best way to dry gas tank that is in car
 

Some history: Had tank pro cleaned and sealed when i was restoring car. Last week run but would starve out when accelerating . Settlement bowl glass had black flakes in REMOVED AND THROUGH THAT THE SEALER WAS TURNING LOOSE from the bottom. When on ford barn and found "Bizzare tank cleaning"Used pro 50 cleaner ,set up the pump, and started the cleaning process All this week.Got a very little black flakes out and the water was clear.At this time I am flushing the tank with clear water.Now my question what's the best way to dry out the tank ? blowing compressed air in, just air dry over time ,run some denatured alcohol in and then drain. Up for suggestions.Before all of this I removed the settlement bowel gasket between the site glass . Gasket was dissolved. Could of bend the problem all along . But there was black stuff on the gas gauge face > That's why I assumed the sealer was trying loose.One good deal I have a clean tank.

Re: best way to dry gas tank that is in car
 

Gas gauge - use cork not neoprene (black) gaskets. If it were mine, I could set it outside and it would be dry in a day but you might not be having 107-113° weather so I would suggest avoiding all alcohols, ketones, acetones, etc. and use a hair dryer set on the lowest possible heat setting (cool on some) because you don't want to risk melting your pro sealer. If you have 95% humidity where you is, your compressed air is going to come out at not much lower than that (unless you have something like refrigerated drying equipment) so it will help but take a long time....

Re: best way to dry gas tank that is in car
 

Let settle, let dry naturally(open cap) for a day or 2, add isopropyl alcohol (cheap at Walmart) - slosh around by rocking the A, drain, remove shutoff.


A couple of methods I've heard of - do not know how safe they are. With vehicle outside force air thorough shutoff hole (compressed air, ac motor fan without brushes), whatever you do keep anything that sparks away from it (hair driers, DC motors, fan switches, etc. If you use an AC motor fan, make it blow into the hole via a long dryer vent hose or something similar, keeping fumes away from the fan.


I once even heard of someone who attached a long hose to a leaf blower to use to blow at idle speed into a tank.


I have no idea how safe any of these methods are. But have heard of them being done. If it was me I would have it outside, treat with a couple of quarts of isopropyl, drain, and let dry naturally outside.


Others can comment on these methods, or if there are other recommendations.

Re: best way to dry gas tank that is in car
 

I just cleaned a motorcycle gas tank. Used a pressure washer to get the crud out, worked good. Let it sit in the sun for a few hours, was completely dry.

Re: best way to dry gas tank that is in car
 

A thought. Try the Alcohol on a rag and rub a small area inside the tank. Does the liner discolor the rag or come right off? If so I would avoid alcohol inside the tank. I you remember where the sealer came from enquire of the manufacturer as to the long term effects of alcohol? If gasohol is your fuel, you may have to re-clean the inside of the tank.

Re: best way to dry gas tank that is in car
 

I run water for about an hour and then blow dry tank with shop vac for about 2 hours.


stone dry. Leave fuel valve off.............

Re: best way to dry gas tank that is in car
 

Thanks for the info . Will try letting it sit for a few days , see how that goes.

Re: best way to dry gas tank that is in car
 

Pressure washer gets stuff in the middle of the tank, but will not get a lot of the tank which is behind the tank baffles. Lots of info on the baffles in previous strings.

Re: best way to dry gas tank that is in car
 

Alcohol is a solvent. It attacks some materials but not others so beware.

Re: best way to dry gas tank that is in car
 

Since it will only be in the tank a short time (minutes) slosh and drain/dry, think it could still be an issue?

Re: best way to dry gas tank that is in car
 

We don't know how long it will be in and what mix, everybody seems to have a different idea of "how long" really is, from overnight to three weeks to three months.

On some stuff alcohol will act fast, like on shellac. Re-finishers use it to remove the old shellac or varnish quickly from old furniture.

