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Cleaning tank sealer

3K views 21 replies 12 participants last post by  joe49 
#1 ·
Hey guys. Due to some health problems I've been off the road for awhile. My bike (2003 FXST)has been sitting over a year with gas in the tank so the inevitable rust appeared. Went through the carb and pulled the tank to inspect the rust problem. Filled the tank with apple cider vinegar and a hand full of nuts & bolts and let it sit for about 10 days, shaking the tank a couple times a day to loosen things up. Every few days I'd empty the tank, inspect the tank then filter the vinegar before filling the tank up again. By the color of the vinegar it looked like it was working good. Today I emptied the tank, filled it with 1/2 gallon of gas and gave it another shake to clean things up. Looks like it did its job removing the rust but it also took a lot of the sealer off. What I can see is some of it is still there and some of it is coming off in big chunks. It's an aftermarket tank with a custom paint job so I would like to keep it if I can. Would muriatic acid do a better/faster job or should I stick with the vinegar? Knowing that I got it all removed would be kind of a crap shoot. Any suggestions?
Thanks, Dan
 
#2 ·
There must be more than a dozen archived threads on this subject. Your best course, probably, would be to search for "remove sealer," "sealer removal," or maybe just "sealer" and have a read of what comes up. (This site's search function is, one might say, eccentric, so persistence pays.)

That said, slightly dilute white vinegar removed all the sealer, both the crappy Kreem and the really stout original stuff beneath it, from my BMW's tank, but damn it took a long time, repeated vinegar douches, and a lot of scraping and fishing around to get the stuff out. I'd view muriatic acid with suspicion and keep a close eye on its progress, should you take that route.
 
#18 ·
Well finally got it cleaned and sealed. Ended up trying a bit of everything that was suggested here. Started with the apple cider vinager then used the muriatic acid. Both did a pretty good job. Picked up a tank sealing kit from KBS to do the sealing part. Decided to use the cleaning solution that came in the kit so it wouldn't just go to waste. I was surprised how much more old sealer came out. Really looked good inside the tank. Put the sealer in and let it set up. Looks good inside the tank. The weather turned cold here ( at least for me) and a couple other things turned up so I haven't had a chance to get the tank back on. Probably have a chance next week. I would definitely recommend that KBS tank kit for cleaning & sealing a tank.
 
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