Motorbike Forums


Reply
Thread Tools Display Modes

FOAK: Best way to clean the inside of a steel motorcyle tank?

 
 
FOAK
Guest
Posts: n/a
 
      03-10-2010, 05:44 PM

You folks are and endless supply of kindness and good will and now I
return to ask your advice:

Old tank, the debris from it is plugging up the carbs.

Some methods: fill tank with diluted muriatic acid, drain and flush.

Fill tank with diluted naval jelly, drain and flush.

Fill tank with acetone, drain and flush.

Fill tank with 50/50 chlorine bleach and water, drain and flush.

Any others?

Thanks in advance,

Biker Dude
 
Reply With Quote
 
 
 
 
paul c
Guest
Posts: n/a
 
      03-10-2010, 05:56 PM
FOAK wrote:
> You folks are and endless supply of kindness and good will and now I
> return to ask your advice:
>
> Old tank, the debris from it is plugging up the carbs.
>
> Some methods: fill tank with diluted muriatic acid, drain and flush.
>
> Fill tank with diluted naval jelly, drain and flush.
>
> Fill tank with acetone, drain and flush.
>
> Fill tank with 50/50 chlorine bleach and water, drain and flush.
>
> Any others?
>
> Thanks in advance,
>
> Biker Dude


1) Evapo-rust (available in Canada, don't know where else) is rather
'green', stronger than other mild acids but still save to pour down the
drain, although it is re-usable. Have used it twice on 20-year old
tanks that had mild rust including loose rust - it took about three
hours each, just plugged up the holes, put two litres in (cost $20),
propped tank at various angles for 20 minutes each, after each rotation
gave it a shake with a two handsful of small smooth river stones (from
the dollar store). About to try on some thick rust, looks about 1/8"
inch thick. After emptying the evapo-rust, used a few capsful of methyl
hydrate to dry, re-attached petcock (evapo-rust can hurt rubber seals)
and filled immediately with fresh gasoline. If that doesn't work am
going to try 2).

2) Electrolysis, small dumb battery charger, chunk of old iron, washing
sode, water, plastic tub. Only disadvantage I can see is that one may
have to re-paint an external tank afterwards. The left-overs are also
flushable.

 
Reply With Quote
 
'Hog
Guest
Posts: n/a
 
      03-10-2010, 06:19 PM
FOAK wrote:
> You folks are and endless supply of kindness and good will and now I
> return to ask your advice:
>
> Old tank, the debris from it is plugging up the carbs.
>
> Some methods: fill tank with diluted muriatic acid, drain and flush.
>
> Fill tank with diluted naval jelly, drain and flush.
>
> Fill tank with acetone, drain and flush.
>
> Fill tank with 50/50 chlorine bleach and water, drain and flush.
>
> Any others?
>
> Thanks in advance,


Two litre bottle of non diet Coke and a handful of M8 nuts. Good old shake
around and leave the juice in there for a few hours, moving it around.
Works every time.

Just flush it all out properly with water afterwards and let it dry in the
airing cupboard of an evening.

--
Hog


 
Reply With Quote
 
crn@NOSPAM.netunix.com
Guest
Posts: n/a
 
      03-10-2010, 06:31 PM
In uk.rec.motorcycles.classic FOAK <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:
>
> You folks are and endless supply of kindness and good will and now I
> return to ask your advice:
>
> Old tank, the debris from it is plugging up the carbs.
>
> Any others?


First drain it and dry it out. Remove the drain tap assembly.
Then insert a beermug full of fine gravel, fit the fuel cap and shake
until your arms hurt. Take a rest and repeat twice.
Empty out the gravel and shite, rince with petrol, dry out then treat
with tank sealant.

--
03 GS500K2
76 Honda 400/4 project
68 Bantam D14/4 Sport (Classic)
06 Sukida SK50QT (Slanty eyed shopping trolley)
 
Reply With Quote
 
`
Guest
Posts: n/a
 
      03-10-2010, 06:54 PM
On Mar 10, 9:44*am, FOAK <jacobsenpa...@hotmail.com> wrote:

> Old tank, the debris from it is plugging up the carbs.


Buy a Kreem gas tank sealing kit.

It contains phosphoric(?) acid for removing the rust and a liquid
epoxy for sealing the etched surface so it won't rust as quickly as if
you'd just left it bare.

If you google back in rec.motorcycles.tech you will also see
references to a similar product called POR-something or other.
 
Reply With Quote
 
The Older Gentleman
Guest
Posts: n/a
 
      03-10-2010, 08:15 PM
FOAK <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:

> You folks are and endless supply of kindness and good will and now I
> return to ask your advice:
>
> Old tank, the debris from it is plugging up the carbs.
>
> Some methods: fill tank with diluted muriatic acid, drain and flush.
>
> Fill tank with diluted naval jelly, drain and flush.
>
> Fill tank with acetone, drain and flush.
>
> Fill tank with 50/50 chlorine bleach and water, drain and flush.
>
> Any others?
>
> Thanks in advance,
>

A nice dollop of ordinary petrol, several handfuls of nts and bolts or
nice clean gravel, replace tank cap, attach tank safely to a small
cement mixer, and let it churn and rotate for half an hour or so.

