Gas Tank Sealant Breakdown

[rzeller]

Back in 2009 I replaced my all rusted gas tank with a brand new Brazilian tank. I wanted to reuse my old filler neck (had an old style gas cap that was exposed) so I had that cut off my old tank and reattached to the new one. To ensure that I didn't have a problem with pin hole leaks (remember I said it was a new Brazilian tank) I decided I would seal the tank with a product called Red-Kote, which had pretty good reviews at that time. Life was good.

Fast forward to today - I'm having my buggy restored/refreshed and part of that was to put a center fill neck on the same tank (link to the restoration: http://www.manxclub.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=65&t=3371). During the tank work I got a call from Vince asking me what kind of animal died in my tank and decomposed in it? Hmmm, I know a neighbor's ferret was missing but no, that couldn't be it. Turns out that the nice sealant job I did back in 2009 had completely peeled off inside the tank. Fortunately for me it never clogged the tank filter and must have just been floating around in there for years. I never saw it when filling the tank so it's possible it was attached at some point out of sight.

I'm just providing this as a heads up for anyone with the same "good intentions" I had years ago.

New tank (2009) - can see the sealant






Dead ferret or dead Red-Kote?

[DIESELDOOG]

Not at all unusual with the EPA spec fuel that is sold today.
Seems like the higher ethanol percentages cause the sealant to fail.

Joe

[vincent9993]

Bud, that's what happens to fuel tank when you're buggy is not driven more than a 20 mile radius around your home! Seriously, Joe is correct, Ethanol will eat through almost everything including el-cheapo steel braided fuel lines. I'm not surprised it eat the sealant.

[jsturtlebuggy]

Fuel tank has to be extremely clean for Red Kote to work properly. MEK does a good job of cleaning out stuff inside of tank.
Best fuel tanks sold are from Wolfsburg West in Corona, CA. They don't have all the wrinkles like the Brazilian tanks and hold a little more fuel.
Fuel hose now to use is either the rubber outside lined inside fuel injection hose (approx. $4 a foot) or PTFE lined braided hose.
California has had the problem for years now with the crap fuel being sold.