Aluminum Fuel tank cleaning

[Jamie 10017]

I am restoring a express cruiser it has 2 150gal aluminum fuel tanks I have them out of the boat a I want to clean the insides of the tanks. The filler neck is curved so I can't get go thru the fill neck, the sending unints are 1.5 inch dia so not much go there. They are 27 yrs old I dont know how dirty they are but want to flush/clean them while they are out of the boat.... any ideas on what to try? Thanks Jamie

 

[Peter Eikenberry]

Have a professional inspect them first. The pro can also clean them for you. Considering how old they are you may be looking at replacing.

 

[Watermann]

Before cleaning I would pressure test the tank to be sure there aren't any holes. If no holes then move on to cleaning.If there are holes you'll need to repair them if they're not too bad. I would use Star Tron fuel tank cleaner.

 

[rickryder]

If you want to clean the outside of the tank to inspect for holes use oven cleaner

 

[Capt. Willie]

You might try removing the fuel gauge mechanism, (the opening is about 2" in dia. on mine, the fuel fill is only about 1 1/4" in dia.) IF possible, to have a look inside. I tried to use a long wooden dowel, (pine) but this didn't work so well.

I just cleaned mine, (a 15 Gal. tank) and I used plain HOT water, and sloshed it around a bit....mostly the remains were dried-up fuel as the boat had sat idle for 10 yrs. This removed most, but didn't remove everything, there's a few spots of residue left on the bottom of the tank....and it's about as hard as a rock. Good luck!

 

[MH Hawker]

i used to take one to a radiator repair shop and have them acid dip and flush, it ran about 20.00