You gotta help me Shaun

[Goinghuntin]

Now I pride myself on being a home mechanic so this is a big leap for me . I've got an '88 Chevy K1500 that had water leak into the tank and rust the insides. Now, the gas looks like muddy river water, and there's 10 gallons of it. I don't really want to pump the gas out and dump it, but it's not worth keeping for the lawnmower either. What exactly should I do?

Nathan

[TBow]

Pump the gas out and dispose by whatever means (EPA regs?)

Pull the tank and replace it. If you don't change the tank you'll be looking at muchos problems sooner than later, like:

Plugged fuel lines

Plugged fuel filters

Blocked Carb components

Damage to Cylinders

Punctured / leaking fuel tank

I had a portable Honda generator at work that had a similar condition with a rusted gas tank. We pumped the gas and tried cleaning the tank out and reusing it. It was a nightmare trying to continually keep pulling the fuel system apart and unclogging components. We finally got the message and replaced the fuel tank. End of problems.

TBow

[redkneck]

Are you asking about what to do to fix the truck, or just what to do with the fuel you had left over?

[Ravin R10 man]

Call your County Extention.... they should have contacts that can take the bad gas and dispose of it..Clean Sweep program...otherwise ya got a stump you want to blow up..or brush piles to burn?

[Shaun_300]

Replace the tank and get rid of the gas. It's not worth 10 gallons of fuel to screw up your lawn mower, which'll probably cost more than that amount of gas when it starts pinging with the low octane fuel (because of the water mix) and burning the valves out of it.

[Goinghuntin]

Are you asking about what to do to fix the truck, or just what to do with the fuel you had left over?

Both I guess. The truck ain't really worth putting a whole lot of money into, but I would love to get that old beast flying again. I already replaced some rusty fuel line and put on a new fuel filter before realizing the tank was rusted too, not just the fuel lines. As for the gas, I got farmer neighbors who need to burn some brush piles :whip:

Nathan

[Ravin R10 man]

by the way.. a new gas tank will cost ya around $400...just put one in my '97 Chevy

[Goinghuntin]

by the way.. a new gas tank will cost ya around $400...just put one in my '97 Chevy

The truck really ain't worth that much, considering we have another that runs fine :no: Maybe if I can find one for $100 or less.

Nathan

[Shaun_300]

Check your local auto wreckers and see if they have one in good condition. If they do buy it, get all the rust sanded off it, give it a good shot of primer and paint from a rattle can. You'd be surprised how much longer things last with a coat of something on them.

I do this to all my customers vehicles I work on, like hub surfaces, rotor mating surfaces, etc. That and a little smear of antiseize and the brakes are a lot easier to come off 3 years down the road when you need to replace them again. Don't have to spend 10 minutes pounding the heck out of the rotors to get them off the hubs.

[Goinghuntin]

That and a little smear of antiseize and the brakes are a lot easier to come off 3 years down the road when you need to replace them again. Don't have to spend 10 minutes pounding the heck out of the rotors to get them off the hubs.

Good tip! I've pounded enough rotors for a while I think :bang: Yep, don't need to go through that again.

Nathan

[brad dryden]

Try a salvage yard. I bought one for a 92'f-150 and it was like $110.