Black goo in fuel tank

TWheat · Mar 28, 2011

I'm helping a friend with a new to him JD420 Garden Tractor.
He pulled the fuel tank off to drain it and it has about an inch of some kind of Black tar like stuff that mineral spirits won't touch. Laquer thinner will , but would take at least 5 gallons to clean it. The fuel lines and fuel pump are clogged with it, but the carb is clean. The tank is that black "poly/plastic" stuff so steam is out.
Any other ideas? Thanks,

Lou from Wi. · Mar 28, 2011

You could take a couple of gallons of gas,put it in the tank,and keep agitating it,every so often,drain it and do it again until its clean. It might do it with a good liquid detergent and a pressure washer with warm water,rinse it and try again.If the fuel pump is full,forget it and get an electric have to determine the fuel pressure.So it doesn't over pump the carb.We found a place that handled the repair kit for our OC 46 fuel pump,around $58.00, we rebuilt it,put it on and didn't last 15 minutes before the diaphragm went out again.We didn't use Ethanol gas,pure Premium Unleaded,no ethanol allowed.The ethanol eats the new Diaphragm material in short order.We went to electric pump.Just our 2 cents. Hope it helps.
LOU

B W in MO · Mar 28, 2011

I had one that the goo had setup hard , I mixed 2Qts of lacquer thiner - 2Qts of acitone - 2 Qts of gas put on a home made rotisor let it turn for a while. Keep out of the sun. have to plug all holes in tank. Mine came clean.

504 · Mar 28, 2011

You have just found out what ethanol does to fuel pickup lines. I have a 445 that melted the fuel pump.

Wayne in MN · Mar 28, 2011

Check your fuel supplier; what they sell as Ethanol may be something else. I have a JD 420 and have used 10% ethanol blended fuel for the past 5 years I have owned it and no problems of any kind!
Plus, I have used the original ethanol called "gasahol" ever since it came out in the 70's and never had any problems with tractors, lawn equipment, boat motors, cars, pickups and motorcycles!!
Once your supplier gets their supply tank cleaned out and you get your unit tank clean, all will be well.

TWheat · Mar 29, 2011

Thanks for the ideas. I'll let you know what works.

dhermesc · Mar 29, 2011

I'm just wondering where you get "pure Premium Unleaded,no ethanol allowed" fuel.

Adding ethanol is how they boost the octane rating to get premium 91+ octane fuel. You are more likely to get ethanol free gas buying regular.

dej(Jed) · Mar 29, 2011

The mandate these days is that they can add up to 15% ethanol to make 87. As memory serves me, I bought non ethanol 87 is western Iowa this past fall though. That was the only place I have seen it. Here in western, Pa they don't give you a choice.

Anonymous-0 · Mar 29, 2011

Some Of you Guys that hate ethanol act like BIG Oil Company Executive, cnazis . Until ,GUYS LIKE You, come up with a better way to energize transportation in this godforsaken world .... Ethanol, will need to be used to supplement the fuel needs . logicly we should remove componets and replace those that can tolerate ethanol instead of constantly shooting ourselves in the foot .if you do not blend with gasoline and use only e-85 gelling gaskets might happen,, just depends on what type rubber is in the pump ,... all my pumps that failed like that were built 40 yrs ago . TROUBLE is the repair parts industry Still sells rubber parts that will not tolerate ethanol . THEY ARE THE ONES AT FAULT and the weak link ,... today,,. there are alot of fuel pumps that will tolerate ethanol , wish the manufacturer would state that claim on the box ,,, I wish All repair parts were modernized to work well for ethanol . Thats somethin OUR DO NUTHIN lawmakers could do ??..,how do you think flex fuel vehicles get fuel fuel pumped into them ?? surely they use a reliable material../

dhermesc · Mar 29, 2011

TROUBLE is the repair parts industry Still sells rubber parts that will not tolerate ethanol .

=================================================

To the Chinese prisoner chained to his machine rubber looks like rubber - how's he supposed know that the rubber in his shoes is a different compound than the rubber used for fuel systems?

Anonymous-0 · Mar 29, 2011

Up here they have 3 choices unleaded,Mid grade unleaded, both of wich have up to 10% ethanol, Then they have Premium Unleaded,which has No ethanol in it, used for small engines, outboard motors,anything that won't handle the ethanol.

The mid grade they just mix premium and low grade unleaded together.
Not arguing,just stating what I know, Sorry to get your dander up.
VICTOR

Black goo in fuel tank

TWheat

Member

Lou from Wi.

Well-known Member

B W in MO

Member

504

Well-known Member

Wayne in MN

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TWheat

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dhermesc

Well-known Member

dej(Jed)

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Anonymous-0

Well-known Member

dhermesc

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Anonymous-0

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