Just wondering if there is a tried and true method of draining the tank.



Thanks for the help

 

use your right foot! (More throttle), The few times I had to drop my tank, i still had 3-5 gallons in it. use a jack with 2X6 (spreads pressure acrross tank). Apply a little pressure with the jack, remove bands, get a buddy to help you stabilize it as you let it down.

 

unhook the fuel line, and turn on the fuel pump to pump into another container.

 

I did a 1/4 of a tank this way, so I could do my tank mods:
-put a trickle charger on one of the batteries
-locate the metal fuel drain tube and slip a 3/8 or 5/16 tube over it and route it to a fuel can (you'll need at least three 10 gallon cans for your purpose)
-open fuel drain on the fuel bowl
-put 12v to the hot side of the fuel pump, I used a 7 foot 12 gauge wire with alligator clips crimped on the ends

Workes like a charm!

 

I did the same as rampage I just diconnected the fuel line at the pump though. Ran a wire to the Battery and let her run. Country

 

How much are you trying to drain? How empty do you want to get it? I've had a couple of work trucks that were accidentally filled with gas. I shoved a hose down the fill tube, stuffed a rag around it, and inserted the end of a blow gun off an air compressor.

I was able to pump out 38 gallon tanks into 5 gallon buckets while standing up and drinking a beer. So that makes it my favorite method. Of course if you want the tank completely clean you will need to drop it after you pump most of the fuel out.

 

Sounds interesting, but could you give alittle more detail where you inserted the air blow gun... Did you blow across the end of the hose causing a vacuum in the hose?

 

Sounds to me like he stuck it in the tank filler next to the hose. Seal off both and the pressure from the blow gun or compressor will force fuel out of the tank via the hose.

 

Sorry I wasn't clear. The air nozzle is pointed down the fill neck with the rag closing off the hole around the drain tube & air nozzle so you can pressurize your tank and pump the fuel out. I think I used around 30 - 40 psi.

 

Looking to increase the storage capacity of your tank?
It's a good thing that rag bled off pressure to only a few pounds.

 

Well if it ruptured that would have solved my how to drain the tank dilemma.

I started off with really low pressure, but 38 gallons is a lot of fuel so I gradually worked the pressure up to where I had a decent stream. Like you said, between the rag & the physics involved, just because my gauge read 30 at the compressor doesn't mean I had that much pressure in that tank.

Since my issue involved a mix of diesel & gas I made sure the compressor was far away from the truck when doing this. No use in letting gasoline fumes and a spark from an electric motor ruining your day.

 

hahaha I like that Kwik.

 

This sounds very familiar to me and pretty much what I did. I put the front on ramps so the fuel cans would fit under there easier without having a long hose. I would not recommend using the key for this with a near full tank as it will take many cycles which will activate the GPs.

 

I just traded in my 2011 F350 and I had a full tank in the one I trade it in, I work on the pipeline so I have an auxiliary fuel tank that I switched over and wanted to drain the fuel out of the old one and put it back in my tank in the back of my truck I know for a fact don’t even try to funnel it out without holes in the tank because it won’t work. I wish I would have looked this up on our trusted little site because I ended up not being able to get it out, on top of that I was going to take my fog lights off and replace them with the factory ones I still have and I didn’t get to do that either trying to get the dang hose down to the tank. So that it may be I got assed out. But let’s look at the bright side I got a new truck!!!!