A couple weeks ago I acquired an old garden implement with a B&S 5S engine as its power. Other than it being very old and dirty it is a pretty decent piece. The problem is when the fellow parked it 50 years ago he didn't bother to drain the gas out of the tank and now it has a very nice layer of old sludgy gas at the bottom of the tank.
Does anyone have a recommendation of a solvent I could use before I start buying every random one on the shelf.
fuel tank cleaner
- Thread starter torino351
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Kerosine with 20% biodiesel (it won't take much since kerosine is effective
Isopropyl alcohol. Let it sit, agitate once/twice a day. Two or three days should be fine to drain.
Use the cleaner/degreaser from POR15 package to clean, and then seal it with POR15.
Q.
Pour a can of lacquer thinner in it. I used it for many years to clean carburetors. That was when you could actually tune a vehicle up and notice a difference.
If it is just old gas,solvents should work. My problem was rust and it would plug the intake tube. Had I been smarter, could have used a handful of pebbles or some nuts and bolts, and shaken it. 
When I've cleaned out tractor tanks I've removed as much garbage as possible with solvents. Then I throw in a couple handfuls of driveway rocks, strap it to the rear wheel of my mowing tractor, and go bushhog for an hour or two.
After that it's clean enough to be coated with a restoration kit such as POR 15.
What you want to use is apple cider vinegar. It tears up old corrosion in fuel tanks. Don't get regular vinegar, has to be apple cider vinegar.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5gH6rSgGr_0
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5F4TNqsK8Ck
thank you for all the responses. i never thought of the pebbles or bb's. i think i'll be able to work something out.
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