well it works on rust on nuts , bolts, chrome......Years of rust gone in 15-30 minutes. A couple of before and after. Won't hurt stickers or rubber, don't know about paint. Just keep it in the tank and not on the paint.
suzuki4.jpg

suzuki3.jpg

suzuki2.jpg


suzuki1.jpg
Click to expand...

I'm going to get some oxalic acid to do the external rust. I have rust spots on a lot of the same spots your pictures show.
 
I used Evaporust, left it in there for about a week, got rid of the rust and left a coating protecting the surface. Kinda pricy but you don't need to worry about it again and it's safe around paint and plastic and it's biodegradable.
 
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