Wow fuel tank is dirty...

bobioknight

bobioknight

Member
From my earlier posts I explained how I went about checking compression, I have fought carb issues, vaporlock... etc. well after tuning everything up I changed my oil and went for a quick drive, I was getting a bit low on fuel because I planned an draining and cleaning my fuel tank.

Well I got up the street when all of a sudden she ran horrible, kept dying at the stop signs, sputtering. I pulled over and quickly popped the hood and removed the air filter. I am watching fuel in my secondaries randomly pouring down the intake, flooding... just like I have seen a thousand times, but this time the carb was cold, it was not boiling because it was hot, pouring over probably due to a stuck float needle. I ran her back home as fast as I could.

Drained the fuel and look at the crap that was sitting at the bottom of the tank.
The first picture is looking down into the tank from the trunk area.

The second photo is a plastic tube that is connected internally inside the tank, it was connected to the breather tube. It was broken in half, and apparently it had some type of screen or filter that broke apart, some pieces look intact but as soon as you touch it the large pieces desolve leaving extremely tiny clear fibers that travel up into the carb.

This has probably been the biggest issue and what has created my intermittent engine trouble.

Take a look and let me know what you think and if you have experience with plastic part I found in the tank.

Zoom in to see the fibers of the larger pieces, so strange how they have stayed together for so long, but as soon as you touch it, desolves into tiny fibers that pass right through the inline paper fuel filter/glass bowl. so strange.



 
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Bobio.......I'm interested in this as I want to drain my '57 F100 ........ but I can't get the photos to open up ! I don't know about anyone else though !

Thx .......Mike
 
Hi mike, ok, I relinked the photos.

If you have intermittent engine trouble, check the fuel tank.... Wish I would have done this as soon as I drove it home a year ago. I had guys totally call it long ago, guys saying sounds like a fuel system issue... A while back I changed my fuel tanks sensor gasket, allowing me to look into the tank and it looked clean, except for seeing a few red threads sitting at the bottom of the tank it looked very clean. As soon as there was no fuel in the tank, damn it made it very clear, it was not clean at all.
 
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Any suggestions how far I need to go to clean out the lines, pump, filter and carb to make sure those fibers aren't going to be a problem now that the tank is cleaned out.
 
I would drop the tank and remove the sending unit, take a look inside with a good flash light. The sender in my tank was so bad, the brass float crumbled like dust. I went with a new tank and sender on my '59.

I would suggest using a solvent like lacquer thinner to clean it out. Does your tank have a drain plug on it? This makes things easier. Some radiator shops will clean a gas tank.

On older cars, I run one of those old Holley canister filters close to the gas tank and I like to mount them to the frame rail if possible.
 
Definitely drop the tank and get it cleaned out. As was mentioned, radiator shops usually do this.

While the tank is out, run a solvent under some pressure (lacquer thinner will work through the lines . The fuel pump can be a problem, clean it as best as you can. Replace the filter element and clean the carb.
 
Yes I pulled the tank out and washed the heck out of it, I also flushed all the lines all the way to the carb. I decided to install the electric fuel pump, been sitting in my "to do" drawer over the last year and it's the perfect time. I had to order a new rubber gasket for the tank filler hose. No one local had one, so it gave me an extra few days to tinker... So when redoing the fuel line LOOK at what I found hidden under the heat shield tape. The old fuel line has a smashed section that looks to be pretty severe, I wonder just how long she has been like this, I expect a restriction like this could not be good.

 
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I would say you were not getting much gas thru that ! Did you flush the tank out ? Mine is a '57 f100 and having problems with fuel sender showing a correct reading. Just wondering if something was broke off inside the tank. Installed new sender and tank was half full which registered fine with the gauge. Filled the tank and now it shows empty !
 
mike42 said:
I would say you were not getting much gas thru that ! Did you flush the tank out ? Mine is a '57 f100 and having problems with fuel sender showing a correct reading. Just wondering if something was broke off inside the tank. Installed new sender and tank was half full which registered fine with the gauge. Filled the tank and now it shows empty !
Click to expand...

I did have a broken tube that was broke off inside the tank, a filter on the breather tube. Not sure why the breather would need a filter but old filter is what was decintegrated inside the tank. Sound like you might have an electrical problem to your gauge or the sending unit might be bad, you should start a thread to get everyone's opinion, they will give you a good place to start.
 
So excited to test drive her tomorrow. Clean tank, new fuel line that's not pinched closed, filters in place installed correctly, cleaned carb, oil changed, valves adjusted, decarbonized. 2nd filter for the first tank of gas.

I am ready to roll.
 
Test drive went great, ran very smooth, strong and much quicker, had lots of throttle left passing traffic. No studdering on the freeway, nor did the rpm's drop & surge at the lights. Fuel bowl is clear and clean, gonna pull the second filter off, feeling comfortable there is no junk left in the lines or fuel pump. Priming the lines with the electric pump was very cool. Took about 5 seconds, if I was relying on the starter to pump the fuel all they way from the tank to the carb it would have taken forever and tough on the starter. Electric fuel pump sure made it easier to adjust the floats, I am so glad I added the accessory. It kinda appears that my fuel economy increased, maybe the junk was sticking my secondaries in the past, I drove about an hour at slow and fast rpm's and the fuel gauge barely moved. I am not sure if it's possible but it appears as though it has.
 
Oh yea, I shared some info with grumpy rick regarding the fuel pump. I will check out the post again to see how far he has gone...
 
Hi Mike , just cleaned out the tank in my 57 f100 , the tank , fuel lines , pump and carb all had this brown mud throughout , probably was never
cleaned out.
 
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