Asking for advice on fuel blockage/tank cleaning

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As the title says. Moved (lifted/tilted) tank last night to check air filter. This morning had difficulty starting and running. Fuel gauge shows enough fuel in tank (within its usual guesswork). Put onto reserve and picks up okay

So I guess I've moved some crud in the tank. I wondered what advice I could get to clean it out. I'll take the tank off but what's best way to get the crud out. Will try and remove fuel tap but it looks pretty seized.

How far do you think I should go down into checking the carbs?

In the past I've took the tank off one of my old 125s and had a large amount of shaking to get the rust out. Finished off by putting radiator cleaner in with boiling water to try and put what was left in solution. Then had hassle shaking all the water out. Would this method be recommended for a bigger bike (an old inline 4)?

At the moment this is my only form of transport so need to get this problem sorted ASAP.
Thanks in anticipation

[Ste]

Not much point in checking the carbs as if it works on reserve tap then there is a problem with the tank not the carbs.

I'd suggest taking the tank off, giving it a bit of a shake around to try and dislodge whatever is blocking it. Chances are it's just a small bit of general crap. If you do want or need to try to drain the tank in an effort to get it out I'd put clean petrol in, shake it around a bit and then drain that petrol back out again and see what if anything is in that petrol. Repeat until you're happy with the amount of stuff that's in the petrol.

[Big Pete]

tie 5-6 M8 nuts onto a long piece of string, remove the tap, drop them into the tank (keeping hold of the other end obviously) and shake vigorously for 5 mins or so. don`t forget to move the tank around so the nuts can get at all the interior. wash out 3 or 4 times with fresh juice, strip and clean the tap. reassemble in reverse order.

BTW if you get water in the fuel, pour in 500cc meths, it will absorb the water and burn tho the engine rather than rotting the bottom out of the tank.
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[wisebeuy]

OK, have had a bit of experiance in this field.
Mostly would say what everyone else has, but a couple of points.

First, drain ur tank, then like Big Pete says, clean out with some nuts, and flush with plenty of petrol.
Second, take an air compresses and blow thru the tap and really get any crap cleared.
Also, even tho it seems to work fine on the reserve tank, give the carb a clean anyway, as small bits of crap can easily block the jets and cause power loss and instability.
After cleaning the tank, you are always going to be left with some crap in it which is going to get into the fuel, so buy an inline fuel filter to go from the tank to the carb if u don't have one already.

[map]

Thanks for the advice. Problem sorted. Took tap out of tank and gave good clean. Shook out tank but didn't get much gunk out, although fuel was a little yellowish, so worth doing. Put back together and everything okay

Happy it was as I went to fill up with fuel and forgot the mobile so would have been stuck if it failed

Bike is having a service next week as can hear the tapits ticking and I want the carbs balancing.


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