dllubin
Don
About 6 weeks ago I cleaned my gas tank by filling it with detergent and water, draining it, pressure washing it, drying it with a blower, and then vacuuming the inside. A little over a week ago I put about 2 gallons of gas in it after the engine was back in. Over the course of a week or so, I ran the engine a number of times to get the car ready for its first drive in several decades. I went to start the car today and no go. I squirted a little gas in the carbs and it ran for a few seconds and died. I then noticed that the insides of both the pre-pump filter (Thanks Dr. Jeff for encouraging me to add it) and the post pump filter were totally black after being spotless yesterday. The fluid inside the filters and lines is a very dark, varnish-like, viscous mess.
My only hypothesis at this point is that letting gasoline sit for a week in the tank must have dissolved some gasoline soluble stuff on the sides of the tank and allowed it to go into solution. I siphoned out the remaining gas down as far as the fuel pickup tube would go and a little over half way clean looking gas started coming out again. I plan to remove the sender/pickup again, siphon out the remaining gas, and see what is going on inside.
Any advice on further cleaning? Gasoline seems to be an effective solvent but as I found out after emptying out the tank of 23 year old gasoline a few months ago, it is hard to get rid of as most the places around here that take motor oil won't touch it.
My only hypothesis at this point is that letting gasoline sit for a week in the tank must have dissolved some gasoline soluble stuff on the sides of the tank and allowed it to go into solution. I siphoned out the remaining gas down as far as the fuel pickup tube would go and a little over half way clean looking gas started coming out again. I plan to remove the sender/pickup again, siphon out the remaining gas, and see what is going on inside.
Any advice on further cleaning? Gasoline seems to be an effective solvent but as I found out after emptying out the tank of 23 year old gasoline a few months ago, it is hard to get rid of as most the places around here that take motor oil won't touch it.