Exactly what the topic says...I just had a sump welded in and my fabricator recommended that I use a fuel tank sealer before I actually run fuel through it...Is that true? I thought you only needed fuel tank sealers for tanks that are bad, such as leaks or rust/ corrosion...

Here is one company that sells fuel tank sealers but as the FAQ section states...this is for gas tanks with problems...

What are some typical problems requiring need of sealer?
*Tanks may be very rusty inside due to years of non-use.
*Tanks may have gunk or caked sludge inside, which must be removed and the tank walls must then be coated.
*Tanks may have pinhole leaks or leaking seams.
*Tanks may have a combination of the above.

What have you guys done as far as prepping the tank after your sump was welded in, if any?? TIA

 

My friends dad builds race bikes and had a tank resized for an endurance race. When I looked inside of it it had all this hard **** all over the place. He said it was tank sealer just to protect the welds where the tank was enlarged. *shrug* Couldn't hurt....

-Ryan

 

True...I know it wont hurt but it will cost about 50.00 to get all the necessary etchers and sealers...Then I have to seal it and wait till it dries which will take quite a bit of time being that its so cold around here now...Then I have to worry about it being evenly spread inside the tank and worry about whether the baffles or the sump has too much sealer within that area...Is it really worth it?? Any other suggestions??

 

i'm kinda wondering too...

i'm thought about this before, even made a thread for it :0 but....haven't really gotten down to the nitty gritty...

this thread= Ninja approved

 

My tank has a sump and the tank was sealed after TIG welding the sump in place. I was also unsure if sealing was a good idea because the tank was perfect inside and there are other parts inside the tank I could not remove.

I ended up using the sealer anyways, my reasoning:
~the inside of the tank is galvanized, but the sump is plain mild steel. It has no corrosion protection at all.
~the holes drilled in the tank (with 2.5" hole saw) are also in absence of any corrosion protection.
~the welds need protection from the inside as well, besides if there happened to be any pin holes in the welds the sealer would take care of it.
~I did get most of the metal particles out (from drilling the holes) but I wanted to be sure that those would not be left behind to carry though the fuel system. Any particles still in the tank have been dissolved by the acid or encased in the sealer. No worries

Now the likelyhood of rust forming in the tank is probably slim on a daily driven street car. But my car sits over winter (with some gas in the tank) and I wanted to be 100% sure I would have no problems. The only thing I am not sure of is how the sealer will react to other fuels or fuel addatives??? I'll find out I guess.

It was not as difficult at I originally thought. A sealer kit and a gallon of Muratic acid and Acetone laterI was done.
The sealer is this soup consitancy liquid that really does not look like it would seal ****. I'll tell you the fumes will knock you down though, that is if you can get past the Muratic acid and Acetone first. I dumped all the sealer in after preping the tank, then rolled the tank around to cover every surface. After getting creative, everything was covered in the white jizz fluid.
Shortly after the sealer starts to set up, so leave the tank set over night. The next day the sealer becomes this tough plastic covering. Looked good to me

I wish I would have taken some pictures to post up, but keeping up with the cleaning and sealing steps makes juggling a camera tough. I hope this helps some?


Modified by BROOD at 4:59 AM 10/3/2003

 

after the sump is put on, you should :

1) run water through it to clean it out.
2) boil the tank. (radiator shops will hot boil your tank for $50)
3) try to keep it sealed till you install it.
4) pray there is no rust or any other foreign materials left.

 

So should I not buy the cleaner, etcher, and sealer then? I figure that it wouldnt rust but I keep hearing that its better to be safe...did you seal ur tank?

It has also been pressure tested so the pinhole leaks arent too likely...