Rusty gas tank - what should I do?

[3wheelers]

My 185S gas tank is so rusty, that rust clogs the peacock after 5 minutes of riding. Then you have to clear it out again. I don't have a fuel filter so my carb gets FULL of rust and I have to clean that too. I spent 2 hours today cleaning rust out of the tank with the garden hose. I got a lot out. But I'm not sure if this will help much. I'm not going to spend $120 and get a plastic tank for it. I used to have a 185 plastic tank. i wish i would have kept it. Any recommendations on how to get rid of the rust? I've heard of putting screws in it, then putting it inside the dryer. I've tried putting rocks in my tank before and shaking it up for a long time. It didn't do much. Just reply and make recommendations on how I should get the rust out. Thanks guys!

[kb0nly]

Go buy a couple gallons of Apple Cider Vinegar, no joke... Fill it, put the lid on, let it set a couple days, if its as rust as your saying give it a few days to soak. Dump it out and watch the rust pour out into a bucket, save it for reuse if the first time doesnt get it all, there will be some left in the tank that just needs to be washed out. A power washer works awesome for me, you can take it to the carwash if you dont have one, but otherwise just rinse and shake to get it cleaned out. Then get it back on the trike and filled up with fresh fuel to prevent any flash rust right away and your done. I brought back a couple really rough looking ones now for about $10 each.

If after a few days soak the rust left inside won't wash away filter the apple cider vinegar through a coffee filter and pour it back in and soak it again. Its safe on the rubber parts so it won't hurt the petcock, etc.

And after you put it back together spend the couple bucks and put an inline fuel filter on to keep crap out of the carb.

[3wheelers]

Ok I will try that. How much does the vinegar cost?

Thanks for the help!

[kb0nly]

It cost me like $4.30 a gallon here i think it was. Just make sure its Apple Cider Vinegar, its brownish in color. The regular Vinegar doesn't have the same strength i tried it as an experiment, i was very dissapointed in the distilled white vinegar.

[3wheelers]

Ok I'll make sure and get that. Thanks again!

[zappaz]

mollasses and water 1-10 mix will dissolve the rust top the tank off with the mix let it stand a few days shake it let it stand a few more dump it rinse it with water and spray it out with wd40 or gass . . dnt seal the tank it needs to breath mollases from a feed store or yr local walmart

[jb2wheels]

Pool acid (muriatic acid). Fill tank 1/2 with water, 1/2 with acid in a well ventilated (outside) area.
Leave for an hour.
Drain and rinse immediately with a baking soda & water solution.

Take off the petcock. The acid will eat right through it.

This stuff is really nasty and hard to dispose of properly. I have a tank that needs cleaning now and I think I'll try the vinegar.

[kb0nly]

The Apple Cider Vinegar is a lot more friendly, i have also used the Muriatic Acid treatment in the form of The Works toilet bowl cleaner. It will eat the rust off in less than an hour, BUT, it also will damage parts such as the petcock, it will eat paint, it will also eat right through metal if its thin enough from rust.

After doing a few with the Vinegar i won't go back to the caustic acid treatment, this is so much easier and safer.

[thug51491]

What I would do to get the most of the rust loose is put a couple of driveway rocks in the tank and shake the crap out
of it

[ericmreimer]

I've always thought tumbling with sand or small gravel would be a good way.

[natedogg1980]

Ive used the apple cider with Ari riffel bb and a paint can mixxer to shake the hell out of it . I heard there is a coating u can put in the tank to keep it from future rusting I have it in one of my tanks it has sat outside for years and it look fine in it no rust.

[OKSTATE#1]

I think the coating you are talking about is called RedKote. I used it on an old jeep gas tank a few years back. Use it after you get the rust out, and it will help seal up the tank if there's a little rust left that you can't get. Napa auto parts sold it when I bought it, but I'm sure it's easily found.

[GunsShooting]

POR-15 is the stuff to use.

[kb0nly]

You really don't need to coat it at all, the reason these tanks get rusty is they were left empty a long time and/or a lot of moisture got in. I have tanks that i cleaned out years ago and haven't rusted again since because they have been kept with gas in them. Coating is an ok precaution, but keeping a better eye on the tanks and replacing things like a leaking cap gasket or bad gas cap is better. My trikes tend to sit outside uncovered a lot, as of yet i still don't have any water or rust in them despite many heavy rains.

[honda atc guy]

Apple cider vinegar works great.

[chargercharlie]

The works toilet bowl cleaner has worked the best for me..remove your petcock ..the stuff doesn't mix with aluminum. .it has to be the the one with 20% hydrochloride ..put one bottle of it in and rotate your tank around so it gets all sides..it eats paint so watch out ..for sure wear safety glasses and please please don't mix it with aluminum.

[badass350x]

Very much agree on the vinegar, white works just fine also usually what I do is put half cup of salt the rest vinegar.. I just did a 70 tank that was really bad, filled it up let it set 4 days looked brand new when done.. did a 350x tank this same way with perfect results and as mentioned it don't harm nothing.

[Bird76Mojo]

I second the vinegar solution..

[MatthewBuckrell]

fill it full of sand then attach it to a tire on another machine. ride around and let the problem sort itself out

[briano]

^^^^that is the goofiest thing I've heard in quite a while. Show us how yours turned out.

[Latitude42]

I've put a length of chain in one and shook it around for a while, took the rust right out!!! my 2 cents...

[bkvette3]

Good info here, guys. Thanks for posting.

[roonie]

lots of good info here

[OldNo437]

ok there is also Kreem for the inside of the tank, once ya get it all out, I prefer hand full of rocks or lugnuts, and gas, and do the gas tank shimmy lol... also its a bit expensive, but you could get a gallon of evap-o-rust from eastwood or other supplier, it does work, can't compare to apple cider vinagar as i have never used that but evaporust works awesome! you could fill the tank with a gallon, and rotate it and let it sit for a few hours after knocking off the real bad loose stuff..