flushing out gas tanks ...

[HammondSeaRanger]

Any advice on flushing out 6 gallon plastic outboard motor canisters?

They have been sitting for at least a year with old gas in them.

I thought about running new gas through them, but with the way gas prices are .... :shrug:

Matt

[Miss B Haven]

If it's just old gas you should not have to flush them at all. The tiny bit of old gas remianing won't be enough to do anything after you fill them up again. Disposal of the old gas is the tough part. I used to use my old 71 chev PU. It would burn anything! Lawn mowers work too. They kinda like 50:1 (the 4 strokes).

If you have water in them (pour the last pint into a clear container and you can see the water/gas separate) use a little HEET (gas dryer additive) and slosh it around in there and let it sit for a while (1/2 bottle of heet in each can should be more than enough to get a few drops of residual water). Then dump the heet.

If you have dirt and crud, wash it out several time with soap and water, rinse well with hot water, then do the heet thing. Setting them out with the top off in this 90-95 degree sun we're about to have will also evaporate any residual moisture in them rather quickly.

If you're just paranoid and don't know that you have anything at all, slosh just a cup of fresh gas around (after dumping the old) and then pour that into a clear jar. If it looks clean, proly is! This is usually what I do with all my cans that sit (boat/chain saw/lawn mower etc). A cup of gas isn't going to bankrupt ya.
:cheers:

PS- You Avitar and sig lines kill me. You gotta have agreat sense of humor. Hope we get to fish together some time! :grin: graemlins/applause.gif

[DipSeaDiver]

The best way I've found is to siphon the old gas out, tipping it up on one corner and making sure the hose is down right in that corner. That sucks out the junk that's accumulated on the bottom. Then add a gallon or so of new gas and do it all over again. Finally fill the tank and add a part of a can of Heet. You're best off to replace the hose and bulb assembly if it's been sitting a long time and you suspect there might be junk caught up in the bulb. You don't want any of that stuff up in your floats or jets.

Skein

[Miss B Haven]

Janis- you voice changed again. Maybe you should see a doctor? :grin: :laugh: :hoboy:

[DAB]

After you get the tank clean you might want to put a metal fuel filter between motor and bulb. Just my .02 cents worth.
DAB

[HammondSeaRanger]

As usual .. I came to the right place w/ my question.

Thanks !!!

Anytime Miss b haven .. I am always up for a fish'n trip !!

[SandySteel]

If you don't want to put it through a car or other machine I believe most gas stations will take waste fuel. Call around or just ask. I know you can take it to the Metro station to dispose of it at the hazardous household drop off. Put it into 5 gallon buckets before you go. There is one out near Highway 30 kind of on the way to Sauvie's island and another right near Oregon City.

[DriftR]

This works well. Dump as much old fuel as possible out in a safety container. Then pour some lacquer thinner in the tank and slosh it around. Then I pour that in with the old gas in the safety container. Keep the tank lid off and that should clear her up pretty good. Then take the old fuel/thinner mix in a good healthy container to your local HAZMAT drop off site or contact your county landfill for disposal sites and directions. I always keep a fire extinguisher close by when working with any flammable liquids just in case.

[Spotted Owl]

Clean out the old and rinse with some new 1 or 2 times. Save all the old and the new rinse in a spray container then apply to the weeds around your place that stuff works better than anything else that I have tried. Ifish is the best everyone is more than willing to share and help someone in need.