Gas tank cleaning
Printed From: Unofficial Allis
Category: Allis Chalmers
Forum Name: Farm Equipment
Forum Description: everything about Allis-Chalmers farm equipment
URL: https://www.allischalmers.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=176341
Printed Date: 13 Aug 2025 at 8:11pm
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Topic: Gas tank cleaning
Posted By: Steve g
Subject: Gas tank cleaning
Date Posted: 29 Nov 2020 at 1:55pm
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Asking for input. Have a cat D2 pony motor gas tank it's about the size of standard cookie jar. It's probably a gallon, gallon a half tank. Anyhow inside the tank is pretty rusty so I'm asking input on just putting bee/bees in it and shake around wash it out with muriatic acid or doing some kind of coating process thanks to all |
Replies:
Posted By: Boss Man
Date Posted: 29 Nov 2020 at 2:30pm
| Weather you roll the BB's ( some use stones other nuts and bolts) around to get the loose stuff or you wash with acid you will want to put a sealer on the inside once done. The acid strips the oils out of the metal and will start to rust if not coated |
Posted By: DiyDave
Date Posted: 29 Nov 2020 at 5:38pm
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If you can bolt or clamp the tank to a wheel, and do some work with the machine the wheel is attached to, it does a pretty good job of cleaning. Also if you put a chain, of some sort, in the tank, insteada loose junk, it will be easy to remove, and be assured that there is nothing loose left in there to vex you in the future. Scroll down in this post, to don's solution...  https://www.allischalmers.com/forum/cleaning-out-fuel-tank_topic66696.html" rel="nofollow - https://www.allischalmers.com/forum/cleaning-out-fuel-tank_topic66696.html ------------- Source: Babylon Bee. Sponsored by BRAWNDO, its got what you need! |
Posted By: DCAC
Date Posted: 29 Nov 2020 at 7:03pm
| I used milkstone remover in a tank for a 170 gas recently. Started out using apple cider vinegar for about a week, and while this helped, it didn't get it as clean as I hoped. I filled the tank almost full of water and then poured in half a gallon of milkstone remover and filled it to the brim with water and left it for 24 hours. Then drained the milkstone/water and neutralized it with baking soda and water for a couple hours, moving the tank around to coat the inside. After draining the tank again, I used a hot powerwasher with a 90 degree end on a wand to rinse out the baking soda/water. I was real pleased on how clean the tank was. I put in a bit of E85 to absorb the little bit of water i had left in the tank. I used ATF and diesel mixture to coat the inside after getting the tank emptied and dried out to prevent rusting. This tank had old dried up gas and rust in it, real nasty looking, and its looking real good now. |
Posted By: DaveKamp
Date Posted: 29 Nov 2020 at 8:27pm
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If it's just rusty and dirty, I would skip the muriatic acid, and put in 1/4" nuts, rather than BBs. Nuts have somewhat more squared edges, so they'll scrape it. I'd put the tank in some sort of rotisserie that'd tumble the nuts for a couple days, stopping it and re-orienting it's angle every four-five hours or so.... dump it out, rinse it with gasoline, then put it back in service... ------------- Ten Amendments, Ten Commandments, and one Golden Rule solve most every problem. Citrus hand-cleaner with Pumice does the rest. |
Posted By: Steve in NJ
Date Posted: 30 Nov 2020 at 7:00am
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If its only a gallon or so, why not pick up an inexpensive universal tank? With a little research, you probably could find a small Plastic fuel tank from a Garden Tractor and bolt it on. Then you don't have to mess with acids and such. A Plastic tank will last longer, and no worries about rust. Just a thought...... HTH. Steve@B&B ------------- 39'RC, 43'WC, 48'B, 49'G, 50'WF, 65 Big 10, 67'B-110, 75'716H, 2-620's, & a Motorhead wife |
Posted By: steve(ill)
Date Posted: 30 Nov 2020 at 1:09pm
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Steve has a GREAT IDEA if you dont need original... I normally fill the tanks with rocks or nuts and a gallon or so old gas or diesel.. Slosh it around and let it scrape the tank.. I never used the acid and dont coat afterward... Just getting any flakes or major rust out.. A few small particles will be caught in your filter. ------------- Like them all, but love the "B"s. |
Posted By: Steve g
Date Posted: 30 Nov 2020 at 6:02pm
| Thanks to all a lot of good information |
Posted By: AC720Man
Date Posted: 30 Nov 2020 at 7:20pm
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We used muriatic acid on our Case loader only because the tank is not removable because it is part of the frame. It worked well especially with the pressure washer afterwords. 3 cleanings made a world of difference, the tank was full of flaking rust. On my grandsons 3 wheeler I restored for him that use to my kids 3 wheeler, I used vinegar. It’s slower but less harmful. After 4 days, it worked well and has been clean since. Be patient if you use vinegar, but it does cut the rust, just takes some time and shaking each day. ------------- 1968 B-208, 1976 720 (2 of them)Danco brush hog, single bottom plow,52" snow thrower, belly mower,rear tine tiller, rear blade, front blade, 57"sickle bar,1983 917 hydro, 1968 7hp sno-bee, 1968 190XTD |
Posted By: IBWD MIke
Date Posted: 01 Dec 2020 at 9:00am
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Cleaned the tank on my Grandpa's WD with the tumble method. Tip; If you use a chain make sure it's not roller chain! Let's say that was interesting to get out. After the tumble it got power washed, was a lot better. I don't remember why but it got the electrolysis treatment before reinstall. This got the rust out. However the power washer didn't get all the scale. Took quite a while and several sediment bowl cleanings and in-line filter changes before it was right. Works great now. Just got 'Grandpa' running over the long weekend, had a bad condenser.
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Posted By: ac hunter
Date Posted: 01 Dec 2020 at 9:35am
| I have used muriatic acid and Bill Hirsch's fuel tank sealer. After you flush the acid with water make sure the tank is completely dry; some alcohol will speed the drying. I have used this sealer on several tanks with good results. The first one was over 10 years ago. Good luck. |
Posted By: Joe(TX)
Date Posted: 01 Dec 2020 at 11:04am
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I normally use a length of 1/4 inch link chain tied to a wire. I slosh it back and forth. Easier to get back out than loose items like nuts or rocks. ------------- 1970 190XT, 1973 200, 1962 D-19 Diesel, 1979 7010, 1957 WD45, 1950 WD, 1961 D17, Speed Patrol, D14, All crop 66 big bin, 180 diesel, 1970 170 diesel, FP80 forklift. Gleaner A |
Posted By: Ray54
Date Posted: 01 Dec 2020 at 11:13am
| As thick as the Cat pony tanks are, I cut one apart at the seem with a cut off wheel and angle grinder. Used a a wire wheel on a die grinder to clean it out. Had it all to bare metal, used mig to weld it back together. |
Posted By: cdsloop
Date Posted: 02 Dec 2020 at 3:43pm
| I used nuts and screws inside, and tumbled the tank strapped to a jacked up mower. After the tumbling, I washed it out with water until it ran clear. Then I put Evaporust in it, and rotated the tank every 24 hours until every surface had soaked. It looked like brand new metal inside after the Evaporust treatment. |
Posted By: PaulB
Date Posted: 06 May 2021 at 2:51pm
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Be aware that those plastic tanks can be known to crack, then your worse than before. I'd clean it as many mentioned above and if you end up with pinholes I'd float some solder over the bottom. Those glue type coatings MUST BE ABSOLUTELY cured before using or the gas will melt it then that is a real PIA mess. ------------- If it was fun to pull in LOW gear, I could have a John Deere. Real pullers don't have speed limits. If you can't make it GO... make it SHINY |