dropped oil tank and...

[Mike Kast]

OK... When I get this thing completly finished I need to clean out the inside. I have all the holes covered up but I don't want to take any chances on anything having gotten in there. I know I must have gotten a little water and who knows what may have gotten in. I was thinking of just pouring a couple of quarts of cheap oil though and sloshing it around but then I got to thinking if I should do a better job of it now that it is out. I hope it won't be back out for a little while
If your interested in the goings on here, check out this thread

Wurth SKS stone guard?

[Early_S_Man]

Mike,

I would use about a gallon of Varsol to clean the tank in three different fillings, then a quart of B-12 Chemtool to finish up:

1. First with a half-gallon ... shake/slosh as violently as possible, then let sit to dissolve and loosen as much as possible for a half-hour or so, then slosh some more and let sit 15 minutes, repeat, then one final slosh and drain out the crud.

2. Second time with a quart or so of new Varsol and repeat the above procedure with only five minutes between sloshings.

3. Third time ... duplicate second process.

4. Final step ... a quart of Berryman's B-12 Chemtool to clean up the oily film and any stubborn gunk stuck to the walls or bottom of the tank. Same process as step 2. Blow out with compressed air and allow to 'air' out and dry thoroughly before re-installing!

I cleaned my oil tank with B-12 a few years ago, and you won't believe the amount of black/gray gunk that comes out!

[Mike Kast]

Cool! Another project! lol...
Mr. Early-S-Man,
Since I have never heard of these products could you direct me to where I might make the purchase?

And another question...
Has anyone ever heard of an oil tank springing a leak from the seam? I never noticed anything when it was in the car and I kept it pretty clean under there. But when I was priming I noticed a small spot where the primer wasn't drying. I whipped it down with thinner and spot primed again. I hit it with a hair dryer and noticed a tiny drop of oil weeping from the seam right next to the drain plug. It could be residuals from when I dumped the oil out last week. It always splashes back up all over that area but it was a little disconcerting.

[Wayne 962]

For water removal, you can always just bake it out in an oven...

-Wayne

[Mike Kast]

How hot Wayne? Interesting idea... I wish I could have fit my gas tank in the oven

[Carrera Sled]

Mike,

Varsol is a trade name for a Stoddard solvent (naptha) - a good degreaser. You might try paint supply or aircraft supply shops. B-12 Chemtool is another solvent that has all kinds of neat stuff in it, like toluene, methanol, acetone, xylene, MEK, etc. It is available at most auto part stores.

[Emission]

Originally posted by Wayne at Pelican Parts
For water removal, you can always just bake it out in an oven...

-Wayne

Only when the wife isn't home...

[Zeke]

Originally posted by Mike Kast
How hot Wayne? Interesting idea... I wish I could have fit my gas tank in the oven

Wouldn't take too much more than 212 degrees at sea level.

[Mike Kast]

I'll tell you what! The screen in my oil tank was probably 2/3rds clogged with... I don't know what. But I cleaned it all up and, mayby I'm in a fantasy world, but my oil pressure is better and I ran cooler than I have ever run. Granted it is cooler out now than it was all summer but I ran her for 800 miles this weekend and it seemed a bit better. The oil thing anyway... Fuel system ... not so great. But I am working on it!

[Randy Webb]

BTW, you can remove water at any temperature -- not just the boiling pt. (212 oF or 100 oC). The evaporation rate will increase as the temp. goes up.

[HawgRyder]

Also...perhaps throw in a handful of nuts to break up the crud when cleaning.
I always count the nuts first...and then after the operation....just to be on the safe side.
Bob

[Evans, Marv]

I bought a used oil tank some time ago. I used some gasoline to do a little pre-cleaning to see what would come out. One thing that came out was a bunch of metal filings. Anybody know a way to get all of them out?

[Mike Kast]

I couldn't find the varsol anywhere when I was cleaning mine. I used parts cleaner that I got from advanced auto. They sell it by the gallon. I was able to pour it back in the gallon can after I had it in the oil tank and still use it to dip parts, Mostly nuts and bolts into.
I think laquer thinner is maybe the best solvent to use though because it doesn't seem to leave much if any residue and it cuts through sludge better than mineral spirits. I think the best thing to do with the metal fillings is to shake it up and drain it out a few times till you think you got it. Then on the final time, dump the thinner out of the tank through a paint screen and see if there are still fillings coming out.
Or maybe just bring it to a radiator shop? Metal fillings, thats sort of scary...

[chrisp]

I saw the response about the tank leaking around the seam.

My tank leaks around the bolt hole neck. I made an aluminum sleeve that I JB welded on to support the neck where the drain bolt goes in. It's still leaking though. It's not coming from under the crush washer as I originally suspected.

Has anyone else seen this sort of leak? I think it's easy enough to fix the leak but I am concerned about the neck breaking off at some point.

If many of you have the leak and the neck hasn't separated yet then I'll just patch it. However if these necks have a tendency to fail then I may take more corrective action.

[Mike Kast]

since I did all the work I have had my eyes a little wider about what I could have done. And I have seen tanks come up for sale quite a few times since. 100-150 bucks. I don't know what you get for that, But if it is a reputable seller I would think it would a sound tank, better than a patch. and the time saved in fixing fixed repairs is worth the money to me.
Mine seems to be leak free.