Think I figured out why my Scooter wont start

[massimofinance]

I emptied my gas tank and you can see the rust flakes. I assume these would stop it from starting? How do you recommend I clean the inside of the tank?

 

[GA_Boater]

One way is to throw in some screws, nuts and bolts along with a short length of chain and about a gallon of kerosene or diesel fuel and shake the heck out of the whole shebang. Repeat as necessary until the inside is clean.

Put the old petcock in or find a bolt the fits the petcock threads. The hardware will mess the petcock up if you don't.

 

[Scott Danforth]

i filled my moped tanks with a 1:5 mixture of muriatic acid and water. let it sit, then pressure washed the inside of the tank. all the rust was removed. i then use a motorcycle gas-tank restore kit and did all 3 tanks with one kit.

you will have to rebuild your carbs to get the rust settlement out of them.

 

[gm280]

^+1 Scott provide the best solution for a tank cleaning.

 

[massimofinance]

Thanks all. I have researched this a bit and I am thinking of doing the following: put 60 nuts, bolts, and washers into the tank (sealing the outlets) with some gasoline or lacquer thinner. wrapping it inside a plastic bag and then a blanket and putting it inside a dryer (no heat) and run the dryer for a few hours. If that doesn't remove all the rust, I will fill the tank with naval jelly, let sit for 24 hours, rinse it, blow it out with air, and then coat it with WD-40. Hoping I will not need to remove and clean the carb AGAIN! Thanks...

 

[GA_Boater]

^+1 Scott provide the best solution for a tank cleaning.

I didn't mention the final step with the hardware method. Wrap the tank in a bunch of towels and put it in Mama's dryer on a no heat, gentle setting. I think this is too dangerous to use since it could lead to an unhappy Mama. :decision: Let your conscious be your guide!

Scott - Which coating kit did you use? Some of the old standbys don't work well with ethanol - Kreem comes to mind as not one of the better ones.

 

[bruceb58]

There is no way I would put in a dryer with a solvent in the tank. There is still an electrical motor driving the drum and fan.

 

[gm280]

Personally I would not use any coating product unless the tank had leaks. Because a lot of the coatings are epoxy based, or at least two part mixtures, and if your tank isn't leaking, why coat the inside? I read that system for older motorcycle tanks where there are no place to buy a new or used one anymore and the tank had rust and leaks. JMHO

 

[rbh]

+2,3,4?? on the nuts and bolts.
No sealant, if it starts to fall off or chip it then plugs up your tanks petcock, just clean it out good then run good fuel.

try a couple of bar magnets across the bottom to collect any stray bits of rust

 

[Scott Danforth]

I used the POR 15 products from back when they worked. I had a webshots account that had all the pictures, however when that dissapeared, so did the pictures.

I also wouldnt put anything in the dryer with any solvant......BOOM! you can join the guys that clean out their fuel tanks with a shop vac

put it in the back of your truck maybe and drive down a gravel road for an hour. however never in the dryer.

 

[massimofinance]

Thanks all. Do I need to put the solvent into the tank with the hardware? Still want to do the dyer thing. Thanks.

 

[Scott Danforth]

you need the solvent. the dryer thing is a bad idea.

 

[massimofinance]

wanted to report back. I did the nuts and bolts and thinner shake about, did an awesome job. There was still some rust stuck in some crevices, so I diluted Naval Jelly and left it in the tank for 24 hours, then flushed it with baking soda, then flushed it all with cold water, blew it all out, sprayed it all down with WD-40. worked like a charm.