Re: best way to dry gas tank that is in car
 

I sealed two tanks recently with a three step process. That meant I had to dry each of them several times by the time I flushed and washed after each step. I used an old vacuum cleaner to blow air into the tank through the provided hose which I moved about in the tank to get to the ends (around the baffles). The tank was out in the sun while I did this and within about a half an hour, they were dry. No problems with the seal job.

Re: best way to dry gas tank that is in car
 

Like "Rich in Tucson" said. There in Arizona, especially this time of year tings are usually dry before you can pick up the chamois to dry them off. Gotta wash those cars early in the day and in the shade if possible.
The low setting on a hair dryer "seems" safe, but the exhaust side of the shop vacuum sounds safer. As suggested, remove the shut off or even the fuel gauge. the more vents the better. Chap

Re: best way to dry gas tank that is in car
 

Drying time is generally only a worry when there is bare steel surfaces to worry about that will corrode quickly. The alcohol that is sold to remove moisture from a fuel tank (HEET is one brand) can be used as a slosh but good old isopropyl alcohol will work just as well. Here is a good You-Tube experiment. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ElbgPhujl_M

The idea is to put it in quickly and slosh it good then pour it right out to get rid of the water droplets in there. The remaining isopropyl alcohol will evaporate much quicker than the water will. A person just needs to be sure there are no other additives in the alcohol that might remain after evaporation.

Re: best way to dry gas tank that is in car
 

What ore you trying to do by drying it bone dry? Is it to remove the water used to rinse? Fuel tanks are subject to condensation (water) all the time.


Dump a pint of alcohol in and slosh it and drain it, done. No need to get it bone dry under normal circumstances in my opinion.

Re: best way to dry gas tank that is in car
 

Tank update: dried tank with exhaust from shop vac . Replaced glass bowel gasket(used cork style) >Hooked up all fuel lines,of course had leak .A day in the model a world.Clean carb . Filled the tank with gas . Started her up run great . Now when i full l accelate ,it stalles.Turned off fuel line from tank ,turned off power, closed hood , and called it a day .Will check timing ,points, and replace condenser tomorrow.

Re: best way to dry gas tank that is in car
 

Bummer. :(


How do you know the carburetor is not full of the same tank sealer gunk?? I know you said you cleaned the carb., but how do you know it is clean? Did adjusting the GAV make any difference??

Re: best way to dry gas tank that is in car
 

Maybe 1st try cleaning out the carb filter, and make sure the carb is cleaned out good? Easy to miss crap in the wells and passages. Then hang a small external gas tank and hook it up to the carb. Run it for awhile and see if the stall issue remains.


I think that is what Brent above is concerned about - maybe not getting the carb completely cleaned out, and also making sure the tank is clean. The baffles and areas behind the baffles are hard/almost impossible to clean if you have degraded/peeling liner. If you do a search Brent has previously posted pictures of bad sealer in tanks. Its not pretty.

Re: best way to dry gas tank that is in car
 

i removed the carb , took it apart and blew out all the jets and passage ways with air pressure. Reinstalled carb on intake. All lines have been removed and checked for any blockage .Also the fuel lines do not touch the wire filter in the carb or where it goes in the settlement bowl. Gas cap was removed .Started it up ran great until I tried to accelerate full throttle.Stalled and some backfiring through the carb. Tried adjusting full advancing the spark . Didn't help. I think this was the beginning of the problem in the first place.We took it out two Sundays ago for a drive. Would only get up around 30 then started the stalling. Got a little better as we went along.Got home and that's when i looked under the hood. had gas running out of the bowl( tightened it) that's when i saw all the black stuff in the bowl.Assumed that the tank sealer was failing.Black stuff was the neoprene gasket that had disintegrated.I want to thank ever one for all there help full input.I will get the problem resolved and let you know the out come. Miff

Re: best way to dry gas tank that is in car
 

Final on this subject . The deteriorating neoprene gasket was not the main problem . IT WAS TIMING.It was boarder line of being to retarded. Reset timing no back fire . So I
didn't need to do all the other things, tank cleaning , different carb,pulling hair out. Its raining now , can't wait to take a test run when the roads dry up. Thanks again for all your help. Miff