fueltank

[exergy8]

Hi,
An RAC guy told me that the insides of a caddy fueltank were anodised and therefore the biodiesel makes a sludge for the fuel system to cope with - I have seen no support on the web - can anyone shed any more light on this?

regards,
Ex

[Darth Garry]

Can they annodize steel? I've never heard of it.

Garry

[LuckDrgnAeon]

Almost every BioDiesel site I've been to has at least 1 VW in use & I've only heard of fuel line problems. This may be what he was talking about, but didn't know the true source of the problem. Changing to modern fuel line is a must. BioDiesel degrades old rubber lines.

[exergy8]

That's what my suspicions were, he was trying to be helpful i guess and got confused - I couldn't figure why anyone would anodise Steel (Yes I'm pretty sure you can do it)

Now after breaking down a second time - same problem - blocked ffilter causing air to be pulled in - ( and this time only 40 miles after the previous replacement ) - I think I may have to pay the tank a visit anyway...

I Hacksawed my old filter in half to discover an emulsified fatty mess blocking the paper within. I am left with the distinct impresion That my half-full tank has more to offer. I now have an additional inline filter which should save the more expensive one. But I still have the issue of crap in my tank. I have considered driving my car up a slope and trying to pump the watery residue out with a hand pump attached to the fuel line feed to filter. Although this will not clear the whole tank - I'm not familiar with taking the whole tank off, and I've got a touch of fear.

I'm going out to get some new lines and filters, hopefully the rain will have stopped when i get back

[Al]

I have never heard of steel being anodised (but that means sh1t[8)]), I have had Caddy tanks apart and would say that they are Galvanised not Anodised

[exergy8]

Ah !

Now That is potentially problematic !
Biodiesel will attack Zinc will it not???

[bon]

Hi,
Ran 100% biodiesel for 2 months in a recently purchased '81 caddy and had same problem. Sludge seems to gel up and get pulled into system. Flushing and cleaning it once didn't do the trick. Would like to know if RAC guy has a proposed fix?? Have pulled tank and intend to send it to place that "refurbishes" -- maybe your guy would suggest particular treatment? Thanks.

An RAC guy told me that the insides of a caddy fueltank were anodised and therefore the biodiesel makes a sludge for the fuel system to cope with - I have seen no support on the web - can anyone shed any more light on this?

regards,
Ex
[/quote]

[exergy8]

I should have my tank off in a few days.
Hopefully I will be able to ascertain whether the problem is due to decomposed zinc or simply the residue of the petrodiesel (I really didn't think petrodiesel would leave that much residue or take so long to be flushed out) - I also didn't expect the tank to be galvanised because i thought you couldn't weld galvanised steel...

[gd51474]

Well I just pulled my '81 tank two days ago to change the pickup filter. I have about 20,000 miles on the truck about half has been with b100 and the other being SVO. The inside of my tank had some floaties but was squeaky clean with no residue. So either I burned all of it out running the tank low to pull or was fortunate enough not to see this. What kind of biodiesel was it? Homebrew?

[exergy8]

No not homebrew - 'Simply Biodiesel' I had kept unopened cans in storage for 5 months - and a white precipitate was found floating around. I have been pumping this s**te into my tank for weeks.... Now my tank is off.

Inside I can see rust in the bottom inch of the tank. draining the fueltank did not reveal anything that was as distinct as water (although there was a little emulsion and plenty of an almost gritty but slimey precipitate...)

This caddy was sitting unused for over a year before i bought it... I guess water could have been sitting there and done the damage then... Anyhow, I think the only thing for it is to get someone to cut the top off so we can get access for a bit of elbow-grease - AS I CAN'T FIND ANYONE WHO SUPPLIES CADDY FUELTANKS ! (that's got to be worth a seperate listing...)

A chemist I know suggested cleaning with Acetone as it will remove any water - but it still will not get rid of the rust! I thikn it will cost from £100 to £150 to get cleaned at a radiator specialist. If anyone knows someone with a good caddy fueltank for sale please let me know!

PS - Guess how many fuel-lines there are in/out of the fueltank ??
A - 5 !!!

[tekton]

quote:Originally posted by exergy8


A chemist I know suggested cleaning with Acetone as it will remove any water - but it still will not get rid of the rust! I thikn it will cost from £100 to £150 to get cleaned at a radiator specialist.



http://www.por15.com/ I haven't looked into the details but I believe there's a POR-15 product made to 'reline' fuel tanks. Give em a check.

[Deans]

Hi
Have you got fixed up with a fuel tank?
I do have a spare tank but I do need to check if mine is ok before committing myself.
Tank is off petrol Caddy dont know if they are any different to diesel
Deans