How to clean gas tanks

[Tim Ko]

Good for you RP but my inclination is not to throw away a serviceable part. If you take it to its logical conclusion ... you probably should
throw away the whole truck; go to the Chevy dealer, pick out the color you want, sign your name on the dotted line and drive away with a brand new truck which has all brand new parts.
But, if you got the money and you have a short fuse and want to get it done quick ... it's the way to go.

I'm on the fence. For me, I'll get a borescope and take a look first and go from there.

 

[highdesertrange]

if the tanks are empty just drop them pull off the sending unit and look inside. you could replace the rubber lines while you are at it. highdesertranger

 

[rpcraft]

Well, I will shamefully admit, in my case I'm doing an LS swap so it was more about swapping to the tank that had a baffle so I can have the in tank fuel pump so it was more about solving a problem, rather than tossing an old part. In fact aside from being dirty looking my old tank was in good enough shape that it is living on with an owner who did the Blazer fuel tank in his C10.

 

[fussfeld]

If i could hijack the thread and ask another, related question:

How do you clean the tank out so that you don't get blown to the moon if you want to do some welding, cutting or drilling on it?

 

[shiftpro]

If i could hijack the thread and ask another, related question:

How do you clean the tank out so that you don't get blown to the moon if you want to do some welding, cutting or drilling on it?

I didn't say this but my post was outlining the way to get this job done... steam clean...

 

[smoothandlow84]

I filled my old tank with a handfull of bb's. I then poured a gallon of white vinegar, shook the tank vigourously for mins, dumped, refilled and repeated the process. After the loose crap was flushed out with fresh gas, I let it dry overnight. Any residual sediment was trapped by the $10 inline fuel filter.

 

[idahovette]

If i could hijack the thread and ask another, related question:

How do you clean the tank out so that you don't get blown to the moon if you want to do some welding, cutting or drilling on it?

Used to work with an old guy that left a tank filled with gas to weld on. He said they won't blow if they are full, just burn . NOBODY stuck around when he welded on them. The other way is to fill with water ,leaking side up and weld

 

[Lowered87]

I have welded on fuel tanks before. I duct taped a 1.5 inch poly pipe to the exhaust of another diesel truck and threaded the other end into the fuel tank. Close off as much of the openings in the tank to be repaired but leave a small opening as far away from the exhaust pipe entrance spot as possible. Run the other vehicle while doing any work and continue until your work spot is cool enough to touch. The exhaust from the diesel displaces the oxygen and pressures the tank so no oxygen will enter while you are working and during the cooling period. Do this somewhere well ventilated unless you want to take the final dirt nap.

 

[Lowered87]

Check out Rockauto for the lowest price on fuel pieces. You can buy a 20 gallon tank made by Liland Global for 65 USD. Sending units are very inexpensive although I did see a driver side sending unit (3 outlet Spectra Premium) for $19.99 on Amazon. AC Delco is $130!! I redid my entire fuel system because when I really searched, I could find all of the parts less costly online. Shipping can add up so in my case the local Carquest was selling a Dorman tank for $100 USD. The Dorman tanks have a really nice coating on the exterior of the tank. Even though the last guy that owned my truck replaced the driver side tank with a Spectra Premium, the Dorman tank is a much nicer build. LMC had the lowest cost on filler and vent hoses for the filler pipe. The filler neck was the one thing that was expensive but now my fuel system is brand new and correct from locking gas cap to my Edlebrock fuel pump. After the selector valve (AC Delco U7000 3 port purchaced from Rockauto) I added a solenoid fuel valve shutoff for added security. It takes time but you can find some good deals online that can lower the costs of fuel system replacement. All of my slightly used parts can become swap meet specials.

 

[MikeB]

When I bought my truck it was running, but I suspect it had sat for years at a time. After driving it for 3-4 years, I recently drained and dropped the tank expecting rust and junk inside, but the insides were shiny, and only a few tiny bits of debris came out. It was so nice, I just sloshed around the remaining gas, and dumped it into container.

This little pump will suck the gas out of your tank like you wouldn't believe. They claim 2 gallons/minute and I saw no reason to doubt it. You can then take a look at the gas to get some idea of what the tank looks like inside. And if you drop the tank and remove the filler hose, you can literally look down inside it. In some cases it may be easier to unbolt the bed and slide it back. There was no way I could loosen the fuel lines and sender wire w/o removing the bed (which I wanted to do anyway), but mine is a short bed so your tank filler, hoses, and sender may be easier to get to. ???

Performance Tool W1156

https://www.oreillyauto.com/detail/.../performance-tool-transfer-pump/w1156/4613609

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[MikeB]

And here is the pump!

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[WesN]

I just removed both my tanks. One was totally rusted inside the other look spotless and shiny but when I pulled the front plastic shield off there was external rust and while scraping it with a screw driver it poked a hole. Don’t just look inside, pull the rock shield and check outside rust as well.

 

[peats]

cleaned and painted my tank on my '81 c10 short step. about a month after filling and starting it the tank started leaking. a little over $100 @ LMC truck. probably less from rock auto. money well spent!

 

[jake wells]

new tank is my vote.

 

[shiftpro]

Let's all get tanked!