The Saab's gas tank got warshed

"Akio Ohtori - RIP Oppo" (akioohtori)
07/02/2020 at 16:05 • Filed to: Project Dumpster Fire

In an attempt to end my ongoing “murder all the fuel pumps” saga, I decided to pull the tank on the Saab and get the gas tank cleaned. This is a thing I should have done years ago when I first got it back, but I didn’t want to thinking it would be too much trouble. Instead I decided that breaking down about every fifth time I take it out sounded like a reasonable idea.

I never said I was smart.

In all honesty I thought the crud would eventually get worked through given all the fuel system cleaner running through. After the first pump died, I assumed we were almost though. The second pump died so soon thereafter I assumed it was a bad pump. The third... well here we are.

Anyway, after dropping the tank I called around for someone to clean it. For whatever reason this is a job relegated to radiator shops. The closest one was recently purchased and I’ve been advised to steer clear, so I called the other one. They were happy to do it later in the week and guessed it would be about $125 but that may change after they look at it.

That seemed... a little steep.

Given the tank is plastic and the odd way the fuel pump mounts allows me to put my entire arm into the tank, I decided to save the money and do it myself. Luckily I have a slop sink in the basement. I usually have a hose attached to the cold tap for watering seedlings (Yes I grow seedlings in the basement. No it isn’t what you think.) but for this project I swapped it over to hot. Given the hot water tank was about six feet away BOY WAS IT HOT. I was actually afraid of melting the crappy coiled hose.

But I didn’t

So the cleaning commenced!

Not really knowing what I was doing I opted for the “scrub everything” method. After a general rinse and clean, I let it soak in some purple Simple Green. Then I scrubbed every square inch of the inside of the tank I could reach using an old dish brush. Again thanks to the large fuel pump opening, I was able to get to about 95% of the inside surface with the brush and give it a good scrub.

I want to say the inside was disgusting, but it really wasn’t that bad. There was enough particulates that I don’t think fuel pump #3 would have been the last, but the grime wasn’t apocalyptic by any means.

After a good scrubbing and rinsing... I scrubbed and rinsed again.

And again.

Eventually my “better do this right” drive was satisfied and I allowed it to sit and dry.

Looks pretty clean to me!

Then it was time to order new bushings. I’d emailed my preferred parts supplier, eEuroParts, earlier in the week, but they ever got back to me. So I went to my non-preferred supplier, eSaabParts, as they seemed to have what I needed. In all honesty the only reason I don’t use them is because they don’t acknowledge Saabs built before 1986, which can be exceptionally frustrating when your Saab was built in 1984.

Anyway, shout out to eSaabParts, they had excellent parts diagram and 3 of the 4 things I needed in stock. Even better they’re not one of those dickhead parts supplier who obfuscates the OE part number, so I was able to find the bushing they didn’t have at another supplier. eEuroParts, oddly.

Despite eSaabParts helpfulness in this, and eEuroParts lack of helpfulness, I ended up ordering everything from eEuro because they had everything in stock.

And I can safely say I have never paid so much for tiny rubber parts.

Holy crap.

But I would happily pay that to not have gas fumes in the cabin and have to drop the tank again. In fact, I did pay that.

So here we are.

I’m going to let the tank dry for a few days and then go over it with a clean cloth to make sure I got everything. If all looks good, it’ll (maybe) go back in next week after the new parts arrive.

DISCUSSION (8)

VincentMalamute-Kim > Akio Ohtori - RIP Oppo
07/02/2020 at 16:29

This is a thing I should have done years ago when I first got it back, but I didn’t want to thinking it would be too much trouble.

yah, people are bad at whatever this is called. Taking the easy way out. Delayed gratification. Can’t consider long term consequences. Or something like that . Makes it hard to deal with COVID, climate change, anything that needs a lot of work with consequences way in the future .

I’m not ragging on you. I do the same. My garden tractor stopped and I think debris was plugging the fuel line at the gas tank. I blew it out with my mouth but have not done the correct solution - remove and clean the tank.

You’re my inspiration to get off my butt. Maybe later.

jminer > Akio Ohtori - RIP Oppo
07/02/2020 at 16:44

With it being a plastic tank you did the right thing. Radiator shops clean metal tanks because they can do it much better than us mere mortals. They have giant vats of chemicals and large parts cleaners that make mincemeat out of it.

I’ve had one clean a motorcycle tank for me and it was amazing. It came back pristine with no paint (expected) and no rust. It only cost me $50 and saved me a week of various cleanings/neutralizer /sealer combinations I’ve used before, it was also cheaper than the kits I’d bought to do it myself.

Aremmes > Akio Ohtori - RIP Oppo
07/02/2020 at 17:29

You can speed up the drying process by dumping a bottle of isopropyl alcohol (> 90% preferably) into the tank and swishing it around. That should remove most of the remaining water and give the insides a good rinse-out.

Urambo Tauro > Akio Ohtori - RIP Oppo
07/02/2020 at 19:26

Looking good! My brother already cleaned the tank on his 900 once, and I just hope he gets the car running before he finds himself having to clean it a second time lol.

Akio Ohtori - RIP Oppo > Urambo Tauro
07/02/2020 at 19:31

I’ve been wondering about your Saab haha

Urambo Tauro > Akio Ohtori - RIP Oppo
07/02/2020 at 19:48

Yeah...

The welding continues, but very very slowly. Not enough progress to really justify another update post quite yet. My brother is very busy with work and other life stuff these days . Sometimes the car sits for several weeks without being touched at all.

MiniGTI - now with XJ6 > Akio Ohtori - RIP Oppo
07/02/2020 at 22:52

Yeah eeuro is nice but they can be expensive and don’t necessarily trust the “you might also need” pop ups are even stuff for your car.

Good news, I picked up the convertible from my new SAAB guy (see my post from the other day). Last of the maintenance I wanted before my trip was to clean the sludge in the oil pan and check the turbo condition. (It was fine)

So green light for taking it on our trip to PA next week!

Akio Ohtori - RIP Oppo > MiniGTI - now with XJ6
07/02/2020 at 22:55

Nice! Congrats!

Yeah I don’t remember the “you may also need” thing so that is sort of a bummer. eEuro is one of the few that actually sells parts for the pre-16-valve cars, so they’re one of my few options. They’re reasonably active in the community too, which is nice.