Flush Gas Tank 'in' Car

P

pbishop

Senior Member
What is the best way to flush out the gas tank without taking it out of the car?

I found all kinds of crude and rust when I removed the shut-off valve.
 
Dirty Leg-Thanks to Tim Kelley for photo.
 

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take 5 gal of gas put in drain it out strain it with a paint strainer or let it set in a bucket and pour off the clean and thow out the dirty and do it again and again and then again and again.
 
In my opinion there is no way to properly clean it unless you remove it. If it was just dirty gas maybe but with crud in it and the baffles in the tank do it right the first time and remove it. Wayne
 
You'll find plenty of reading by doing a search as this is a common model A problem. Keywords "gas tank flush" brings up a lot of info.
Adding and draining 5 gal of fuel will not give you the result you are seeking,, the model A gas tank holds double that amount
 
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pbishop said:
What is the best way to flush out the gas tank without taking it out of the car?

I found all kinds of crude and rust when I removed the shut-off valve.
Click to expand...

I removed the tank, its easy, not as bad as it appears, and easier to clean. Then changed all the nuts and bolts to stainless.
 
A 2000 mile trip is enough to work the dirt out, clean the filters at least every day of the trip---this got all the crud out of my tank, the next 5 years after the trip the filters were always clean

with all the xtra plumbing in the passenger footwell area there is a much larger chance of uncontrolled fuel leak in the passenger compartment with the "dirty leg" system if you are in an accident with a passenger
 
Two gallons of diesel would be a safer choice and will slosh around better. A glass sediment bowl and a new carb filter should do it. Get rid of the tank filter if you have one.
 

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taffrail said:
Two gallons of diesel would be a safer choice and will slosh around better. A glass sediment bowl and a new carb filter should do it. Get rid of the tank filter if you have one.
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I disagree! Never get rid of your tank filter. What harm can it possibly do? Wayne
 
I knew of an old '29 Tudor that was only driven to Church on Easter. The tank was loaded with rust & de-composed cork. The whole family would "flush" it out with Diesel, put in gas, fire it up & HOPE the family made the round trip.
This was a SERIOUS tradition in the family!
Bill W.
 
All the above items are good to firstly clean the crud from the tank (flushing again and again etc), then maintain clean fuel by a filter, bowl, 3rd leg etc etc, but one other idea given to me by an ol' timer was, every time you fill with fuel, add a teaspoonfull of two stroke oil into the gastank. The oil immediately mixes with the fuel, tends to halt further tank rust developing and is not bad for the valve stems once inside the engine.

Cheers
Peter
 
It isn't hard to pull the tank and untill you do you are pulling yourself. I fucked around with dirty legs and filters till I just did it and never looked back. Got sick of every time I went somewhere cleaning all the contraptions out on the side of the road. I posted tank removal on here and the HAMB. Havn't got a link handy at the moment though.

http://www.fordbarn.com/forum/showthread.php?p=1208798#post1208798
 
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If you go the 'dirty leg' route and even if you don't, install a NAPA 3039 filter in the sediment bowl. Also, drop a small magnet in the bowl to gather the rust dust.
 
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