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Tank Will Be Empty For A While

  • Thread starter Thread starter Anonymous
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A

Anonymous

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Here's another question for the collective wisdom. I have removed the fuel tank from my GS550L so I can do some work on the bike during the winter. I drained the tank and hung it up to dry. The tank will probably not be reinstalled for several months. My brother expressed some concern about rusting. I live in a normally low humidity environment. Was it a mistake to drain the tank? Should I keep it filled with fuel? Is there some other liquid I should coat the inside with that might also provide a long term protective seal? TIA for any suggestions.
 
A nice thick coat of engine fogging oil would probably do the trick.

It's the stuff in a spray can you spritz into boat engines to keep them from corroding over the winter.

Thse guys make some pretty good stuff if you want to coat the inside of the tank:
http://www.por15.com/

If it's not already rusted inside, I'd just fog it and not worry about it.
 
Want to be careful that I don't put anything in that could clog the filter screen on the petcock (which I just replaced). That's a pretty fine mesh. I guess as long as what is put in the tank and might coat the filter stays soluble in gasoline after 3-4 months, then should be no problems. Would WD-40 leave a residue that would dissolve later?
 
Fog 'er once fer me mate! 8O

I use WD-40 a lot and really like it, but I find it is not the lube to use for 'staying power' when it evaporates it's gone. YMMV. To lube a tank use a fogging oil.
 
Fuel cap on or off?


Off seems it would let it "breathe", on would it trap any condensation
and start rusting?
 
Cap off. Empty, hanging, oiled, yep, keep the cap off to avoid condensation. You can always give 'er another spritz or two of oil as the long winter nights drag on. My tank, unfortunately, is on the bike filled to the brim with gas and Sta-Bil.
 
Personally, I'd leave the cap on. That way, it won't get lost and it'll keep the dust and spiders out.

The fogging oil will dry to a thick oily coating. When you fill the tank in the spring or whenever it'll dissolve in the gas and burn with no problem. A little oil in the gas never hurt anything.

If you're really paranoid, you could rinse out the tank with a little gas before putting it back on the bike.

If you do this, just add the oily gas to your supply of lawn mower fuel. I've disposed of plenty of suspect hydrocarbons using my lawn mower. The little low compression Briggs isn't too picky, as long as you mix in some fresh gas.
 
You might want to cover the cap opening with gauze or some kind of cloth. If the insides are coated with oil it will trap a helluva lot of dust.

Jeff
 
In Summary

In Summary

To capture the above wisdom for posterity, I think the following sums up the general consensus. Let me know if any of this is egregiously wrong. Otherwise I'd say this topic is wrapped, stamped, and delivered.

1) Remove petcock, clean it, store it, and remember where.
2) Remove fuel cap and let residual gasoline evaporate for a day or few.
3) Either spray the tank insides with fogging oil, OR
3a) Add enough 2-cycle oil to lightly coat the tank's interior.
4) Reinstall the fuel cap.
5) Cover or lightly stuff the petcock hole with gauze or nylon window screening to keep out dust and critters.
6) Hang the tank in a safe (away from sparks or flames), preferably dry and warm place.
6a) If one has been diagnosed as AR-positive, he/she may wish to refog or reoil every month or so.
7) When ready to return to use, remove the gauze/screening, and reinstall the petcock, tank, etc.
8) Fill the tank to dissolve the oil and just let it burn off in the engine.
8a) AR-positives may wish to rinse out the tank with a little gas and drain it to get rid of the oil before reinstalling everything.
8b) Environmentally-correct AR-positives can collect and reuse the oily gas in their lawn mower, chainsaw, weed whacker, or other small-engined implements of destruction.
 
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