Fuel Tank Crud Cleaning

[brown7373]

I have had my truck off the road almost a year, replacing the 350 engine. Never expected this long, but things happen. The remaining gas in the tank (not sure how much) is 87 octane 10% ethanol and has sat for the year. I am sure it is now junk. Besides draining, what else can I do to clean it out, hopefully without having to pull the tank.

[bill3rail]

One year is not that long.
You said "Crud Cleaning". Is there crud in the tank?
If the fuel smells bad, it needs to be replaced.
If it smells fine, I would add some high-test to it and burn through it.

Bill

[brown7373]

I can't see it, but have heard stories of ethanol fuel separating and gumming things up if it sits idle for too long. There is no past evidence of a fouled tank.

[In The Ten Ring]

If you are worried, buy a siphon pump from the local auto parts store and suck the fuel out. You can store that in milk jugs and give it away, that's what I did and my fuel was 10 years old.

Once it's sucked out, you can refill with fresh gasoline or use non-ethanol gasoline and run the truck with that.

My tank was full of flash rust but it had sat for nearly 20 years. I ended up getting the tank "renewed" at a radiator shop, replacing all fuel lines, connections, pump, filter, and having the carb rebuilt. I have only run non-ethanol fuel in it since.