Flushing a fuel tank?

[deadeye]

I get to replace the fuel pump in my Dad's Durango this week.

I am wondering what your supposed to flush a fuel tank with when you do this? I was thinking about spraying a couple cans of brake cleaner in there and swishing it around, rinsing it out with clean water and drying it with the air hose.

Is that a reasonable process? I am not aware of any specific products or know of a proper process for doing this and I want to do it right since he counts on the vehicle for work. Normally, I just hear that your supposed to flush it out and that is the end of what I hear about it.

While I have replaced fuel pumps before it has usually been in a full tank and I didn't drain/flush them out. Some of the ones I have done had access panels so I didn't have to deal with dropping the tank. Given that he is still driving it I am going to have him take it down to E so its a bit easier.

[Jeremy airjer W]

I have never "flushed" a fuel tank. I'm not even sure why you would?

[deadeye]

I never have either, but it was one of the requirements for warranty of a fuel pump when I worked at Oreillys.

Shops always said they did it and I never really cared enough to question a method. I just wanted to take care of them so I did the warranty to get their customers out the door.

Every single fuel pump that I have put in without doing that has lasted until the vehicle went away, either sold or in the boneyard.

Maybe I just wont worry about it.

Edit: I think they said something about sediment in the tank as being the reason for warranty concern. Would that really matter that much since the module has the filter on the bottom of it? There isn't a fuel filter anywhere in the system so that is all it has for the filter.

[Macgyver55]

When we used to get tanks that were really cruddy we would just drain the tank, put in a couple gallons of fresh gas, slosh it around redump it and call it good.

[Shack]

I think they are concerned with sediment clogging/starving the new pump of fuel under the warranty period and frying out the pump.

I have flushed old fuel tanks before. I just drained the tank of fuel properly and used water from or hose of pressure water. Drain out the water and let it dry out completely. This was on a project car and an old truck that I replaced the tank on with a used one filled with garbage.

As far as in a shop, I am not sure if this would fly (mechanics time & customer willing to wait a couple days while the tank dries out).

[Scott K]

I had to do this for a Ford recall many years ago. Remove tank, drain it, grab garden hose rinse thoroughly, then drain, take rags to absorb any water in tank and wipe dry. I would add a can of heat to the tank when I was done, and had the customer fill the tank.

[Shack]

I had to do this for a Ford recall many years ago. Remove tank, drain it, grab garden hose rinse thoroughly, then drain, take rags to absorb any water in tank and wipe dry. I would add a can of heat to the tank when I was done, and had the customer fill the tank.

I was going to say that also. In my minds eye I can see and remember the Drivability guys doing this when the car is up in the air and the tank is strapped to a tranny jack. I remember seeing the hose going in the tank and them just letting it run while they got parts or went on break.

[deadeye]

Well, since the tank will be down and empty I will give it a good cleaning. It really couldn't hurt it.

I wasn't really sure if there was some sort of cleaner that would work better than another for this but it sounds like a shot of brake cleaner and the garden hose should take care of it. For some reason I thought there was a special tank de-gunker but its probably not worth the hassle when a 1.49 can of brake cleaner could do it.

I got a decent compressor so I will really hose it out with air and get it dry before I reassemble it. Probably toss a bottle of heat in since I got it.

[Scott K]

On a side note, I would never do it, unless the tank was dirty, and needed it.

[Jeremy airjer W]

I don't think you'll find much of anything in the tank. You'll probably get more debris in it from replacing the pump than is in it right now.

[deadeye]

Yeah I suppose. I guess I will find out Friday night for sure what is lurking in there. Gotta love laying in the snow doing a fuel pump for a Friday night activity.

[deadeye]

Well that was probably the easiest fuel pump I have ever done.

The straps came right down and the hardest part would have been getting the filler and vent hoses off the tank. I didn't bother messing with flushing it as there was a bunch of fuel in it. The bosch instructions didn't say to flush it so oh well, even less work.

Probably a hour and a half start to finish. Man do I like getting easy stuff like that once in a while.

[Scott K]

See there is nothing to this mechanic stuff!

[deadeye]

Ya, now if doing the clutch on my awd talon was that cake I would be set.

So far I have gotten lucky this winter. The fuel pump was the only real repair I had to do. I got my brothers head gasket and my moms timing belt done last fall so the cold driveway repairs have been nil. Gotta like that.