Went to take the 69 Dart to a car show today. NOPE

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DFX 340 Duster said:
Roy, take the sending unit and use either methanol, ethanol, or isopropyl alcohol on it to see if the brown/dark material dissolves. If it does, then you can remove the tank and wash the inside with a few rinses of the type of alcohol that dissolved the material from the sock. A buddy of mine has done that with one of his project cars with no problems for a few years now.
Gas station fuel tanks must be periodically cleaned because a tan residue will build up on the tank walls and a brown sludge will be at the bottom of the tank if the water drain is not working. This residue will build up over time no matter if it is non-ethanol fuel. Ethanol containing fuel will have this build up especially upon long standing as others have noted.
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I've seen this in tanks with highly evaporated fuel. I worked on a project where we were running engines on fuel vapor alone and as we caused the fuel to vaporize at a high rate, the left over would be thick depending on how much we lit off.
 
SGBARRACUDA said:
It is almost always parked with a half a tank or less. May be the problem.
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You need to store the vehicle with the fuel tank either completely full or completely empty and drained.
When using the car you need to occasionally ( every couple of months) run the tank down near empty less than a quarter tank then re fill it full.
With today’s fuels, if I was only driving the car enough to burn a tank full a year, I would be looking at installing some kind of small auxiliary gas tank in the trunk so that the gas would get used up and replenished on a regular basis.
 
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72bluNblu said:
I’d be really surprised if that was just an ethanol problem.

I run pretty much nothing but fuel from the no-name, economy price gas station on the corner. And it’s California, so it’s always ethanol fuel, and has been for a long time. I’ve never had carb issues because of it other than a few gaskets that dissolved before they started making them ethanol resistant and my original tank looks fine inside. So did the spectra replacement that was in my Challenger forever too.

All tanks are vented, so it’s not like you can do anything about that. I get that Florida is practically underwater already and the humidity is very different there. But I think something else was going on there. That sender looks like it was underwater, not just in fuel that absorbed some water from the air.

Also, if you’re storing it with less than a full tank that causes condensation to form regardless of the ethanol in the fuel. A full tank doesn’t have the airspace to allow condensation to form.

Or you could just drive it.
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Agree keep it full if u can . My original tank and pick up were way worse than that when I first got my basket case, junked tank , pick up literally fell apart .
 
DFX 340 Duster said:
Roy, take the sending unit and use either methanol, ethanol, or isopropyl alcohol on it to see if the brown/dark material dissolves. If it does, then you can remove the tank and wash the inside with a few rinses of the type of alcohol that dissolved the material from the sock. A buddy of mine has done that with one of his project cars with no problems for a few years now.
Gas station fuel tanks must be periodically cleaned because a tan residue will build up on the tank walls and a brown sludge will be at the bottom of the tank if the water drain is not working. This residue will build up over time no matter if it is non-ethanol fuel. Ethanol containing fuel will have this build up especially upon long standing as others have noted.
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Well I used alcohol and it did remove the gummy stuff. But it also has a fair amount of corrosion and rust also.
 
I quit using ethanol in my yard equipment because of issues. That crap gums up if it sits too long. Like Rrr said. Use an additive if you must use it. Zippy J is building new stores up here and they have non ethanol. Used to have to drive 15 miles to get it. Now it’s here in town.
 
Just curious how much extra you pay for non ethanol gas. I don't recall the specifics but when I've seen it here it was a lot more.
 
SGBARRACUDA said:
It is almost always parked with a half a tank or less. May be the problem.
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I'm going with this as the root cause.
The tank breathes in and out every day sucking in whatever moisture is in the air that then it condenses on interior metal surfaces causing rust to form.
On everything.
Opened more than one tank with a rusty fur lining, even in the dry desert. Nasty crap for sure.

Ive seen an ad for a tank "conditioner" fuel additive...coats the metal surfaces...prevents the rust, supposedly.

100_4559.jpeg
 
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