Crap in the tank, possible fixes...

[cheater_5]

Hey guys.
So i have some shit in the fuel tank of my ute. Found that out by it stuttering quite a bit and me pulling over.
Seeing there is fuel in the bowl of the hitachi but no fuel in the filter before the pump. I turned the filter around
trying to see if there really wasnt anything in there and theres a large patch of brown crap in the filter. Its a pretty new filter too.

I have had the tank out before and have previously blown the fuel lines out. Obviously there was some shite in the tank still that i missed or it was stuck to the side and has come off.

SO just wanting to know a few things and possibly figure some fixes.

I have to drain and pull the tank and clean out the lines and add a new filter.
Was thinking about using some kero or degreaser or something in the can of one of those compressed air cleaner guns that i have to try remove the grim from in there. Another idea was taking it to somewhere who had a steam cleaner and trying to spray it out?

Whats the inside of the factory 1200 tank lined with? Is it galvanised or painted or what?
Was thinking the steam cleaner might remove the paint if i used that. I dont want rust forming.

Any ideas? Some of you might know how incredibly lame it is trying to disconnect and connect the filler hoses on a 1200 ute fuel tank, not looking forward to that at all.

[mint16]

the tanks not lined with anything on the inside that i can see, mine is just bare metal on the inside, but may have been treated when produced, whether its some protectant process or whatever.
i guess remove the tank for starters and see what you find, i thought that this tank you fitted was fairly mint?
when i refitted my tank (with the panels in my tray still fitted) i had a real fucken hassle of getting the large filler hose to mount to the tank, and i was worried that id get crap (ie. tecktill and dirt mix ) in the system.
petrol is a fairly good cleaner, so thought that if theres any crap in the tank, that it would just get broken down and diluted, or collected by the filter.
who knows, maybe this shit in your tank is just the remainder from when you swapped tanks previously, once its gone you may never have the same problem again.

[cheater_5]

the tank i fitted was pretty mint... comared to the FILTHY one that was in there.
Blew out the lines about a million times after getting the parts ute one in.
Yea i thought about the whole petrol breaking down process aswell and it does seem quite odd. Even more so that ive driven it for so long.
Maybe there was crap in some new fuel i put in. Cant trust those petrol stations these days
Think i will remove the line from the tank and try pushing some petrol through the line with compressed air. Might be something stuck in the actual line.
Id be stoked it that was it and i didnt have to drop the tank. Would rather remove the whole engine then that farking tank, even with the access panels open

[mint16]

yeh that was my other thought, some crap fuel.
i never want to remove my tank again!!!

[nzdatman]

it's probably rust flaking off the inside. The tanks are just plain steel on the inside no coating or anything and they do rust if there is any moisture in there.
I had a problem where my petrol tank leaked all through the back of the car, was wondering where the petrol smell was coming from for ages, then found the rear mats were soaking in a pool of petrol. It was actually a perished rubber that caused the leak but when I got the inside of the car sand blasted to clean it up to repaint it the sand rebounding off the floor put holes in the bottom of the tank where it was rusted so thin. I patched the holes up (the whole tank was mint inside except for one spot where the water obviously sat in the bottom of the tank) and then finally getting to the point which might help you is that I painted the inside of the tank with a special paint which coats and seals the inside to stop this sort of thing happening. I think it might have been that POR brand.

[cheater_5]

i looked at por15 a while ago for under chassic coating and its quite $$$ but i would be keen to seal it with something

[Bartman]

POR make a fuel tank specific sealer product. If there's shit in your tank, maybe put some gas in there with some large stones and sloose it around to dislodge and rust with some gas. Tank sealer is a good idea, but it aint cheap

[nzdatman]

it wasn't that expensive and it beats the alternative

[cheater_5]

awwww, pulling the tank tomorow morning.
I blew out the lines through to the tank it it worked marv for about half the test drive.... lame.

[mint16]

would it work to remove the drain bolt and tip fuel down the filler tube and see if you can flush out any crap???
mite save you from removing the tank, unless the tank is rusty on the inside and needs a steamclean or whatever.