Gas tank cleaning?

[BRIAN E. SEAS]

Hello; Everyone in the 6x6 world! I have a question I was hoping someone could help me with and that is what is the best way to clean out a yucky 2-stroke gas tank? Thanks Brian

[LarryW]

Hey Brian,
Is your tank steel or plastic? Is it old residue or debris? I have had good luck with pulling it out and spraying the power washer in them. If its real bad maybe you can use an engine degreaser spray? Then use an air hose to get the water out. Let it sit in sun to get any last remaining water out. Then I put alcohol in the gas in case any is left. Replace fuel filter and good to go. I like using the clear plastic inline filters so you can visually see the dirt.

[racerone3]

i remove the tank, throw in a handful of bolts (not stainless) and dump in a half gallon of acetone.put the cap on and shake the tank around for a while then dump out the acetone. squirt in some dawn dish soap and water, shake it around again, then stick a garden hose in there and run it till all the soap is out. then dump in a bottle of rubbing alcohol (the alcohol absorbs the left over water and will evaporate out of the tank quickly), shake one more time. dump it out, and blow it dry with compressed air. then use a magnet to fish out the bolts (hence the "not stainless"). tank will be clean. i've had good luck with this method on both metal and plastic tanks.

[LTV KID]

clean

I dont know about plastic but for sure if it is metal u should buy some stuff called KREEM it is meant for old gas tanks on motorcycles. I got mine from a motorcycle store. But it is a three step process the first step is a lot like the guys advice from above u put bolts in get all the loose debris out then you put acid it comes with in there and repeat the shaking and then you rinse with a solution that comes with the kit to get all the grease out then it comes with a solution to seal the gas tank. MY tank turned out real nice! the only down fall is it cost me 35$ but worked real nice.

[BRIAN E. SEAS]

Hey Guys; Thanks for the input! I used a combination of all. I'm glad you mentioned about the stainless nuts and bolts, I wasn't thinking about getting them out, and all I had was stainless,so I went to my friends shop and raided his bolt bin, looks almost new other than obvious stains. Thanks again! As for the Kreem Kote system it works great I've saved countless bike tanks with that stuff! Thanks again everyone, Brian

[bierbower37]

For the long haul check out a farm equipment store for tank lining service. Some of them will do it for you and its really cheap they'll clean and line the inside of the tank. Very durable and easier to clean in the future. I do it to all metal tanks on equipment.

[Jeff t-boss]

An old trick we used to use on steel tanks was to put about 1/4 capacity of small stones/p-gravel in it and put it in a paint shaker for about 1/2 hour. Then dump out the stones and rinse twice with rubbing alcohol. Did a great job.