Rusty Gas Tank, but not THAT bad.

[Chaharly]

Hey guys, I've been having problems with my back right carburetor's pilot jet plugging up and losing it at idle. I've noticed when I fill the tank that I have a little bit of rust build-up in the neck of the gas tank. Earlier this summer, i opened the tank where the Fuel Level Sender is bolted in and it looked pretty good. I did notice the fuel level sender had some red tinge to it, like theres just a small amount of surface rust building up somewhere. 

 

Well yesterday I pulled the fuel tank, (Its not that bad of a job. You can do it and leave all the bags on and everything wired up. I took ratchet straps and strapped it in four places to the rafters and unbolted the rear frame, sub frame, whatever you want to call it from the bike and it lifted up with enough room to get the tank out) and dumped the 3.5 gallons of fuel that I had in it into a 5 gallon bucket and took a peek inside. I think me sloshing the tank around knocked some of the rust off, as it looks pretty good in there, but you'll see by the pictures that my fuel filters are real nasty orange. The one with the red fuel line running to it has maybe 20k miles tops.

 

What is a good strategy to get the rust out of the tank, and can I put WD-40 or an oily substance in it to sort of "fog" the tank and keep it from rusting for the rest of the winter? I plan on replacing my rear shock and spring, as 110,000 miles makes it feel like its getting pretty soft. It'll be much easier to do this time with the tank off the bike!

 

Any advice is appreciated!

 

Thanks!!

 

CJ 

 

 

[BlueSky]

That tank looks good to me.  I'm no expert on the tanks but I think WD 40 would keep it from rusting over the winter.  I'm sure you are using Seafoam or something like Chevron Techron in the gas to help keep the carbs clean when you ride. I use Gumout with Regane (PEA) in mine.  It helps a bit but nothing will keep the carbs from plugging up if it sits too much it seems...

[cimmer]

Looks good to me also. What I do is make sure I add Seafoam to the tank and then fill it up fully and then running it a bit before parking it for the winter. I dont seem to have any issue and it starts right up for me in the spring. Least with a full tank there is no room for rust to form.

Rick F.