Cleaning MC fuel tank of rust & debris

[Caprimaniac]

50 cal. lead balls (black powder), or brass nuts and bolts to agitate inside tank. Remove any float mechanism first!
Is petcock leaking by, or externally ? Manual or automatic petcock ?

Lead balls I'm sure is the best option.... may have some lying around. Nuts and bolts, however- might be the only option.

Leaking by, into the fuel line & through carbs. It's Automatic in "on"- mode by the vacum/ non vacum open/ closed. Manual shift to "pri" and "reserve"(?).

BTW: I was thinking: Isn't it supposed to be some kind of filter in the tank, on the inlet for the petcock?

(Don't have the split drawings in front of me, so.... OK will look up gogggle)

Edit: Here it is http://www.cmsnl.com/kawasaki-1986-zx60 ... 22627.html Cannot see a filter. However, My petcock does not have a high "Tower" that goes into the tank as on the drawing. Maybe the drawing is lying, or maybe there's a part missing?

Thanks

[Kevin Johnson]

How long have you owned the bike? Perhaps the tower was a victim of the previous owner. If you ask on a MC forum you should find out pretty quickly.

[Richard Till]

Put some gravel in the tank. Wrap it with pillows held together with duct tape. Put in the clothes dryer with no heat. Tumble.

[roadrunner]

F.Y.I., I holed (is that a word?) no. 3 piston on my Suzy gs750 some years ago due to rust particles finding their way into the no.3 carbie jets, you may have to do some internal cleaning to ensure that your fuel system is clean. I used to put a small automotive filter into the line from tank to carby after the holed piston, they cost about $5.

[KCW]

Should be stand pipe (run position) and adjacent port (res.), enclosed
by brass screen, on tank side of petcock. Screen will not stop fine rust
particles. Said components are easily damaged. RRR petcock. Carbs
inlet valves (Viton tip damaged,dirty) need attention. Coating tanks
is a PITA. I've priced my self out of market, will sell components and
give moral support!

[Caprimaniac]

Should be stand pipe (run position) and adjacent port (res.), enclosed
by brass screen, on tank side of petcock. Screen will not stop fine rust
particles. Said components are easily damaged. RRR petcock. Carbs
inlet valves (Viton tip damaged,dirty) need attention. Coating tanks
is a PITA. I've priced my self out of market, will sell components and
give moral support!

You guys on ST never end amazing me With Your knowledge, thanks for all feedback.

Yes, I have used a fuel filter between tank and carbs. Hopefully, pistons and internals are OK. I had the carbs off, cleaned them.

I will look closely to find that Tower for the petcock. Common knowledge say that there should be a filter of some kind....
I\m very aware of the internals of petcock get easily damaged. 5 overhaul kits bought since I got the bike. After owning it for ten years, Guess I've had one full season without trouble......

[OILEAKY]

Caprimaniac, I wouldn't coat the inside of the tank with ANYTHING, unless you're trying to close up[ pinhole leaks.

Once it's been cleaned with acid, and flushed with water and Kerosene, or WD40,it's good to go. I once ended up with fuel filters full Kreem, when I went from running gasoline and went to Alky/Nitro. The 3 year old "liner" just turned into snott and ran right out of the tank and down into the filters and carbs !

Just my 2 cents worth.
Oileaky

[Kevin Johnson]

http://landamidwest.com/wp-content/uplo ... atizer.pdf

A number of my customers made products like this. We supplied specialty chemicals to a lot of the well known automotive products manufacturers in the Western United States. If you are not going to coat the interior of the tank I think this would be a must. I lived in California for 10 years and I know flash rusting simply from relative humidity is nowhere near the problem it can be in many other areas of the country. I had twenty cars while I lived there and motorcycles as well.

[Caprimaniac]

Caprimaniac, I wouldn't coat the inside of the tank with ANYTHING, unless you're trying to close up[ pinhole leaks.

Once it's been cleaned with acid, and flushed with water and Kerosene, or WD40,it's good to go. I once ended up with fuel filters full Kreem, when I went from running gasoline and went to Alky/Nitro. The 3 year old "liner" just turned into snott and ran right out of the tank and down into the filters and carbs !