Remove nuts and bolts or gravel, flush with clean fuel, inspect and if
necessary repeat.


--
BMW K1100LT Ducati 750SS Honda CB400F Triumph Street Triple
Suzuki TS250ER GN250 Damn, back to six bikes!
Try Googling before asking a damn silly question.
chateau dot murray at idnet dot com
 
Reply With Quote
 
Rob Kleinschmidt
Guest
Posts: n/a
 
      03-10-2010, 11:21 PM
On Mar 10, 9:44 am, FOAK <jacobsenpa...@hotmail.com> wrote:
> You folks are and endless supply of kindness and good will and now I
> return to ask your advice:
>
> Old tank, the debris from it is plugging up the carbs.
>
> Some methods: fill tank with diluted muriatic acid, drain and flush.
>
> Fill tank with diluted naval jelly, drain and flush.
>
> Fill tank with acetone, drain and flush.
>
> Fill tank with 50/50 chlorine bleach and water, drain and flush.
>
> Any others?


I've had pretty good luck with a POR-15 tank treatment.

Three step POR-15 process:

1) Soak and rinse with lye to get out the hydrocarbon glop.

2) Fill with phosphoric acid solution and something like sheet
metal screws to knock off rust and loose liner. Soak, shake,
repeat as ambition dictates then drain and rinse.

3) POR-15 liner. Slosh around in tank, let sit for a while, then
drain.

The kit comes with better directions. This is from memory.
Watch out not to expose paint that you care about to the
various chemicals. Definitely remove the petcock(s) before
starting. Watch out for POR-15 and aluminum. (seems to
attack it).

POR-15 is supposed to work better than Kreme. There are
other treatments around too. I suspect the preparation part
would be the same for all.

 
Reply With Quote
 
Mike Buckley
Guest
Posts: n/a
 
      03-11-2010, 08:34 AM
In message
<04f1b7a8-9d52-41e4-993f-(E-Mail Removed)>, FOAK
<(E-Mail Removed)> writes
>
>You folks are and endless supply of kindness and good will and now I
>return to ask your advice:
>
>Old tank, the debris from it is plugging up the carbs.
>
>Some methods: fill tank with diluted muriatic acid, drain and flush.
>
>Fill tank with diluted naval jelly, drain and flush.
>
>Fill tank with acetone, drain and flush.
>
>Fill tank with 50/50 chlorine bleach and water, drain and flush.
>
>Any others?
>
>Thanks in advance,
>
>Biker Dude


If you don't fancy DIY there's a chap that advertises in the VJMC
Autojumble mag that can apparently return the inside of the tank to
shiny bright metal again, I'll dig out his number if anybody wants it.

--
Mike Buckley
RD350LC2
CB72
 
Reply With Quote
 
Dave Emerson
Guest
Posts: n/a
 
      03-12-2010, 01:40 PM

"FOAK" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:04f1b7a8-9d52-41e4-993f-(E-Mail Removed)...
>
> You folks are and endless supply of kindness and good will and now I
> return to ask your advice:


Many people will suggest a mechanical method of getting the crud out and, in
the past I would also have suggested "a handful of mixed nuts and a good
shake".

However, while this was fine for bikes of the mid-80's and earlier, which
tended to be made of thick-gauge steel and have a simple hole for the
filler, later bike tanks are usually made of much thinner steel and have a
neck in the filler.

This means that anything (nuts, stones, etc) you put in the tank can result
in embossing the surface (dents from the inside) and will be a bastard to
get them all out. I know two people who fell into this trap. The first
tried to sand down the small bumps and ended-up with a tank that was covered
in holes like it had been hit with a shotgun. The other ended-up with a big
dent in the side, as it hit the wall while he was trying to get the last
stones out. This had to be filled and each of the raised bumps had to be
knocked-back with a pein and filled, before the whole thing could be
repainted. The result was a mess and he bought a s/h tank and started
again, this time using 8mm nuts, with the idea he could fetch them out with
a magnet-ona-string; forgetting that the tank was made of steel...


--
Dave
ex Motorcycle Maintenance Workshop
http://tinyurl.com/4mhaw



 
Reply With Quote
 
The Older Gentleman
Guest
Posts: n/a
 
      03-13-2010, 07:59 AM
S'mee <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:

> On Mar 12, 6:50 pm, gus <aengusmaco...@gmail.com> wrote:
> > On Mar 12, 6:43 am, "Little Shista S'mee" <stevenkei...@hotmail.com>
> > wrote:
> >
> > > Ah...that makes sense now. What a pain in the fundiment.

> >
> > Well, that's what you want to release the "energy" in your "secret"
> > muladhara chakra.
> >
> > You can sit down hard or paddle your ass until it turns red.
> >
> > If you get a boner from doing that, stop and renew your brahmacharya
> > vows...

>
> Gee nazi, showing your deviant colours I see.


And morphing again.


--
BMW K1100LT Ducati 750SS Honda CB400F Triumph Street Triple
Suzuki TS250ER GN250 Damn, back to six bikes!
Try Googling before asking a damn silly question.
chateau dot murray at idnet dot com
 
Reply With Quote
 
 
 
Reply

Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Trackbacks are On
Pingbacks are On
Refbacks are Off



All times are GMT. The time now is 08:05 AM.

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9