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Best way to clean tank (inside)


GimPin

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I have a 98 that had a miss in it so I pulled the carbs and put them back in and it ran great ... but then a couple weeks later it started running like shit again .... when the tank was empty I shinned a light in it and there are little dots of build up all over the inside of the tank ... I think this crap is pushing though my carbs. What is the best way to clean this crap out of my tank so I dont have to keep cleaning the carbs. I read a write up on line about some laquer thinner and small washers to shake around in the tank followed by fishing them out with a magnet ... Thoughts? I dont want to get a washer stuck down around the fuel gauge...

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Empty the tank, and use a lighter to light up the interior to see better :icon_twisted:

Mount a filter on the line to the carbs, and renew it once a year. Problem solved.

No need to clean. New dirt will come filling it up again.

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Depends on what you mean when you say there's crap in the tank.

If it's dirt or silt, dismounting the tank and rinsing it out with a cleaning agent should be all it needs. Light to moderate rust can be dealt with by swishing around white vinegar to dissolve the rust. If only a light amount, you shouldn't need to recoat/seal the inside of the tank.

Don't do anything to scratch the inside of the tank. It'll ruin the existing coating that protects the metal and force you to reseal the tank. Most crap in tanks is introduced by what's put in it or letting it sit empty with condensation building up moisture over time.

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Empty the tank, and use a lighter to light up the interior to see better :icon_twisted:

Mount a filter on the line to the carbs, and renew it once a year. Problem solved.

No need to clean. New dirt will come filling it up again.

do you have a part nuber or should I use the likes of a lawnmower fuel filter ... I thought about the fuel filter idea but I was afraid it would be restrictive since they dont have a fuel pump

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You will need a fuel filter that has the filter surface area to allow some blockage and not kill your fuel delivery in 5 miles. Would suck to be on the bike and have to move fast and when you twist the throttle the bike chokes and stumbles.

I wouldn't use a lawnmower filter. Maybe look online for a motorcycle based filter.

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I would go with the first one as the surface area of the filter is far greater than that of the pancake filter.

Now I could be wrong, and maybe wait till someone with more experiance in this realm answers.

Would certainly take off the tank and do whatever to help get most out of there. Be just putting a cup of gas in there and swishing it around or whatever.. Might even see if letting it air out and drying will cause this crap to scale up and flake off.. I honestly don't know, might want to call around to see what some gas tank repair guys recommend.

I sent a gas tank off to Bob Brown at Empire GP a few yrs ago and he cleaned and lined the tank. Looked brand new on the inside as the coating was clear.. Unfortunatly he is no longer in business.

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I sent a gas tank off to Bob Brown at Empire GP a few yrs ago and he cleaned and lined the tank. Looked brand new on the inside as the coating was clear.. Unfortunatly he is no longer in business.

I was at Bob's when he had a tank from a very old motorcycle. Caked full of rust. He did the vinegar thing, and realized letting it sit wasn't enough. Rather than keep filling and emptying it, he filled it with vinegar and hooked in an air line to air pressure would agitate the vinegar endlessly.

Let that work overnight, and pretty much as much rust that could come out did come out.

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Square small black tank? Went under seat and not where a normal gas tank goes?

If so that was my wifes Virago tank. Its looked brand new inside, just some minor cleaning up on the connections and done.

Sad to see him out of business, he did some really freat work.

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Square small black tank? Went under seat and not where a normal gas tank goes?

If so that was my wifes Virago tank. Its looked brand new inside, just some minor cleaning up on the connections and done.

Sad to see him out of business, he did some really freat work.

No. It was a tank to an old MC...very neglected. Bob got out all he could and just sealed the rest in. Then he did the repaint of the exterior. The tank was perfectly serviceable...just with a little less gas capacity. Short of getting in there with tools to chisel the hardened rust globs out, he did the best he could. Anything stronger would have dissolved the tank itself.

Bob was a victim of the economy. Not as much motorcycle work as there was before...certainly not enough to do it full-time. To take other jobs, he had to let the bike work go (unless you didn't mind waiting months for a job to get done when he had time to work on it).

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