flushing mouse hair/remnants from fuel tank?

[rusty ol ranger]

Strange thing happend....

I went out to work on my bronco and since the tank is out of it (but still has a couple gallons of fuel in it) i had been keeping it in the cargo area.

Anyways, as i was using the old gas to wash the seam sealer off my hands i caught a glimpse through the filler neck hole of what looked like a leaf.

Wtf?

So i sloshed the gas around and found a dead, partially decayed (well, about 3/4 its skin missing, meat still mostly there) mouse floating around inside of it.


I grabbed my hook grabber tool and hooked to its ass and pulled it out but now it looks like a bunch of hair and god knows what else floating around inside the tank. Tank/pickup/pump are new and i dont want that shit clogging up the pre filter. Whats the best way you figure to get it all out of there?

 

[SenorNoob]

Shop vac? Seems kinds risky with gasoline. One of the fine fish nets for goldfish? Dump and blow it out?

 

[rusty ol ranger]

Shop vac? Seems kinds risky with gasoline. One of the fine fish nets for goldfish? Dump and blow it out?

I thought about a shop vac but yeah i figured thatd be iffy.

Im not worried about saving the gas i just dont want a bunch of shit in the tank.

 

[RobbieD]

I'd just bite the bullet, and pull the pump and flush the tank out real good.

 

[Brain75]

to clean out the 1948's tank (it had a necktie in it, that was some sort of natural cloth like cotton that didn't entirely get eaten up by petroleum), I took the tank completely out turned it upside down and got everything out I could with it. Then power washed it inside and out (yes soap and water), then after draining as much as possible, rinsed the water out with pint of 50/50 diesel and ATF (herein referred to as miracle clean). The diesel/ATF displaces the water enough you wont contaminate the gas with water and is a pretty benign chemical that wont hurt your injectors etc - especially if you dilute any tiny remnants immediately with a full tank of fresh E00 - real gasoline, not 10% eth.

Now that said my gas ran through a carb not injectors so I didn't personally test injectors myself, but this was the wisdom of the classics group...

Bonus, here's a picture of what I found in my tank.

and the bottom of the 5 gallon buckets catch of rust flakes from that old non-stainless non-coated tank's giving it up to modern ethanol.

 

[Snoranger]

Come to NJ and take the brand new B2 tank I’ve got.

 

[rusty ol ranger]

to clean out the 1948's tank (it had a necktie in it, that was some sort of natural cloth like cotton that didn't entirely get eaten up by petroleum), I took the tank completely out turned it upside down and got everything out I could with it. Then power washed it inside and out (yes soap and water), then after draining as much as possible, rinsed the water out with pint of 50/50 diesel and ATF (herein referred to as miracle clean). The diesel/ATF displaces the water enough you wont contaminate the gas with water and is a pretty benign chemical that wont hurt your injectors etc - especially if you dilute any tiny remnants immediately with a full tank of fresh E00 - real gasoline, not 10% eth.

Now that said my gas ran through a carb not injectors so I didn't personally test injectors myself, but this was the wisdom of the classics group...

Bonus, here's a picture of what I found in my tank.
View attachment 127504

and the bottom of the 5 gallon buckets catch of rust flakes from that old non-stainless non-coated tank's giving it up to modern ethanol.

View attachment 127505

A necktie? That shows some ingenuity right there.

I was brainstorming this morning.....what if i drained all the fuel out, stuck an air nozzle through the vent hole on top, and stuck a shop vac over the filler neck hole. Blew air inside while at the same time sucking out whats getting stirred up?

Or would that still run a high risk of causing a vapor explosion or something?

Come to NJ and take the brand new B2 tank I’ve got.

Thats a long drive lol. If this tank was old i might consider but its literally brand new lol

 

[Curious Hound]

I would NOT recommend a shop vac if there is any fuel or fuel vapors present. Take the pump/sender assembly out. Dump the tank. Rinse and dumped some more. (Maybe use kerosene or diesel for the rinsing to reduce flammability) in fact, you could put some diesel in it, throw a handful of nuts and bolts in there and shake it around a while to loosen up any stuck rust or debris. Then dump it out again.

 

[RobbieD]

When I did a deep cleaning on my B2 tank years ago, I used a several-feet length of heavy logging chain to knock off the surface rust on the inside. I rigged a rope from a tree limb so that I could tumble the tank easier.

