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Fuel Tank Refurb

glennemay
Explorer
Explorer
Good Morning all,


So I just bought a new to me 2011 Open Roads Rolling Thunder Toy Hauler.

The previous owner never used the fueling station on the camper. I am wondering what would be a good way to make sure it is clean enough to use moving forward.

I had thoughts of adding some kerosene to the tank on a long drive and then dumping that to clean out any water or crud that may have built up in the tank.

I would love to hear some opinions please.


Thank You
Glenn
18 REPLIES 18

dedmiston
Moderator
Moderator
Grit dog wrote:
Some are unknowingly on the "better lucky than good" camp with fuel.


That's me.

Since we got the SxS, I don't ride our bikes anymore. Our kids all expect the bikes to be ready to ride when they come home to visit, but the reality is that they've been sitting there since the last time the kids camped with us the year before.

I can't tell you how many times I've gotten away with just draining the tanks, running some Seafoam through the system, and starting the bikes right up. Our CA gas blows chunks, but I've been lucky year after year.

I chalk my good fortune up to clean livin'. :B

2014 RAM 3500 Diesel 4x4 Dually long bed. B&W RVK3600 hitch โ€ข 2015 Crossroads Elevation Homestead Toy Hauler ("The Taj Mahauler") โ€ข <\br >Toys:

  • 18 Can Am Maverick x3
  • 05 Yamaha WR450
  • 07 Honda CRF250X
  • 05 Honda CRF230
  • 06 Honda CRF230

Grit_dog
Nomad III
Nomad III
Sagebrush wrote:


I just tried burning some E10 that's been sitting for over 6 months says the previous owner. It didn't go well. New purchase, who knows how old the fuel really is. I thought it was clean looking normal smelling fuel too, it ran okay for a couple times and then things went south. Hopefully I can just drain and refill with something a bit fresher...


Since OP isn't really participating, I'll keep the off topic going.

Some are unknowingly on the "better lucky than good" camp with fuel.
Hear it all the time. And miracles do happen. Our new camper had, at least 4 year old gas in the genny tank. As evidenced by the orig owner literally only put a few hours on it and believed it ran off of LP. LOL, seriously...
Tank smelled like mineral spirits and it didn't even have enough to pickup and pump from the gas hose nozzle. Unbelievably, it actually started and ran! (Runs better on fresh gas though)
That phenomena is in direct conflict with the dozens of plugged carbs I've cleaned out on personal, others or work engines over the year.

What does work though, without argument, is fresh fuel. Non E lasts longer than E blends. Fuel stabilizers work and higher quality, more stable fuel works even longer. The last few years I've quit running stabilizer or draining dry all the small engines in the shed.
But I run AV gas in them, either exclusively or for sure at the end of the season. And they start like it was just last week after sitting for half a year.
2016 Ram 2500, MotorOps.ca EFIlive tuned, 5โ€ turbo back, 6" lift on 37s
2017 Heartland Torque T29 - Sold.
Couple of Arctic Fox TCs - Sold

Sagebrush
Explorer
Explorer
Just drain, siphon or pump some of it out, put it in a glass jar or something clear and see if it separates after a while. That will show the water content.

Vented tank of unknown age equals moisture issues probably. Boats are the worst, not so bad if the tank is full for one winter. But years of sitting in a vented metal tank will kill that fuel's usefulness and rust the fuel tank.

I just tried burning some E10 that's been sitting for over 6 months says the previous owner. It didn't go well. New purchase, who knows how old the fuel really is. I thought it was clean looking normal smelling fuel too, it ran okay for a couple times and then things went south. Hopefully I can just drain and refill with something a bit fresher...

joebedford
Nomad II
Nomad II
jdc1 wrote:
Just put an extra fuel filter on it before it gets to your generator. You can do the same thing at the pump side. Just Google "fuel pump hose filter". And inline fuel filter.
He's not talking about that tank.

Grit_dog
Nomad III
Nomad III
Put some gas in it and turn the pump on. 99% chance it's literally still like new and dry in the tank.
2016 Ram 2500, MotorOps.ca EFIlive tuned, 5โ€ turbo back, 6" lift on 37s
2017 Heartland Torque T29 - Sold.
Couple of Arctic Fox TCs - Sold

msmith1_wa
Explorer
Explorer
I agree with the posts suggesting to add fuel and filters to it and use it. My dad bought a 57 Suburban that had been parked for 14 years. Within an hour of getting it home we had it running on the 14 year old gas that was in the tank. this gas was so old that it was before alcohol was being added, so I am sure that helped. It did plug up a couple of filters pretty quick, but eventually the fuel flowed clean.
2003 Silverado 2500HD 4x4 8.1l
2016 Evergreen Amped 28FS

Sagebrush
Explorer
Explorer
If its dry then put some gas in and see if the pump works. At that age there may be some issues, dried out fuel hose, filler hose issues, stopped up vent, dead float/sending unit ect. Or it may be good to go! I would test the fuel station pump first with a few gallons, if it pumps fill it up and see if there are any leaks. You can always pump it out into your car or whatever. You can add a fuel filter for your pump hose too, you can get a water separator with a clear bowel or the all in one spin on filters. I get mine from my local TSC. Goldenrod brand I think.

glennemay
Explorer
Explorer
Grit dog wrote:
Define โ€œnever.โ€
Never used means itโ€™s clean.
If never doesnโ€™t really mean โ€œneverโ€, does it smell like gas. Does it pump any gas out? Does the pump work? Have you tried?
I wouldnโ€™t even consider dropping the tank unless it was deemed necessary which is highly unlikely.
You need to be more specific as to the issue with it. Rvnetters are pretending itโ€™s a 60 year old tank in a Studebaker!

