Bad gas

[dguy]

Holy crap...

I've run in to old, spoiled fuel before which wouldn't light off in an engine.  There was nothing unusual about it to the eye or the nose, but from the perspective of an internal combustion engine it was useless.

Enter a 86 Notchie which has been sitting for a good while, with a seized fuel pump.

Dropped the tank & siphoned the old gas out today.  Pump gas has a distinct odour.  This...  had a distinct stink.  Lightly rust-stained, probably includes a decent moisture content, and to the nose.... ack!  Pepe Le Pieu would have been proud!

Hopefully I can dilute this crap with fresh stuff and at least burn it off in the lawn mower....  yuck.

[2ML67]

If it smells like resin it is no good for any thing and you need to be sure the tank is not coated with it or the tank is pretty much crap unless you can get it all out. Dan

[dguy]

Like resin... as in fiberglass resin, or something else?

It still smells like gasoline, but there's a heavy, nasty overtone in there as well.  Not sure else how to describe it.  The interior of the tank is stained up to the level of the fuel.  It's simply dark on the metal of the tank, but more of a rust color on the baffles.  The pump & sending unit had more rust on them than an early 80s Honda.

I hope this doesn't spell the end for the tank...  it's in excellent condition in every other regard.

[2ML67]

When I say resin I mean like shelac or stain used for wood working, if you do not get it all out the fresh gas will slowly break it down and it will mix with the gas and clog up the filters and fuel injectors.
I have tossed out near mint shaped tanks before because of the resin as I could not get it out after trying many different things to remove it from fresh gas to acetone to varsol plus a few things suggested by others on PFF but none of them worked. Dan

[FieroBUZZ]

Same spot I'm at.  Hopefully I can sandblast and solder the holes in that tank I have.

[dguy]

Thanks for the info, Dan.  I'll see if I can get some decent light in the tank & post a photo, but my gut says that what I'm seeing are as much resin stains as they are rust.