Reply To: Hi from Australia
Hi, Nick. You’ve done well. I had same issue. The tanks shape will not allow you to empty the tank completely through the filler hole. I kept FLUSHING with demineralized water, shaking it around, tipping it out & shaking tank up & down. Black pieces of metal were coming out. I didn’t get rid of them all. Tried to get them with a magnet but it’s a pain. Best way to empty tank is to remove the fuel level sender or the fuel pump & the fuel should dump easily. PROBLEM with that is trying to SEAL the tank again so it doesn’t leak. I DIDN’T want to risk it.
After shaking the water & metal bits out i sprayed WD40 inside the fuel tank. Works well. It makes MUCH of the last bit of water come out easier & anti-rusts at the same time. Shake the tank again with the WD40 or CRC then tip out. Repeat this process 4 times or more until the wetness in the tank is mostly WD40 not water. The last step was pouring UNLEADED FUEL into tank & shaking it, draining it & repeating the process until i was happy with the look & smell of the liquid coming out.
KEEP the TANK FULL of PETROL straight after FLUSH process & try to keep it that way always. Or the rust slowly comes back. Some people COAT the inside of tank with Nitrocellulose SURFACE PRIMER but it’s PAINTING & drying the inside of tank & spending more time & money. I didn’t want to. You don’t need to.
I didn’t use deisel fuel to FLUSH the tank, although it may seal surface better. Would need even more unleaded to flush that out. Wasteful.
I DIDN’T DRY the TANK. Just FLUSH with Demin. water, then WD40, then unleaded, is ok. My bike has been running nicely & removing the rust gives peace of mind. The big bits i couldn’t get out are too big to get passed the fuel filter or into my Carbies. I will probably do this process again to get them … one day.
I’ve got lots of photos for you all but the site won’t let me post them. Not even GUIDE to posting pics is working for me. I’ll upload them for you when it works again.
Keep pouring water & WD40 in until you’re happy with the amount of black bits you’ve removed. I hold the TANK, upside down, with my forearms on my legs, then i shake the tank & ROCK IT left & right at the same time. Keep doing it until your happy. Shake, shake shake, bro.
NOTE: REMOVE the FUEL TANK CAP completely with ALLEN KEY to allow more fluid to leave the tank more easily. If you leave the CAP on, it will get in the way & make the emptying process more messy & slower.
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