If pump works IE makes noise, dump in 5 gal and pump it back out after sloshing around and see what comes out.
If you have a generator it has a inline filter. Keep a spare in case it plugs up.


It does not smell like anything. He never added anything to it. I figure that means there would be some moisture that found it's way in there. Maybe not.

dedmiston
Moderator
Moderator
Any idea whether the pump even works? Do you know how old the pump is? If it's old enough to have the problem with the gears swelling, then you'll need to tackle that.

Check the hose and nozzle too and make sure the hose isn't cracked.

My fill line is kind of fussy. There's no good way to tell how full I'm filling it until it's actually full, but the line (or maybe the vent) must not be in great shape because I can smell gas when the tank is full. If I'm not going to be at camp soon to dispense some fuel, I'll turn the pump on and run a little bit of it out into a jug to bring the level down just a little.

Just curious, do you have a separate tank for your gen? Did the previous owner put many hours on the gen?

2014 RAM 3500 Diesel 4x4 Dually long bed. B&W RVK3600 hitch โ€ข 2015 Crossroads Elevation Homestead Toy Hauler ("The Taj Mahauler") โ€ข <\br >Toys:

  • 18 Can Am Maverick x3
  • 05 Yamaha WR450
  • 07 Honda CRF250X
  • 05 Honda CRF230
  • 06 Honda CRF230

jdc1
Explorer II
Explorer II
Just put an extra fuel filter on it before it gets to your generator. You can do the same thing at the pump side. Just Google "fuel pump hose filter". And inline fuel filter.

Grit_dog
Nomad III
Nomad III
Define โ€œnever.โ€
Never used means itโ€™s clean.
If never doesnโ€™t really mean โ€œneverโ€, does it smell like gas. Does it pump any gas out? Does the pump work? Have you tried?
I wouldnโ€™t even consider dropping the tank unless it was deemed necessary which is highly unlikely.
You need to be more specific as to the issue with it. Rvnetters are pretending itโ€™s a 60 year old tank in a Studebaker!

If pump works IE makes noise, dump in 5 gal and pump it back out after sloshing around and see what comes out.
If you have a generator it has a inline filter. Keep a spare in case it plugs up.
2016 Ram 2500, MotorOps.ca EFIlive tuned, 5โ€ turbo back, 6" lift on 37s
2017 Heartland Torque T29 - Sold.
Couple of Arctic Fox TCs - Sold

Sagebrush
Explorer
Explorer
Pump it out and see what the fuel looks like. The pump will probably fail the first time you use it if it sat with ethanol fuel in it. If you see brown rusty watery liquid then you want to drop the tank. Does the fuel station even work? If it had the 10% ethanol blended gas it may be a mess in there.

I don't think my fuel station has ever been used, but my generator uses the tank too. I ride street bikes so gas stations fill those. Those plastic pump guts have to be ethanol resistant. The biggest issue is having water in the fuel, that will rust out metal tanks. Some trailers do have plastic fuel tanks, I owned a KZ with one. But, my current trailer has a metal tank and I'm thinking about dropping it soon. I'm smelling gas fumes too much when its full.

Son_of_Norway
Explorer
Explorer
I would first try an inspection camera. Maybe it's in good shape and won't need that much cleaning.
Miles and Darcey
1989 Holiday Rambler Crown Imperial
Denver, CO

valhalla360
Nomad
Nomad
glennemay wrote:
These are definitely some great suggestions.

๐Ÿ˜‰ I guess I Was hoping for non removal of the tank. The camper is insulated and the tank is up in the underbelly. I am assuming you all are correct in the sense that it does have to come out in order to be completely cleaned and made useable.


If you can't get it out but can get access to the pickup fitting, you could build a simple fuel polisher. Not as good as full removal but I have used it with success on a boat we bought that had about 1/2 gal of water in the tank.

Buy a water separating funnel:
https://www.amazon.com/Mr-Funnel-AF3CB-Fuel-Filter/dp/B000SOIRCG/ref=sr_1_2?dchild=1&keywords=water+separator+funnel&qid=1622643982&sr=8-2

Rig up a hose so the funnel feeds back into the tank. Then pump into the filter. If you can fit an inline fuel filter downstream of the funnel that would be good.

The only trick is on the boat, the fuel pump I used was low volume, so once I set it up and secured the funnel in place, I just let it run for a couple hours, checking the funnel occasionally for water and dumping. I'm guessing the fuel station pump on the trailer will be higher volume, so you will have to be careful not to overload the funnel. Once you are comfortable that the water is out, you could remove the funnel and connect directly to the inline filter. No matter what, you probably want to keep an eye on the system so it doesn't dump 20gal of fuel on the ground.
Tammy & Mike
Ford F250 V10
2021 Gray Wolf
Gemini Catamaran 34'
Full Time spliting time between boat and RV