Cleaning fuel tank - safety tips

happy new yerar old wolf, i,m really wondering which type of fuel pump sits atop the tank, (i assume you mean inside the tank and you gain access through the top) but anyhoo---as long as you don't do anything stupid like smoke a cigarette (left or right-handed types), or go under there at dusk with the old fashioned type drop-light,(can you beleive they actually still make those things?) you will be o.k. i personally prefer to do this in a well ventilated area and i strongly recommend that you do too. are you cleaning the tank because of rust? if so, you should put some marbles or stainless steel ball bearings or something of that nature in the tank along with some denatured alcohol (availiable at your local hardware store) and shake that up in the tank real good. the denatured will also evaporate out of the tank quite rapidly when you are finished and will displace any water that may be present. note: after purchasing denatured alcohol you may be followed home by a couple of guys with sunglasses, goatees, ball caps and one earring, but don't sweat 'em it's more than likely your local drug task force looking to make a big meth bust as you just purchased a large amount of one of it's key ingredients. so make sure you aren't drinkin' a cold beer..............

Ground yourself and the tank at all times. To be really safe, dump in about 2 pounds of dry ice and wait about 10 minutes.

I'd definitely wear safety goggles, when you remove the tank, drain it and let it sit for a while, maybe put a fan on it to vent the fumes. Once it's dry and the fumes have dissapated, you're explosion proof. Make sure you drain the fuel into an approved gas can. Why are you cleaning the tank? Is there something in it that you're trying to get out?

How aggressive do you plan to be in cleaning it?

The last time I did a fuel tank, the first thing I did after draining it and removing it from the car was fill it with soapy water and flush like crazy. When you dry the water out it STILL will have enough gas fumes to be something of a risk, but much less. To clean the interior, I threw about two jar-fulls of old nuts and bolts in it, added some water, hung it from a tree limb and shook it. I rotated it so that each surface was on the "bottom" for a while to get the action of the nuts and bolts. Then I dumped all the hardware out, flushed out the rust residue with water, and then blew the OUTLET from my shop-vac through the tank (into the filler neck, and out the hole where the pickup/sending unit went) for about an hour to dry out the last of the water (DO NOT suck air out of the tank with a shop vac, as this air will pass through the vac's motor and if it has gasoline vapors in the right concentration....).

That tank is still on my '69, never had another problem with it.

And yes, while removing it using caution against static (a strap, work on a humid day, etc.) is a good idea.

OK. (Thanks to everyone who replied). My car misfires under acceleration when the tank is nearly empty, but runs fine otherwise, so I'm theorizing that either the pickup has fallen off, or there is junk in the tank that's blocking it.

I'm not planning to remove the tank entirely -- I will just remove the pump from on top and drain out the fuel so that any large lumps fall out. I won't go to the effort of scrubbing it or anything -- I figure the fuel filter will do my job for me there; I change it regularly.

To the person who asked "what kind of car has the pump on top", I unscrew a panel in my boot, and there is the pump on top of the tank. I can see the fuel lines connecting it to the engine (although everything is caked in dust).

For my car (1988 Nissan), I've read that you can undo the pump and get access to inside the tank from the top. I'm hoping everything will go smoothly :)

If it's real rusty inside, dumping some lye crystals in with the water does the trick. otherwise your procedure is fine.

Alternately, you may still have a local old school radiator shop that will boil it out for you.

nate