Anyone have any experience or idea on what I should to remove my tank full of old gas? Just started to work on my car again and hopefully I can get it back on the road soon. One of my last projects is to remove the gas from the car...about 15g worth.

I was told there is a drain plug at the bottom of the tank, just not sure how handy that will be since it'll all gush out all over my garage.

My other thought was to open a fuel hose in the engine bay and maybe have the gas flow out through there.

Any advice would be helpful.

 

The bigger question is, what are you going to put it in? You could always use the fuel pressure test and just have the fuel go into whatever container you are using instead of pressurizing the fuel rail. You'll probably still have to open the drain plug to get the excess out.

 

Start with a tube in the gas tank and siphon out as much as possible into a container (portable gas tank maybe).

THEN, once you can't siphon anymore out - crack the drain plug on the tank and have aforementioned container ready to catch the rest.

-M

 

Thanks Mahjik...where is the fuel pressure test line? I want to pull out as much as 90% of the gas and I'll top off the rest

MattGold, thanks too...I've done my search on the forum and a member mentioned the siphoning did not work for him because the tube didn't go down to the fuel area. Any thoughts on this?

 

It's the fuel feed line to the rails (i.e. not the return line ).

 

Get a longer tube.

 

Just crack the drain plug and have a few containers handy. Scrubby and I just did the deed on Carlisi's 20B not too long ago and it wasn't bad.

I just used the gasoline (it wasn't all that old, couple of years) to clean up a bunch of rotors, irons, etc from the our upcoming builds, the stuff works very well

 

I would just unhook the fuel line at the top of the tank and pump it out into 5 gal cans to use in the tractor/lawnmower/ FB etc... I wouldn't use it to fill up but a little at a time will burn fine.

 

thanks for the tip on re-using the old gas.

2GSLSE, which fuel ling you talking about, the one from where the fuel pump is?

 

Wear a respirator and gloves, Rich. Breathing Benzene (a known carcinogen) is not good.

 

Yes I was referring to the one where the pump is so the old gas isn't pumped through the rest of the system.

 

If it's been sitting for five years, you're probably going to need to get the injectors cleaned, maybe replace them. I got a car that way and even after having the injectors cleaned 3 of 4 didn't work in the car. Just a heads up cause the motor wouldn't start till I changed them.

 

When the car sits a long time you get alot more fine iron oxide (rust) showing up in the gas - another good reason to run an Aeromotive 10 micron filter, because the stocker isn't going to catch it, it's relatively coarse mesh (designed for long service life)

 

I guess this has been said, but I would drain the tank from the plug, refill with a few gallons, add some injector cleaner, and then run the fuel pump manually for a few minutes to flush the old fuel out of the lines. Then drain those couple of gallons if the stuff in the fuel lines was nasty and refill the tank.

I dunno, those bits of iron oxide might help clean the varnish off the injectors, donchathink?

David

 

was thinking, if i unscrew the drain plug, would i need to teflon or put something on the thread to seal the tank when i'm done removing the gas

 

I did not need to. As I recall there is a crush washer there. You might run down to the hardware or auto store to buy a replacement of the same size.

 

You may be thinking of a high pressure sandblasting type operation, but this stuff accumulates as sludge and gunks up everything, we see it in process water applications. 10 micron filters are required to catch it.

 

I kid man, I kid.

 

And change the fuel filter too after cleaning everything!

 

Not to threadjack, but I didn't feel it was necessary to start a whole new thread. My fuel has been sitting for about 8 months. Drain or reuse with a few new gallons of fuel on top of it? There's 1/4 tank-ish. New lines & filter already done.

 

I would just top off and drive.

 

I agree with dgeesaman, I've had fuel sit in my FD over every winter since I've owned my car (between 5-10 months depending on how badly I want to drive it and deal with the upkeep) without issue. Up here in the northeast, you gotta make sure it's topped off before an extended parking time to prevent condensation. I also add a little fuel stabilizer. Does it freeze where you live in AZ?

 

To the OP,

If it was me, I would drain the old fuel out. Then I would remove the fuel pump access cover off and literally clean the tank out. That way you would not get any rust or any other gunk sitting in the tank back in your system and have the chance to ruin the entire fuel system. The gas might be 5 years old but the tank is almost 20. God knows what that sitting fuel broke loose or will break loose once it start to move around.

While the fuel pump is out, I would clean the filter screen and run the fuel pump in a bucket with alcohol. Just hook it up to a 12V source. This should also tell you if your pump is working to its optimum performance if you measure how many gallons per minute the pump will move. I would put the feed and return lines together at the fuel rail so you can flush those too all the way back to the gas tank area. This way you know there is no gunk in your fuel pump and fuel lines. I would replace the injectors and fuel dampener. While you take out the fuel rail, I would flush those too.

Yes at the end you spent a bit more money and had to do a little bit more work, but at least you know you took every precaution to not have any fuel related issue/failure and should give you a bit more confidence when driving your car. This is a car that I consider not to cut corner and do everything right the first time. Cheap, reliable and fast… pick 2.


**** just realized that you are 3 hours away. If I can convince my wife to go to Ikea I might swing by and give you a hand if needed.

 

^^^What he said. I was thinking of doing the same thing with my 8 month old gas. Glad to hear I don't have to now. Especially since I'll be babying this car around for 1000 miles anyway with the new engine.

 

I think I'll pump out the old gas through the drain plug, everyone around here told me that 5year gas starts to become like a jelly, so I guess I'll start there once this heat and humidity leave our area.
Once that is done, I'll search around for that gas pump cover and try to peer inside to see the condition of the tank. I'm dug around the trunk area except to clean out the dust and FD stuff that has been sitting in the cargo for a couple of year....garage sale time!