Cheap cola and rusty gas tank

Posted about a week ago that I was using off brand cola to
clean out 2N Ford fuel tank, cola been in there about 5 days,
just poured out and washed tank with soapy water and rinsed
about five times. From what I can see internally it looks good,
not going to line the tank, letting it air dry right now and then
going to reinstall this afternoon, will keep tank topped off from
here on out with non ethanol .
About 7 years ago I soaked my old 601 Ford tank several
days with white vinegar, rinsed it out then reinstalled without
pouring liner in it and have never had a problem

Hi Grayrider, curious, did you get some flash rust after washing it out? Will that rust continue and eventually rust out the tank? Have you taken a look inside the older tank to see if there is rust? Just sealed a tank with Casewell Tank sealer. After cleaning the take with muriatic acid and rinsing, flash rust appeared almost immediately. The heavier rust was in the seams which cleaned up very well. I am sure the tank sealer will prevent any further rusting, from the inside at least.

The cola trick works due to the phosphoric acid in it. You can buy phosphoric acid mixtures at the hardware store. The last jug I bought was prep and etch from kleenstrip. Not knocking your resourcefulness but without the sugar it will be less messy and not attact flies.

The old tank was solid, just surface rust that washed out with soapy water, I would imagine by keeping the tank full would and will eliminate any future problems, just got through putting it all back together and been on a trip around the pasture, been many years since it breathed life, has Sherman transmission. Got to put the brush guard back on after I get some new bolts, had to cut old bolts off of front axle to get the guard off for disassembly, she needs a new coat of lipstick now

Need to find an original N seat and spring, somebody in the past out a Farmall seat and spring on it and you sit too close to the shifter and steering wheel with it on there

The old gal is just a Mutt, has an 8N engine, lift works good, holds good oil pressure, Sherman works great, tires old and cracked, may use her for trading material, got too many

E10 is a better fuel. The alcohol absorbs water from condensation in little used equipment. But then I always run E10 in all my letter series Farmalls so my experience is different than those who only fear ethanol.

E10 is not a better fuel when it comes to old tractors,
chainsaws, lawnmowers, outboard motors, 4 wheelers, etc, I
could go on and on about its effects on carburetors and rubber
fuel lines, any equipment that?s just used periodically is in
jeopardy by using ethanol fuel, I?ve experienced what it does
by sitting dormant in equipment, non ethanol is all that I use in
my equipment and never have in issues with it, some tractors
and other stuff I own may sit for well over a year and never
gums up or creates varnish in a carburetor , can?t say that
about E10, you?ll be rebuilding carbs if you let your stufff sit
idle for a while

I agree, E10 is just fine. It seems to keep things nice and clean in the fuel system.
Zach

Been using the 10% in the tractors f0r over 40yrs with no problems what should have happened

If you run them regularly or daily no problems, let them sit up for months and see what you got

Several of mine sit for a year or more.

I find it surprising that we have such different experiences. I've heard a lot about how bad ethanol is, and usually from those who don't use it. Of course, because they don't want the problems. No gumming problems, in fact old leaded gasoline would leave more gum. I use it in lawnmowers, chain saws, and weed eaters. Can't track any problems to it.

I've got about twenty Farmalls that will run, the rest of them ran when new.

Don't matter its still gonna rust more than likely were you will not see it tho... Give it some time take a mirror and look at the underside of the top ....

Why you get away with it its not EFI that rust will eat a electric pump UP!...

I don't understand why someone would take the time to get rid of the rust and not line it and be done with it... More than likely forever...

(quoted from post at 16:48:01 05/18/18) Several of mine sit for a year or more.

I find it surprising that we have such different experiences. I've heard a lot about how bad ethanol is, and usually from those who don't use it. Of course, because they don't want the problems. No gumming problems, in fact old leaded gasoline would leave more gum. I use it in lawnmowers, chain saws, and weed eaters. Can't track any problems to it.

I've got about twenty Farmalls that will run, the rest of them ran when new.

Click to expand...

Yes! Same here.

(quoted from post at 20:48:01 05/18/18) Several of mine sit for a year or more.

I find it surprising that we have such different experiences. I've heard a lot about how bad ethanol is, and usually from those who don't use it. Of course, because they don't want the problems. No gumming problems, in fact old leaded gasoline would leave more gum. I use it in lawnmowers, chain saws, and weed eaters. Can't track any problems to it.

I've got about twenty Farmalls that will run, the rest of them ran when new.

Click to expand...

Andy, I've been following this issue for many years. I've come to the conclusion that there just can't be that many liars and idiots out there, and that most of the people reporting problems/no problems with ethanol bearing fuels are being completely honest. I think for those of us that have problems, and I'm one of them, it may be related to the specific blends or fuel we get locally, the age of the equipment and any possible updates to fuel lines, gaskets, etc. and how often the fuel is cycled through. I've done the test with the sealed jar of E10 mix and I've seen the separation and color change. I've done the tests with the jar with air holes mimicking a gas tank vent and seen the varnish form. I've certainly seen the problems with older equipment and how the problem is solved by switching back to non-ethanol fuel. But it may just be the specific blends in my area causing the issue. Maybe it's the dealers tanks and what they add or don't add to them, I don't know. But there are too many people giving anecdotal evidence in both directions to believe it's all mass hypnosis or a conspiracy of liars either way.

Just my 2 cents.