Fuel tank winterising.

[PaulC]

Morning all,

I have drained my fuel tank because both fuel taps are really stiff and need servicing or replacing. I plan to leave the tank empty over winter, but should I spray the inside with a rust inhibitor such as ACF50?

Thanks
Paul

[bsa-bill]

For storage of machinery with engines it's recommended to winter them with full tanks, stops the tank from rusting and  stops condensation forming in the tank, in the case of diesels condensation (water) sucked into an injector does it no good at all.
The counter to this is of course a vehicle sitting full of fuel which might go off, but it could always be used in the family car come spring  = also think of that nice January day when you could have the bike fired up and away for a ride but too much work involved cleaning the tank and filling it up again.

No both mine will be sitting with full tanks

[morris]

I go with Bill.
I also keep the tanks of the Morris and both BSA's full for winter

[alanp]

Thought I'd just jump in with my method....I leave the tank filled with petrol with Ethomix additive which negates the moisture problem with ethanol in the petrol. I bought mine from www.frost.co.uk. Hope this helps.

[bsa-bill]

Good point alanP - it's that Ethanol stuff again

[Seabee]

I leave mine full, but I add Stabil to keep the gas from going bad.  Also consider your cork taps.  If you leave them dry they will not seal for a while in the spring and may crumble from being dried out.

[lawnmowerman]

Yet another method!

I drain mine and fill it brim full with heating oil. In the spring I drain it into a can and use it for washing parts or lighting the bonfire (together with all the oil which will have drained through the engine and out the removed sump plug into a saucepan under the bike). It also gives an opportunity to give the fuel tank a good flush.

I am hoping that heating oil does not contain ethanol too!

If leaving fuel in the tank I am concerned with it splitting and ending up with a layer of water in the tank although it may be ok with the Frost product (which I use through the riding season).

Jim

[PaulC]

Thanks for your replies.

Sounds like I need to deal with the taps and fill her up with plenty of ethomix and stabiliser mixed in. I knew from my boating days that diesel tanks should be kept full, but thought the opposite was true for petrol.

Paul

[lawnmowerman]

If you do change the taps I can recommend BAP taps - I think I got them from SRM. Not as original but no leaks after 3 years. Also no worry about the corks drying out.

The PO had fitted replacements which became very stiff and the rubber glands started to dissolve and swell (probably due to ethanol) leaving black dusty particles in the carb float chamber. Eventually they started to leak.

Jim

[bsa-bill]

leaving black dusty particles in the carb float chamber.

Well now there's a thing Jim

had some trouble a month or two ago with the carb flooding, there was lot of black dusty particles in there. I didn't think about the taps as they were supposed to be Ethanol proof but worth an investigation now I think

[lawnmowerman]

Hi Bill

The dodgy taps are the type which have a kind of flat bar for the lever. I have seen them advertised since as ethanol resistant (but I would suspect not ethanol proof). I managed to get one apart (which destroyed it) but I noticed that the spindle part with the cross hole which the fuel passes through was not very well machined and had burrs at the end of the holes and being as the rubber looked to have swollen, every time I used it the burrs ground away a bit more of the rubber until it started to leak.

Jim

[bsa-bill]

That might be the type I have Jim although mine can be parted. I know this because I had two previously that were not advertised as Ethanol proof and the rubber insert did swell also one had no hole through the rubber so did not work anyway (should have returned them but my records of purchase leave a bit to be desired)
Possibly the rubbers can be had or made or replaced with cork

[WozzA]

  I guess we dont get the extremes you guys have in the North... 
we just keep riding during winter..   

re the taps...  I have Ewarts, not cork or rubber but with some type hide like material on the plunger ?,
I was told to immerse them into boiling water & put them back in... which I did & they dont leak..
any ideas what it could be????   

[Brian]

I've used those taps with the flat bar lever with varying success or failure, depending on how you look at it. Some have lasted years while other have failed within months. The rubber insert swells up and eventually blocks the fuel flow. We dont have ethanol here in Aus (yet) so thats with "normal" fuel.

I think like most aftermarket stuff the quality, or lack of it, varies considerably and its just down to luck wether you get a good or a bad one.

My Guzzi has BAP taps on it, they will be 20 years old in March and still turn on/off easily and not a hint of leakage so I would certainly recommend them. I'll be putting them on my A10 when the current flat bar type ones fail, which they certainly will sooner or later.

As for the problem of what to do over winter, thats easy. Sell up and shift to a better climate.

[bsa-bill]

The rubber insert swells up and eventually blocks the fuel flow.

Well there ya go, that's what happened my first set Brian and I blamed ethanol, just goes to show the danger of generalising, jump to the obvious conclusion and miss the real cause