Reviving an 87 2.5l thats been sitting for around 20 years... Motors out and we've got it turning again and are in the process of putting it back together. It's the, "any write ups on pulling 4 cylinder" thread here in the tech section. Might be archived by now. Anyway the fuel pump was not working and the tank stunk like a furniture shop. So we dropped the tank and pulled the fuel pump.

Very very thick black sludge covering everything. It's like tar or something, sticky, gooey sludge. The plastic parts are melted and extremely soft. Maybe they are the source of the sludge.







Man we knew it was gonna be bad in there but this is over the top! All the plastic parts are melted and gooey. Guess were gonna be replacing the tank and all.... Oh well add a few hundred more $'s... Anyone got a tank?

Reason I mentioned possible sugar in tank is PO had drivers side window busted out, car was keyed up and down both sides. Someone was pissed off for whatever reason at the PO. Maybe they put sugar in the tank too?

If it was sitting for 20 years… when was the last time the tank was emptied and new gas put in it? If gas sat in there for 20 years, it will do enough damage by itself, without the need for any additives to cause issue.

Why don't you lick the goo to find out if it is sweet........

There are plastic baffles in the tank...are they still there?

You may be better off to just put an ad in the mall section and buy a tank, pump and sender from someone selling one.

quote Originally posted by Gall757: There are plastic baffles in the tank...are they still there?

You mean the white plastic thing? Yeah the plastic in the tanks still all there its just the rubber on the fuel pump and the plastic wire holder things that are all melted.

Prolly just gonna find a newer tank and pump and all.... Ah the joy's.

I had one that was like that, but the upper half of the tank was quite rusty. The tank had set 1/2 full for a couple of years with no gas cap on the inlet. It was a miserable thing to clean up. It looked much like yours when it came apart. The pulsator rubber was soft and gooey but the rest of the plastic and hardware cleaned up okay.

Nope, that's what ancient gasoline does....it turns back into crude oil....or sludge, to be more precise. I just bought a 1970 Mach 1 that has sat for about 10 years. It's getting a whole new fuel system....what came out of the lines has the smell, look, and viscosity of tar. In fact, it looks just like what you have. Does it smell rancid?

FYI, sugar doesn't dissolve in gas.

quote Originally posted by buddycraigg: FYI, sugar doesn't dissolve in gas.

nail on the head!
put some sugar in a clear plastic bottle, pour some gas in there, the sugar settles right to the bottom. no dissolving whatsoever, shake it up do whatever, it will not dissolve, what it will do is plug up the strainer sock and look like sand.

I had a question for you guys who have experienced this:

Does finding something like this probably mean that you should replace not only the tank but also the lines to the pressure regulator / throttle body and likely the injector too? (I.e. entire fuel system)? I would think so..?

I would.

The black gooey stuff is the result of alcohol in the fuel. Gasahol!

quote Originally posted by larry mimbs: The black gooey stuff is the result of alcohol in the fuel. Gasahol!

No it isn't. Stop spreading nonsensical myths.

quote Originally posted by mikeg3d: I had a question for you guys who have experienced this: Does finding something like this probably mean that you should replace not only the tank but also the lines to the pressure regulator / throttle body and likely the injector too? (I.e. entire fuel system)? I would think so..?

The news just gets better and better... Makes me wonder what the cooling systems gonna look like. The coolant line that connects to the underside of the intake manifold had lots of gunk in the connector end when I pulled it... Oh well

quote Originally posted by rogergarrison: I would.

It would be extremely time consuming trying to save it. Much easier to just replace everything and not have to worry about it.

Mine looked pretty bad after sitting since 06'

[This message has been edited by jwrape (edited 11-08-2011).]

quote Originally posted by Frizlefrak: It would be extremely time consuming trying to save it. Much easier to just replace everything and not have to worry about it.

Agree with you, but how much is everything? Fuel lines to throttle body as well? Maybe I can put some air on those and see? Fuel filter back to pickup screen's gonna need to be all new, including the tank.



Nice hole huh?

You could possibly flush the lines with carb cleaner....the problem is that you can't really see inside of them to ensure you've gotten all of the sludge out. The last thing you want is a residual chunk of this stuff gumming up fresh fuel injectors. Maybe if you could remove the lines and soak them in a solvent tank over night you could save them. On the Mach 1, I'm going to err on the side of caution and replace everything.

Yep....that tank ain't looin' too good.

Finally got round to draining the old gas, if you can call it that, out of the existing tank...



