Fuel Tank Cleaning

Kevin Butler · **Posted:** Sun Oct 25, 2009 9:30 pm

Pulled the tank out of the E30 this afternoon. Glad I did...yuck! I think I now know why it was hard to start.

I guess the first idea I have for cleaning is to get it tanked at a radiator shop. Will they do that?

Plan B would be some kind of DIY cleaning. I've seen a product referenced called Rusteco. I've also seen some processes mention that involve muratic acid.

Bottom line, I'm looking for the easiest way to resolve the problem short of tank replacement - unless it's more cost effective.

What kind of good/bad methods do you guys know about?

BretLuter · **Posted:** Sun Oct 25, 2009 9:45 pm

Radiator shop should be able to do it, not sure about cost.

But, if you're going to the trouble of dropping the tank, you can probably clean it out yourself just fine. You can use a solution of various acid, depending on how bad it's rusted. If it's not rusty, I'd skip the acid and use some sort of degreaser/solvent to get the crud out.

If it's cruddy, then the in-tank pump is likely dead too.

Someone sells new non-oem tanks fairly cheap on Ebay- ~$175 I think, Grassroots Motorsports did a write up on this a while back when they put one in their specE30 project car. You can try to find a good used tank too, but they're getting harder to find (like all E30 parts) and you'll probably spend $100 on a good one.

Richard Casto · **Posted:** Mon Oct 26, 2009 8:03 am

I am assuming this is an all steel tank? This is a common topic in the 914 world. The 914 has an all steel tank and after nearly 40 years they need to be cleaned and coated/painted inside and out.

There are a number of DIY kits (usually involves acid, nuts and bold and chains in tank and lots of shaking). Those work, but I hear having a radiator shop hot tank the tank is very cheap (less than $100?) and probably does a better job. Not to mention it's probably easier than doing it yourself. Supposedly shops can also coat the interior once they clean the tank. I plan to have a radiator shop clean my 914 tank and then I will coat it myself with a DIY coating solution. There is a number of places you can get tank coating kits.

Steven Carter · **Posted:** Mon Oct 26, 2009 10:57 am

Kevin,

I had a good experience with taking my 35-year old Z gas tank to be cleaned/hot-tanked and coated by Sapp's radiator in Garner. I know it's not near Greenville, but I'm also sure they are not the only shop that does it. ~$300 did my gas tank as well as my radiator (cleaned and repaired). If you get it coated, the shop told me race fuel will make it slough off, and the jury is out on the impact on the coating by fuels with an ethanol content greater than E15...that said, I've had no problems on the Z (confirmed by using a clear fuel filter housing to check for flaking/chunks etc) after two years and about 1500 miles. My info is only current to 2007, so there may be some new products or improvements on existing ones.

I've heard both good and bad stories about using products from POR-15, Eastwood and RedKote...I suspect it, like everything coating-related, is dependent on the level of prepwork and overall tank condition. I decided to trust a pro for the job mainly because (a) they do this everyday and (b) I didn't want my yard to become a SuperFund site if something happened. YMMV and all that...

http://www.gastankrenu.com/

Might also be an option, but I've had no direct experience with them.

Good luck!

Kevin Butler · **Posted:** Tue Oct 27, 2009 11:39 am

The cheapest I can get a new tank for is $265 shipped. So it looks like I'll be cleaning/sealing a tank myself.

Jim Levie posted a very detailed description of how he sealed his tank using Eastwood product on SpecE30. For those of you who don't know of him, Jim Levie is a really sharp guy in the Spec E30 crowd.

So, I can get a cleaner/sealer kit from Eastwood for $50. Before I do any actual internal tank cleaning, I'm going to make every effort to get it hot tanked. If the local G'ville radiator shop won't do it, I'll see how pricey my motor shop guy is. Otherwise, I suppose I'll be investing heavily in Muriatic acid.

Richard Casto · **Posted:** Tue Oct 27, 2009 12:16 pm

Kevin Butler wrote:

The cheapest I can get a new tank for is $265 shipped. So it looks like I'll be cleaning/sealing a tank myself.