And I used dish detergent and water for the wash, and let it air dry thoroughly for a few days. Then I swirled some gas through it and dumped that before I remounted it and put it back in service.

I had no issues at all after cleaning it that way.

 

[rusty ol ranger]

to clean out the 1948's tank (it had a necktie in it, that was some sort of natural cloth like cotton that didn't entirely get eaten up by petroleum), I took the tank completely out turned it upside down and got everything out I could with it. Then power washed it inside and out (yes soap and water), then after draining as much as possible, rinsed the water out with pint of 50/50 diesel and ATF (herein referred to as miracle clean). The diesel/ATF displaces the water enough you wont contaminate the gas with water and is a pretty benign chemical that wont hurt your injectors etc - especially if you dilute any tiny remnants immediately with a full tank of fresh E00 - real gasoline, not 10% eth.

Now that said my gas ran through a carb not injectors so I didn't personally test injectors myself, but this was the wisdom of the classics group...

Bonus, here's a picture of what I found in my tank.
View attachment 127504

and the bottom of the 5 gallon buckets catch of rust flakes from that old non-stainless non-coated tank's giving it up to modern ethanol.

View attachment 127505

A necktie? That shows some ingenuity right there.

I was brainstorming this morning.....what if i drained all the fuel out, stuck an air nozzle through the vent hole on top, and stuck a shop vac over the filler neck hole. Blew air inside while at the same time sucking out whats getting stirred up?

Or would that still run a high risk of causing a vapor explosion or something?

Come to NJ and take the brand new B2 tank I’ve got.

Thats a long drive lol. If this tank was old i might consider but its literally brand new lol

I would NOT recommend a shop vac if there is any fuel or fuel vapors present. Take the pump/sender assembly out. Dump the tank. Rinse and dumped some more. (Maybe use kerosene or diesel for the rinsing to reduce flammability) in fact, you could put some diesel in it, throw a handful of nuts and bolts in there and shake it around a while to loosen up any stuck rust or debris. Then dump it out again.

The tank is brand new so rust and shit isnt an issue.

I just dont want mouse fur stuck in there lol. I guess ill drain the couple gallons of gas out and see how much comes out with it and go from there.

 

[97RangerXLT]

dump fuel and Mouse Remains. my guess is that it is not in the pump or lines yet. clean out the tank the best yiou can, dump soap and water into the tank and dump it out several times to get any residual Mouse Remains out. rinse with a little bit of fresh gasoline. blow it out with shop air.

Fuel filter should catch any hair that might have hung around after the cleaning. good luck!

AJ

 

[Snoranger]

Drain it. Wash it with dish soap and water. Rinse it a few times. Let it dry before use.

We used to wash out used gas tanks a few times before we would weld a sump on them in the drag cars we built. Striking that first arc was always a butt clencher. There was always a chance that the tank could blow up 2’ in front of your face.

 

[rusty ol ranger]

dump fuel and Mouse Remains. my guess is that it is not in the pump or lines yet. clean out the tank the best yiou can, dump soap and water into the tank and dump it out several times to get any residual Mouse Remains out. rinse with a little bit of fresh gasoline. blow it out with shop air.

Fuel filter should catch any hair that might have hung around after the cleaning. good luck!

AJ

Its definantly not past the tank. The tank was not even actually mounted or hooked up. I had pulled it out to get the real sill fixed and had it sitting behind the rear seat lol.

Drain it. Wash it with dish soap and water. Rinse it a few times. Let it dry before use.

We used to wash out used gas tanks a few times before we would weld a sump on them in the drag cars we built. Striking that first arc was always a butt clencher. There was always a chance that the tank could blow up 2’ in front of your face.

I was hesistant to use soap/water just cause i wasnt sure how good it would dry out. But i guess like suggested if i do it, air blow it, then leave it out in the sun for a while itd pry be fine.

 

[Snoranger]

I was hesistant to use soap/water just cause i wasnt sure how good it would dry out. But i guess like suggested if i do it, air blow it, then leave it out in the sun for a while itd pry be fine.

Use Dawn dish soap. Make sure you flush it good. Allow to dry completely. You won’t have any issues.