Was wondering what you all used to clean a rusted fuel tank? I just rebuilt a CAt 933 and before dumping fuel into the tank I would like to clean out the rust build up in the tank. Any suggestions?
I used a length of 5/16 chain on a morbark chipper fuel tank. with the tank off the machine put the chain in the tank and rock it back and forth on roll it so you get all the sides. As the chain slides across and around it scrubs off the rust. flush the tank with a little fuel and repeat. tired me out but worked good. I fished the chain out with a wire hook, that was a little tricky. There were no baffles or internal pipes to damage in my tank and it was small enough (25 gal) for me to tip it upside down and dump the rust and fuel out. There was no sediment drain on the underside of my tank. may or may not be a good solution for a 933 tank. good luck
Most Cat fuel tanks are baffled, so I don't think the chain trick will work, though that's a good one. I might suggest cutting a hole in the back of the tank (carefully of course, with inert gas and all that) and then using a high pressure steam cleaner. If the hole was big enough, one could also sand blast. Then clean and reassemble. You don't say how bad the rust is, if it's just a light patina, you could try hot water and strong detergent. After rinsing that out and refilling with fuel, drain the sediment and change the pre-screen element fairly often as you work the tractor to get all that which falls away over a period of time to the bottom. Cleaning a badly rusted tank is nearly impossible without opening it up. I hope yours isn't that bad.
Well actually have three tanks that need to be done one a 440a jd skidder,jd bulldozer and the cat 933. I will have to check if the baffle is still on the Cat. Thanks for the suggestions. Yea the Cat has been sitting for almost 10 years inside a garage but we just rebuilt the motor on it and want to clean that fuel tank before we start it the first time. Would be a shame to have alot of rust ruin the rebuild. I noticed on the the JD bulldozer their was alot of rust so I imagine it has to be comparable to the Cat. I was reading on the NET that some use a form of acid to clean it out but not sure if that is the safest way to go. Wasn't sure if there was some type of fuel tank treatment I could put in it.
I moved this thread to track loaders from TLB, you should get more specific information regarding a 933 in this forum.
anyone tried muriatic acid. i have used it to clean rust from small parts. if used out side would it not be safe?
scot, how did the cleaning go? My deere was sitting for about 5 before I got it. Now the motor is running, but we havent got to the fuel tank...
You could also take the tanks to a commercial radiator shop, they boil them out/ hot tank them and can line them for you if needed. Also works well for pony motor gas tanks too. alan627b