Auxiliary fuel tank cleaning

I just purchased a 98 gallon Transfer Flow auxiliary fuel tank used. The pump works it does not have the Trax system or any computer. All I am going to do is wire a switch to the pump. Question one, this thing has about ten gallons of nasty looking diesel fuel in it. What is the best way to clean the tank?
Second I would feel a lot better if I plumbed in another in line spin on fuel filter, will the pump on the Transfer Flow have enough psi to force the fuel through a spin on filter? I am going to plumb the setup into the oem fuel vent
thanks in advance.

Capt7383 said:

I just purchased a 98 gallon Transfer Flow auxiliary fuel tank used. The pump works it does not have the Trax system or any computer. All I am going to do is wire a switch to the pump. Question one, this thing has about ten gallons of nasty looking diesel fuel in it. What is the best way to clean the tank?
Second I would feel a lot better if I plumbed in another in line spin on fuel filter, will the pump on the Transfer Flow have enough psi to force the fuel through a spin on filter? I am going to plumb the setup into the oem fuel vent
thanks in advance.

Click to expand...

Nasty? That covers a lot of ground, what kind of nasty? Diesel and water? Diesel water and rust? Fungus?

I have found that a common soap and water solution will remove a large portion of fuel tank pollutants. If you can see inside it, I would wash it, drain it and let it dry. Then I would try to get a look inside. Caution, someone may have coated it inside, if so then this changes the way that you would address cleaning the tank. Once cleaning with common soap and water perhaps a car wash wand ( be sure to tell the attendant that the tank is empty and only needs to be cleaned). I think once you have done all you can do, then put a good fuel filter on it, and run it just to see if you get any trash out of it.

By nasty I mean very cloudy, I can see inside and I don't see any water or particulate matter. The fuel smell is reminiscent of oil based paint. I can see the metal of the tank. The only rust that is visible is at the welds, the majority of the metal looks clean. It is aluminized steel.

If you need a good fuel pump, here's the one we have on our Aux tank:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B000CIQ5EA?ref=olp_product_details

We pump through a Napa 3405 filter.


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We learned the hard & expensive way. Any rust at all will cause tank/engine problems. I would (and did) scrap a steel tank, and bought an all aluminum tank. We wish we had done that to start with. Well. I guess we all live and learn. What ever you do, buy the best filter available. Good luck.

I used a tank cleaner from Northern Factory available from Amazon to clean my used tank. Your tank doesn't sound that bad so soap and water may be all you need.

I plummed my tank output to a 20 micron paper trash filter (3$-inline filter) then to two spin on filters connected in series (one water/fuel separator (20mic), 2nd - a 4mic filter) then to the fuel pump. I elected to use a 31 gph pump vice 100 gph because the noise is less and I'm not in any hurry to fill the tank. I was going to put a solenoid after the pump but decided against it as it's just one more thing that could fail on the road. Put another paper trash filter ($3) on the output of pump just in case it throws metal down the road. The input to the OEM tank is a $20 connector that the output of the pump and the overflow fuel line connect to--its mounted in-line in the OEM vent hose. Connected the pump to one of my Aux switches in my RAM. I decided to use a $10 multi-function timer that, once triggered, turns on the pump for 15 minutes and then shuts it off (can be adjusted to any time value). Everything was mounted to an aluminum bed plate beneath the OEM fuel filler hoses along with an Air Lift compressor for the air bags. Added a Bosch fuel gauge in the cab to complete the install.

The filtering described above is a bit overkill for some (resembles the filtering my RAM Cummings uses) but I wanted assurances that I would never contaminate my OEM tank or have a warranty question from RAM should a fuel issue arise. The spin on filters will probably never need to be replaced (due to low volume over the life-time of the truck) so it's a pretty low maintenance set-up.

Dave
RAM 3500 DRW 6.7 Cummings AISIN 4.01
Chesapeake, VA

All, we haven't used our auxillary tank since this summer. I'm sure there's "stuff" in there. What additive would you recommend to "clean" the tank and residual fuel that may be in the bottom? BTW, there is an external fuel filter that the fuel goes through before going to the OEM tank.

We are fulltime, so no location to clean out the tank manually.

Erica,
Here are some products the may help you.

To clean a diesel fuel tank: http://powerservice.com/psp_product/clear-diesel-fuel-tank-cleaner/
Diesel biocide cleaner: http://powerservice.com/psp_product/bio-kleen-diesel-fuel-biocide/

Terry H said:

Erica,
Here are some products the may help you.

To clean a diesel fuel tank: http://powerservice.com/psp_product/clear-diesel-fuel-tank-cleaner/
Diesel biocide cleaner: http://powerservice.com/psp_product/bio-kleen-diesel-fuel-biocide/

Click to expand...

Thanks Terry! Have you used them before?


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TravelTiger said:

All, we haven't used our auxillary tank since this summer. I'm sure there's "stuff" in there. What additive would you recommend to "clean" the tank and residual fuel that may be in the bottom? BTW, there is an external fuel filter that the fuel goes through before going to the OEM tank.

We are fulltime, so no location to clean out the tank manually.

Click to expand...

I don't know. I routinely use Cetane as a diesel additive, but I have never used a cleaning additive. I change the aux tank's fuel filter every six months and the old ones always look fairly clean. Since I have the trax system, the fuel is automatically pumped from the aux tank so the fuel in both tanks is almost always about the same age . . . none standing and stagnating. My tank is aluminum so no rust problems.

Erica,

I have used a diesel fuel biocide many years ago, I do not remember the brand. I have not used the Powerservice brand but they have been in business since 1956. See history. I have not used the Powerservice Clear-Diesel cleaner.

Terry H said:

Erica,

I have used a diesel fuel biocide many years ago, I do not remember the brand. I have not used the Powerservice brand but they have been in business since 1956. See history. I have not used the Powerservice Clear-Diesel cleaner.

Click to expand...

Thanks Terry.

We've actually used PowerService Clear-Diesel in our tank once with the new truck. It threw a service engine light for a tankful, but cleared once it got cleaner fuel.

I was hoping others had experience with another product.


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I've left my tank "empty" (meaning I'm sure there is a gallon or so still in there) for the winter. Should I add something to the tank to ensure I don't get build up in the tank?