What to do with old petrol and how to clean out the tank?

[Kris]

I've got the Pan in bits whilst I rebuild the front end and strip / clean the carbs etc. To get the carbs out it was easier to take the rather large petrol tank out and put it to one side.

Now, a few months later I want to get rid of the old fuel and any shite that maye be lurking in the bottom of the tank...

There's probably 10 litres of old fuel going spare, what's the correct way (other than a bonfire of epic proportions) to dispose of it?

Also, is there a decent cleaning agent I can swill around in the tank to clean it out a bit?

Ta
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[Wafer_Thin_Ham]

How old is old?

Use it to clean chains, or run a petrol garden device if you have one.

Chances are it's still ok provided there's not tonnes of crap in it. If you're really worried just mix it with some fresh fuel.
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[Cptn. Awesome]

If it has chunks of crud in it, just filter it through a clean rag a couple of times into a clean bucket or something and then use it again.
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Naughty Fawbish: "An eagle is but an eagle until the suns flare blinds his prey." - Fawbish, 2010.

[Kris]

3 months old minimum but I have a sneaky suspicion that there is a lot of crap in the bottom of the tank.

Having just cleaned the SOB carbs and jets etc I definately want to clean the tank out...
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[Bendy]

Save it for the next time you have a hire car and have to bring it back full.

[hmmmnz]

its also good for killing pesky weeds on your cobbles, or the annoying neighbours plants
i'd filter it through a sock and stick it in the car,
it'll be fine diluted with clean gas
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[MarJay]

[Pete.]

3 months old petrol isn't old petrol. 3 years old is barely gone off. Run it through a nice paper coffee percolator filter and put it back in the tank.
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[Kris]

[Handsome]

[LeanIt]

There may be a lot of rust at the bottom of the tank after 16 years , this is OK as long as it's not disturbed .
Now it will probably be mixed up with the fuel , rinse the tank with the old fuel and filter it .

Repeat this process until you've got all the crap out of the tank. Otherwise it might get sucked into your newly cleaned carbs .

If your bike hasn't got one and there's space , it's a good idea to fit an in-line filter so it gets caught before it gets to the carbs
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[doggone]

If you could put it in a container and leave it standing for a week, any debris will settle out - pour the best 2/3 off into another can and put it back in a couple of litres at a time.
Use the rest for cleaning greasy crap off or whatever.

[Pete.]

[thewildblue]

I filled my old cbr400 tank up with 10 litres of vinegar and left it 24 hours. That removed alot of the rust that was in there. I should have left it in for longer but was impatient.

[nasty]

I would do as other have said:

Filter the old fuel and keep doing this to clean out any crap in the tank, let it dry and then seal the inside of the tank with Petseal or Frost tank sealant, this will seal any other loose crap or corrosion and seal up any pin holes on the inside of the tank before they get worse.

If you use Petseal though be very carefull about inhailing the fumes, it's not nice and made me ill for the rest of the day and this was doing it outside in a well ventilated area.
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[LeanIt]

[Will87]

If you wish to brake up and dislogde all of the rust and crud you could do as my old man did with one of our a10 tanks; Buy and bake a bag of gravel to remove all moisture from it. Fill tank with the gravel, place into a cement mixer (heavily padded with blankets pillows etc) and spin for about 15 minutes, then proceed to slosh and clean the tank as describe above, the difference was spectacular!

[Kal]