Cleaning a tractor diesel tank

Richard G. · Mar 22, 2018

Draining the tank now. It has been sitting for 9 years full of diesel.
Thinking about taking it off and pressure washing the inside. It has no baffles.
The diesel looks good as it drains. Will be able to tell more after it all drains out.
Will acetone sloshed in it dry it out after I let it sit in the sun a while?
Richard in NW SC

jeffcat · Mar 22, 2018

No...what works even better is E-85. Stuff will remove any type of crud I have thrown at it. Just be careful because it will remove your paint. It also stinks. When done you can throw it on the burn pile a little at a time.

MSS3020 · Mar 22, 2018

when I bought my j.d. 3020 years ago.. it had all sorts of crap in fuel tank including bale twine..??? yep..

I drained it, removed it and ran High soapy power wash in it.. then rinsed with hat water, blew out with compressor and let sit in hot sun a day or two..

guido · Mar 22, 2018

Hello Richard G.

If it looks clean coming out you are 1/2 way there. No harsh chemical needed. Just fill it with hot water and some soap. If you take it out, take it for a ride on the lawn mower, rinse with cold water, and you are done!

Guido.

Billy NY · Mar 22, 2018

Get as bright of an LED flashlight as you can find and shine it in there. From there you will be able to see what it looks like and take appropriate action to clean it.

I did the one on my ford new holland 4630 last year while I was in there to replace the tank mounted fuel gauge sending unit. It was clean, but there was a flexible yellow spout to retrieve out of the tank ! LOL I kept it, must have broke off and was left in there.

Richard G. · Mar 22, 2018

Billy, The old JD A I grew up plowing with had a stick in the tank all the time I remember using it. Sure it was used at one time as a gas gauge.
Richard

Richard G. · Mar 22, 2018

Thanks Guido. I will let yall know how it comes out.
Richard

BHpony · Mar 22, 2018

I know a guy that cleaned a Oliver 77 tank with steam jenny. He said it worked very well.

old · Mar 22, 2018

Tractor fuel tank or some other type of tank?? If you can in fact get a good look inside that is where I would start. You might find it is not all that bad unless it has gotten some water in it.

fixerupper · Mar 22, 2018

Yes e85 works great. I cleaned a gummed up gas tank with e 85. Left it soak for three days and flushed it out.
T

Richard G. · Mar 22, 2018

Yep, tractor tank. I can see that is not rusty. Just has a very little junk moving around when I stir it with about 1/2 inch of fuel left in it. Looks to be a slightly darker liquid.
Think it would be good to get it out.
Richard

old · Mar 22, 2018

Well since you have a good bit of fuel I would strain the fuel you have and use it to keep flushing the tank out. I hate putting water or other such liquids in a tank especially in a diesel fuel tank because to the fun or fixing injector pump problem if you do things wrong

casecollectorsc · Mar 22, 2018

Bought a 930 Case Western Special that had sat for 20 years with the tank full...fuel went thru just fine. Fuel 20 years ago was better than the crap we have today.

Frank 41 · Mar 22, 2018

Some E85 in the tank and an air wand. Drain it out and let it settle and reuse it. It works excellent on crap bio diesel. It is about the cheapest thing you can use. I used MEK once that is expensive and hard on the lungs.

Cleaning a tractor diesel tank

Richard G.

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jeffcat

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MSS3020

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guido

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Billy NY

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Richard G.

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Richard G.

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BHpony

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old

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fixerupper

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Richard G.

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old

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casecollectorsc

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Frank 41

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