So I want to reinstall my aux tank back into my truck. It's got a slime of brown goo on the bottom but the tank inside finish initially appears intact.

It sat for a couple of years after the truck was hit by a drunk driver with some gas still left in it. Fast forward through a crazy busy year, and another year where I was deployed to the Middle East, and here I am getting the truck back up to "normal status".

The tank was brand new prob about 2012 or so, the truck was hit in 2014.

I took the tank apart today and got a good look at the tank. There is the brown goo in the tank but it is still slightly fluid and will move when the tank is tipped. The inside finish appears intact (no rust) when the goo moves.

Should I get some CLR and try and clean the tank and reinstall?

Is there a better way to clean it?

 

When I had to clean a tank, I filled it with laundry detergent, some water, and small gravel. Tied it to my cement mixer and let it tumble for a couple of hours. Rinsed it out and it was almost spotless.

 

You can clean it yourself or take it to a local radiator shop and they will vat it. Should not cost much if it's not bad.

 

So laundry detergent is what I should use to self clean?

 

....pea gravel and agitate. I strapped mine in my F-250 and drove around for a couple of weeks.

 

Or any conglomeration of your favorite cleaners/degreasers.

 

THANK YOU for your Service.
Do you mean you split the tank in half?

 

Thank you for the kind words!

I only meant that I took to hoses off the tank and took out the sender/pickup so I was able to see inside. I didn't cut the tank or anything.

When the pickup was hit in 2014 I had a super busy year with a new job, sick mother in law and plenty of other stuff. By the time I found a new bed, bought new leaf springs, bumper, etc it was mid-late 2015 and so by the time I got that all put in it was early 2016 and time to think about getting ready to deploy. The aux tank was removed, everything intact, and left until this weekend (the hoses being on prevented rain from getting in the tank). I've been home for several months and now that the truck is done getting painted and I've got door windows and other such stuff complete I'm looking to reinstall the aux tank. I'll know a little more tonight but I've got some laundry detergent in the soaking and was going to dump it out, rinse and take a look.

 

I would put about a gallon of gas in the tank and shake it around. Dump it out into a container and see what it looks like. I think you just have some gas turning to varnish and adding some new gas will dilute it and clean it up.