The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area General Truck Talk Clean fuel tank with vinegar?

I have read some threads here, and elsewhere on the world wide web, and talked to some local good ol boy mechanics. There seem to be all sorts of fuel tank cleaning options including screws and a cement mixer.

I think I want to start with white vinegar. This is goign to be for one of the large saddle tanks on the side of my flatbed, the one that was used when the truck was alive 20 years ago. My endoscope clouded up, so I can't see if there is rust in there or not, but assuming there is.

I doubt that I am goign to get enough vinegar to fill the tank, and I am trying to avoid removing the tank initially. I have read elsewhere about flushing with water, filling with vinegar soaking for a few days, then flushing again. There was something about a flash rust after, I need to read more, but wanted to check and see if there was any other vinegar specific advice here that I may have missed.

Thanks (odds are I may replace the tank with aluminum, I am just trying to get it running enough to check out all the other systems before figuring out what needs to be replaced or repaired or rebuilt)

One good old boy technique would be clean gravel and vinegar. Slosh it all around and let sit on each of three sides (not the outlet side). Then, empty, rinse with water (tank and gravel) and then repeat the "cycle".

When finished with the cleaning cycles, you might want to use a sealer. Wait to hear from others on this. I think some people have reported having sealers peel off.

I really think I want to replace both saddle tanks with shiny new(used) aluminum semi fuel tanks. I have been hearing a lot of "what?! those tanks are fine, nothing wrong with them" but this is the same crowd that thought the engine would run, and we should break it free by dragging it around the yard with a loader. They also wanted to push me off the hill with no brakes to start the truck.

You've got tractors, right? Pull the tank, attach it to a tractor wheel with ratchet straps, and add a few gallons of water and a small bottle of dishwashing liquid. Toss in a few shovels full of gravel. Jack up the wheel, and put a jack stand or a stack of timbers under the axle housing. Crank up the tractor at idle, put it in gear, and walk away. Come back a few hours later to the cleanest fuel tank you've ever seen. The fun part is getting the gravel back out of it.
Jerry

it may come to that long term, but I am feeling lazy in the short....

The cleaning kits you can buy use phosphoric acid to clean. It's the same stuff you drink in pop. I used muriatic acid. Much quicker but much stronger and dangerous acid. New tanks are probably best if they are available.

If your long range plan is new tanks, don't waste your time on cleaning that old tank. You will probably knock some pin holes in it with the gravel or the acid (vinegar).
Whatever you do, don't try to run it on the old, unclean tank. Modern fuel is an awesome solvent for the old residue which has accumulated on the sides of the tank for many years, and that gum will end up clogging everything down stream of the tank, and gum up your valve guides and bend your push rods.
I'd bite the bullet and buy the new tanks now. Even though it would be fun to watch the carnival ride of the tank going round and round on the tractor tire.
Might as well hook up the planter to it and get your beans in so as not to waste fuel.
Carl

I've never tried vinegar, but I've heard it works. I don't recall for sure but seems like the guy who told me said to use apple cider vinegar. He claimed it would make them like new inside. But, as mentioned, I have not tried it myself.

I just finished trying out vinegar on some headlight pots. It did work after a fashion. Each one took about a week of soaking and wire brushing twice a day. Without the brushing I don't think i would have made a lot of progress.

This truck has my mildly paranoid, so I am leaning towards at least one new tank. I am goign to take a patch off, to try and see in and I have a new endoscpoe coming.If I cannot convince myself the tanks is clean, I will get rid of it.

I surprised no one suggested molasses!
A couple gals to a tank oughta do it no?

Of course that's not how I did it...
I used rocks and chains. Way more work especially without a tractor.
Now I like slow and lazy.

Aluminum saddle tanks from class 8 trucks are not DOT approved for gasoline only. I have quite a few old GMCs. I don't even try to clean the tanks, I just pull about 6" off the bottom. Going to a salvage yard and buying a late model tank is another option. Cleaning an old tank is almost impossible.