Jim Levie posted a very detailed description of how he sealed his tank using Eastwood product on SpecE30. For those of you who don't know of him, Jim Levie is a really sharp guy in the Spec E30 crowd.

So, I can get a cleaner/sealer kit from Eastwood for $50. Before I do any actual internal tank cleaning, I'm going to make every effort to get it hot tanked. If the local G'ville radiator shop won't do it, I'll see how pricey my motor shop guy is. Otherwise, I suppose I'll be investing heavily in Muriatic acid.

Kevin, if you can, post back here as to what your quote is from a radiator shop as I need to do this myself and I am curious as to what they say.

Richard

WalterHouston · **Posted:** Tue Oct 27, 2009 2:38 pm

That is a lot for a gas tank. I have an extra one if you want to see if it is better than the one you have. It came out of Rob's 1992 E30 parts car.

About 15 years ago I cleaned and coated a gas tank. I used a chain to mechanically clean it before the acid that came with the kit. I've had no problems with the gas and the tank was very rusty.

I'd coat one before paying $265.00!

Wasn't it a bitch to get out?

Kevin Butler · **Posted:** Tue Oct 27, 2009 7:25 pm

It wasn't that bad because I already had the exhaust, drive shaft and rear suspension out.

Today I found tanks on Ebay for $175 delivered. It was the same vendor that GRM used for their Spec E30. I think I'm going to pop for it.

I'll easily have $80 - $100 spent on materials just to do the job. There's also the unknown radiator shop expense - I haven't gotten it priced but I bet it won't be under say, $40. So now I'm up to $120-$140(potentially) so I can spend a day and a half making an infernal mess! I think I'll pass on the opportunity.

My car is equipped with the 14.5 gallon tank. I was hoping i could update to the 16.6 gallon tank (can you say enduro killa?). GRM originally misordered a 14.5 gallon tank for their chassis that used a 16.6 gallon tank. They couldn't get it to fit. I guess that is a hint that I probably won't be able to fit a 16.6 gallon tank in my 14.5 gallon chassis.

I also want to get rid of the dual fuel pump system and go with one high pressure intank pump. Anybody know which Walbro might fit?

BretLuter · **Posted:** Tue Oct 27, 2009 7:58 pm

BretLuter wrote:

Someone sells new non-oem tanks fairly cheap on Ebay- ~$175 I think, Grassroots Motorsports did a write up on this a while back when they put one in their specE30 project car.

Kevin Butler wrote:

Today I found tanks on Ebay for $175 delivered. It was the same vendor that GRM used for their Spec E30. I think I'm going to pop for it.

Seems like I've seen that somewhere before........ :wink:

As for switching to the single-pump setup, you might want to get the later style E30 tank (88-up) if you're planning to do that. They came that way from the factory, and many people say that they are less prone to fuel starvation on track than the 2 pump system.

Sorry, can't help with the Walbro pump info- but if you can find the specs on the OEM pump, you should be able to match it up with an aftermarket pump that will work.

Kevin Butler · **Posted:** Tue Oct 27, 2009 9:53 pm

I'll save the bigger tank project for later. I gotta get this car done!

The factory repair manual calls for 3 bar pressure @ 875 cm^3/30 sec.

That converts to 43.5 psi and 105 LPH.

I can find Walbro in-line pumps at 144 LPH, and I think that would be an ok flow rate. But I want an in-tank unit.

There's a lot of in-tank 255 LPH Walbro vendors "for E30's". I think 255 LPH is overkill, but it seems to be the only in-tank offering I can find. I got news for ya', the GSS340 kits they're all selling are just Mustang kits. Kinda' like some of the supercharger stuff on my Miata - when in need try a Mustang part!

What's too much flow gonna do to me? Heat up the fuel from the excessive circulation? Maybe make tired injectors work better?

So it looks like for ~$275 I can get a new tank and fuel pump and have no worries.

THSCC Forums

Fuel Tank Cleaning

Who is online