DIEBOG
Active Member
So the problem I have is this rusted fuel tank on my dozer. There are large chunks and a build up on the bottom, but the tank doesn't leak. I was thinking about getting some of that tank coating stuff, but the tank is part of the seat and is fairly large as it houses the batteries as well so I don't know if that would work or even be possible to jostle it around enough to properly dislodge and clean out the rust as well as be able to uniformly apply the product to the inside. I took off the cap/bowl on the bottom that catches junk (held on by 4 9/16 bolts) and used a pressure washer to blow out everything that was loose until water was clear and no more chunks came out, but after I did that I reached in the hole with my finger and can still feel allot of caked up rust on the bottom. Now when looking down the fill hole, the sides are not rusty at all, but if you are familiar with this model, the back of the tank slants forward and under the seat which creates the bottom of the seat area. So its is impossible to see down to the very bottom and you can forget about getting any kind of tool in there to scrape it down or even vacuum it out. Oh and I did spray the tank down with diesel fuel after I pressure washed it so it wouldn't rust.
I would really like to have the tank functional again so I don't have to rig a temp tiny fuel tank that could possibly leak and would get in the way. But I also don't want to mess with plugged fuel lines and fuel filters. Any sugg?...... Or has anyone encountered this and found a good way to at least get rid of the rust? After some research I found that some say apple cider vinegar will eat rust, or plain vinegar, some say a type of acid (don't recall the type) one guy had used electrolysis and rebar which takes the rust and basically plates it to the rebar. There is a product called naval jelly, but it comes in small bottles and costs allot. I'm sure there are many more ways, but I don't really want to experiment with it and waste allot of time. I have tried soaking rusty bolts that just had light surface rust in apple cider vinegar, as well as white vinegar,but the results wern't the best and that was just light surface rust. I want something I can dump in there, let soak for however long, and have a perfectly clean "rust free" tank that I can use without worrying about fuel issues and such.
I would really like to have the tank functional again so I don't have to rig a temp tiny fuel tank that could possibly leak and would get in the way. But I also don't want to mess with plugged fuel lines and fuel filters. Any sugg?...... Or has anyone encountered this and found a good way to at least get rid of the rust? After some research I found that some say apple cider vinegar will eat rust, or plain vinegar, some say a type of acid (don't recall the type) one guy had used electrolysis and rebar which takes the rust and basically plates it to the rebar. There is a product called naval jelly, but it comes in small bottles and costs allot. I'm sure there are many more ways, but I don't really want to experiment with it and waste allot of time. I have tried soaking rusty bolts that just had light surface rust in apple cider vinegar, as well as white vinegar,but the results wern't the best and that was just light surface rust. I want something I can dump in there, let soak for however long, and have a perfectly clean "rust free" tank that I can use without worrying about fuel issues and such.