Fur in the fuel tank

[panzerjunky]

Just a quick note
When I take the fuel cap off my tank there is a white calcium like ( I know its not calcium just looks that way) substance on the pull out strainer and on the part that holds the strainer in. what is this how do I prevent it how do I remove it? As I will be pulling the tank to drain and make sure it is clean.
Thanks
Jerry

 

[swbradley1]

From the subject line I was going to say you are doing the same thing I do, put small furry carcasses in the tank for fuel. I tell all my friends that the truck will run on almost anything.

Seriously though, if someone knows what it is I have it in one of my tanks as well.

sw

 

[oilcan]

Algae?

 

[swbradley1]

Adam,

If it's the same as mine it sort of looks like salt or a hard white talc only crusty. Is there an algae that would dry out white like that? It happens to be the truck I got from Kip.

steve

 

[DieselBob]

Same thing in my strainer ?

 

[jollyroger]

I was going to say the same thing. I have diesel farm tractors and if they set for a long time with low fuel or half fuel they build up condensation and then they grow algae in the tank. All our algae has been black and stringy. I don't know if it is different colors for different parts of the country. There are additives you can run but I always try and keep the tanks full.

 

[jasonjc]

I've got the same crap in most of my tanks too.

 

[jimmcld]

I thought that was normal

All my tanks have it.

 

[wreckerman893]

That gentlemen is shelac....it is what is left after the liquid part of the fuel evaporates.
The algae mentioned above grows in the liquid fuel itself.
It is a bitch-kitty to get out of a tank...think a few pounds of pea gravel and a way to rotate the tank slowly for a few hours.
Since there are baffles in most tanks it makes it very difficult to get it all out.
You used to could take them to a shop that had a hot dip tank and get them boiled out with chemicals........thank the EPA for screwing the pooch on that deal.
That is the main reason we change fuel filters so much on these trucks...the good fuel (and the stuff some of us make) has a cleansing effect on the tanks and the crud has to go somewhere.
Just carry some extra filters with you for when you need them.

 

[Ridgerunner]

I had taken the fuel pump out of my tank a while back. And while it was out, I inspected the inside if the tank. The inside of the tank and fuel pump are very clean (like new) but the pull out strainer was/is covered crusty white. The pull out strainer is the only thing that has any trace of it. I thought it was strange????

 

[swbradley1]

I knew someone smarter than me would know what it was. Thanks WM.

sw

 

[Speddmon]

swbradley1,

I know the deuces would run on a lot of stuff, but I never even thought about road kill before!!

 

[Speddmon]

how 'bout that...WM know something other than Murphy's first name

 

[unclemikey]

WRECKERMAN knows all !

 

[jollyroger]

Wreckerman is right. The algae only grows in the fuel.

 

[wreckerman893]

I am only slightly brilliant.......most of my knowledge is from the School of Hard Knocks.

The longer I play with these trucks the more I learn and the more I learn to love them.

 

[acmunro]

I thought someone tried to put a tiger in the tank. Like the old Exxon commercial.

 

[Nonotagain]

The strainers were cadmium plated. If the cadmium has its surface broken through the surface starts to corrode creating the cadmium salts which you see.

A small bronze bristle brush and some elbow grease and it's all gone for a while.

If you want it gone forever, strip the cad and coat the strainer with POR-15.

 

[GoHot229]

Just wondering if thats a mineral or an oxide formation? Muriatic acid in a coffee cup to a five gallon bucket used to work as a ratio acid/water mix. Mabe a quart of acid to a full tank would work. It really does a job on oxides (RUST) or minerals like calcium salts. However the time you leave it in should be only about 15 minutes, as it can eat through any rust spot 'pinholes' waiting to happen. I used it a couple years back to clean Bultaco bolts. Bultaco being a vintage Spanish racing bike from the 60's through the 80's. Bultacos had allen bolts throughout with 'BULTACO' stamped in the bolts, making them very desireable for restorers rather than store bought bolts w/no stamping, but often times age had rusted the bolts enough that they looked pretty ratty, especially when doing a full resto. My solution...... Initally was to soak them in a small bowl with a 25% solution of water/muriatic acid for what usually was about anywhere from 15 minuates to an hour if they were really trashed. This gave me a 'as new' appearance to the bolts with all of the corrosion removed. Then I would put them in another bowl in my sink with running cold watter to rinse them for a couple minutes, then spray with WD40 to protect from flash rust. then to remove that before painting the nuts, a bath of acitone to remove the WD. Point is, after this long winded storie, that muriatic acid will remove and etch clean steel like nobodys business. CAUTION !! Muriatic acid does NOT work with ALUMINUM as it causes a furrious reaction and turns aluminum black and actually eats it up in short order, I mean parts will dissapear.......yea really...!!

 

[NewWheeler]

I have the same white deposits and actually just pulled my strainer out yesterday to clean it up. I had planned on just rubbing it down with a green scrubbing pad to knock that white stuff off. The real reason I pulled it though is that the screen at the bottom of the strainer is so clogged with "algae" that it won't flow fuel. To fuel it I have to remove the whole strainer. I've put a Biocide in the tank to kill the "algae" but the screen is still clogged. Now I have to find some way to clean the screen without damaging it. Anyone else dealt with this before?