Just my 2 cents worth.
Oileaky

Did the job last night.... Wow. What came out didn't look good.

Found one standpipe, for main fuel. After gooooggling some more I figure ther should be one more for the RES outlet, was mentioned earlier.

For coating: No, not at this point. If I had it cleaned 100% With strong acid and sure all metal was Virgin, yes- maybe I would. But knowing there still are areas of rust in there, no

I'd rather: See to the tank is full at all(!) times and carry the stand pipes With filters where they should be- at the inlet of petcock, not floating around in the tank.....

Thanks for all help.

BTW; had a friend custom made tanks for choppers/ Harleys, he always coated them. But that was Virgin metal. Never saw a problem there....

[Kevin Johnson]

Many tanks do not have a standpipe for the reserve. The standpipe on the main side is what creates the reserve. If you store your bike for long periods of time and don't want to have a repeat of the flooding of the case via the bores you might want to add a second, high quality manual inline fuel valve. That will also allow you to run the fuel system dry before storing*. When gasoline evaporates the additives can leave a fine grit that will clog up jets or small passages. The additives will not dissolve back into solution when you open the valve months later and let fresh gasoline into the system.

Also, be sure to confirm the sources of your polymer parts (and hoses). Cheap counterfeit knock-offs can swell and that would defeat the stock system you described.

* I never had a bike with injectors so I do not know if this practice of running the system dry before storage will harm them. My bikes all had carbs.

[4banger]

A quick suggestion for what it's worth..... use coke soda( cocoa cola) to clean tank. has phos. they use it to clean semi delivery truck engines .. seen a video of it being poured on a rusty rear car bumper and after a few seconds wiped off taking most rust with it. Use BB''s in tank and shake good or wrap and put in dryer as mentioned. clean with dawn soap blow dry slosh some MMO or auto trans fluid and you should be good to go!

[Krooser]

I use a 6-1 mix of molasses and water. Immerse the parts in the mixture and let it sit… sometimes it takes a few days other times a week or so. Parts come out squeaky clean.

I have a 55 gallon dum of this stuff in front of my shop and clean parts all summer long. I dump it out in late fall and start a fresh batch in the spring.

[treyrags]

I went through 3 different epoxies and one liner that all worked for a while, but eventually gave way to the alcohol based fuel we now have. I finally tried Red Koat sealer and it has held for almost two years now. This is on a '76 model tank, so it had plenty rust. I filled and emptied it several times till it ran clear. Then I used a mix of CLR and water to finish cleaning and neutralizing the rust and drained and COMPLETELY dried the inside with compressed air. I then propped the tank on its side in front of a fan for an hour and flipped to the other side and did the same. After that its a matter of following the Red Koat instructions. It's resistant to alcohol and TEL. You need to commit a half a day to it so you don't hurry the process and get it right.

[dhidaka]

I use a 6-1 mix of molasses and water. Immerse the parts in the mixture and let it sit… sometimes it takes a few days other times a week or so. Parts come out squeaky clean.

I have a 55 gallon dum of this stuff in front of my shop and clean parts all summer long. I dump it out in late fall and start a fresh batch in the spring.

2X

Safe to paint finishes. Works, but takes a few days. Sometimes MC gas tanks rust completely through the metal and the only barrier to a fuel leak is the paint itself.

Google "molasses rust removal"

I think there was an article in Hot Rod Mag some time ago

[Kevin Johnson]

I use a 6-1 mix of molasses and water. Immerse the parts in the mixture and let it sit… sometimes it takes a few days other times a week or so. Parts come out squeaky clean.

I have a 55 gallon dum of this stuff in front of my shop and clean parts all summer long. I dump it out in late fall and start a fresh batch in the spring.

2X

Safe to paint finishes. Works, but takes a few days. Sometimes MC gas tanks rust completely through the metal and the only barrier to a fuel leak is the paint itself.

Google "molasses rust removal"

I think there was an article in Hot Rod Mag some time ago

Thank you for mentioning that the paint will be safe. I would not have guessed that and it is good to know.