Help! My liner's gone loose!

[mfarrington]

Here's a first time event for me. I was filling up last night and was shocked to see my Kreem tank liner floating up. How do I get that out? Is it necessary to replace? Everything being equal, if my tank doesn't leak, can I get away with adding fuel line filters?

Peace,

[natemoen]

Filters can suffice if you don't have leaks. If you need to remove it acetone will disolve the liner.

[mmatches1]

I concur. I used acetone to remove a failed kreem liner. I just coated mine with Caswell epoxy and it worked well. If you go that route be sure to thoroughly clean the tank and follow mixing and applications closely.

[TADracer]

If your tank had a liner because it was rusted inside then you may well have to re-line the tank to save it in the long run.

I can vouch for the Caswell epoxy tank liner. Have it in my tank for over five years and it is still like the day I applied it.

But do more than just follow the instructions. Clean it out well with acetone and put in a box of drywall screws to rattle around and break all the loose flakes of rust loose first then mask the openings before putting in the coating. Even though the Caswell kit says it will do two tanks, mix up the whole kit. After you pour the stuff in the tank, it will take about twenty minutes to half an hour of SLOWLY rotating the tank to make sure every part of the inside is covered as the mixture is on the thick side. Then place the tank so the excess can drain out of the petcock holes.

Even with a good tank coating and screens on the petcocks, use in-line filters.

[mmatches1]

You probably already know but acetone removes paint and it is very difficult to clean a tank without spilling some on the finish. A re paint may be required.

[jetmechmarty]

Mike,

I just went through this whole mess. I even had a new paint job on the tank. I fixed it and you can follow the whole process as it was well documented.

Failed tank liner

Here's more, but you'll find the XS650 Garage link complete and easy to follow.
Tank Liner REMOVAL help

Acetone is the answer.

[DGXSER]

If your tank is not leaking, and you want to clean the rust out of it, I HIGHLY recommend trying Metal Rescue or a similar product. I bought a tank off Ebay had some decent rusting going on inside. It took two gallons of MR at $25 a gallon, but it really cleaned the tank up. I did not take true before pictures, but here is a pic of the tank after letting one gallon sit in it for a few hours, you can clearly see the line where the MR ended.



And here is after using the two gallons in it.



The best part is I am still using the two gallons of this stuff to clean other parts as the need arises as it is reusable after you let the "debris" settle out.

For me it was the perfect thing to clean and prepare the tank for use. And it will not hurt your paint at all. However, you will still probably need to use the acetone or similar to remove the liner. I do not know if the MR will do anything for that.

[jetmechmarty]

I do not know if the MR will do anything for that.

Metal Rescue won't touch that liner. I expect acetone will dissolve it, but it's going to be messy in there. Once the liner is gone the condition of the tank can be assessed. Mine was very rusty (that's why the liner failed), so it got the phosphoric acid treatment.

[mfarrington]

Thanks to all replies

Yet another example of how helpful XS riders are to each other. Thanks for all the helpful replies.

Peace,