Not good



Took a stick and swirled the muck around, I can push the goo around and pile it up in a corner that's how thick it is. Forget this tank, I am erasing it's existence out of my mental inventory as we speak. Now to find where to get rid of it at. Suppose I gotta take it to a local enviromental cleaning company called Clean Harbours. Our town dump would probably run me off if I show up with this tank.

Picked up a new tank today from a scrap yard that has a few fiero's sitting. Haven't seen the yard as it's 2 hours north of us and guy delivered the tank to a local auto shop for us for free. Prolly gonna have to replace the plumbing assembly and all as this ones got goo in the one of the lines.

Oh well, such is life...

Edit; jumping jebus $200 for a new sending unit???

[This message has been edited by weloveour86se (edited 12-03-2011).]

quote Originally posted by weloveour86se: Edit; jumping jebus $200 for a new sending unit???

That's not bad at all! :P Some cars cost $600-$1000 for a new sending unit! I believe a lot of GM's sending units are $500-$600

Good luck! I am glad mine did not look like that after it was sitting for 6 years! Mine was just full of Lead Pellets... Someone apparently did not like me and thought lead pellets in the gas tank and engine oil would kill my car.

If you can, a used sending unit would be cheaper. Or just a new fuel pump, and replace the rubber lines, and for the metal ones pick up cans of Shopsolv, or Brake Parts Cleaner, clean that tar right out. If you have access to an air compressor, use compressed air to blow the thick stuff out first, then put the solvent inside, and then blow it out some more. Repeat until clean.

As for the injector, send it out to Witchhunter Performance for a pretty cheap sonic clean and refurbish. They do an amazing job for cheap! http://www.witchhunter.com/ is their site. I used them, they got my injectors perfect, and some of them werent flowing at all!

To save a bit of money, cleaning is possible, just takes a bit of work. Also an AC Flusher could work to clean the metal lines.

If you arent too far from me (too deep in maine), I may be able to assist sometime.

[This message has been edited by Racing_Master (edited 12-03-2011).]

Ya thats cheap. I put one in a gfs Cavalier. My cost was like $500 just for the pump. One went out in my Dodge van during a winter so i didnt feel like working in the cold and snow. Dealer charged $750 for the job.

quote Originally posted by rogergarrison: Ya thats cheap. I put one in a gfs Cavalier. My cost was like $500 just for the pump. One went out in my Dodge van during a winter so i didnt feel like working in the cold and snow. Dealer charged $750 for the job.

lol, fail.

Anyway.. I would reuse the sending unit... the steel tube will be easy enough to clean... if it looks like the level sending unit is in rough shape, then you may want to get a new one.

The tank would be saveable... just depends on the effort you want to put in.

I wouldn't mind spending 6 hours to save $200-$400. I thought this fiero forum was made of the cheapest people in the auto field, guess not.

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Turbo 3800 E85 5spd spec5
11.54@132.7

Before




After




Testing with Ohm meter, now I get 2ohms at empty and 100ohms at full. Close so close. Close enough maybe? Cant believe it still works, talk about low-tech.

Now how to clean the tubes without making a huge mess??

Edit: took all of an hour and two cups of coffee, fine sand paper.

[This message has been edited by weloveour86se (edited 12-06-2011).]

Mostly for the sake of curiosity, I cut the old dirty tank open heres a few pics of what its like inside

The two filler tubes. These stick into the back of the in tank baffle. Note the notch in the "burp" tube.



Corn flakes anyone? The sludge has begun to harden after we drained the liquids out. This stuffs so thick and sticky that the baffle wont budge

quote Originally posted by weloveour86se: Now to find where to get rid of it at. Suppose I gotta take it to a local enviromental cleaning company called Clean Harbours. Our town dump would probably run me off if I show up with this tank.

Cat litter is your friend when disposing of potentially icky liquids. It is considered very bad to dispose of liquids in the dump. Solids are another story though. Use the cat litter to absorb and dry out the tar like substance into a solid, it can now be disposed of. This technique is not good if you have a large volume of something, but for a gallon is a far better way to handle it (many people dump it down the storm drain, horibly bad idea).

The North American auto recyclers are getting better with this issue. A lot of the flammable liquids are being scavenged and re-used as heating oil. You may be able to drop it off at a yard or scrap dealer.

Yuck! I guess there was no saving that.

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Turbo 3800 E85 5spd spec5
11.54@132.7