Cleaning out old Gasoline

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metroidz
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Own 1966 Oldsmobile Toronado Delux

Cleaning out old Gasoline

Postby metroidz » Thu Jun 19, 2014 10:25 am

Hello fellas,

I'll try and keep this short,

I just began working on my 1966 Oldsmobile Toronado and replaced enough to get it to turn 'on'. Everything works fantastic and I turned the ignition to see how the motor sounds and still sounds wonderful. The only concern I have is that from the previous owner of whom I have bought the car it was sitting in her garage unattended and unmoving or driving for 6+ years. (I'm guessing it wasn't driven before than either). She mentioned that while it was sitting there was gasoline from that time in the tank, unsure of how much was filled in the tank.

Under NO condition do I want to run the engine and try to start it with that expired and probably gunk gasoline, so my question is this: How do I remove all the waste gas and clean out the gas tank and all the pipes and put clean gasoline in there?

Any advice big or small is greatly appreciated.

Timothy Cannon
Student, Librarian
2002 Oldsmobile Alero, 1966 Oldsmobile Toronado

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69W34
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Re: Cleaning out old Gasoline

Postby 69W34 » Thu Jun 19, 2014 4:41 pm

where did you buy the car?
Bill
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metroidz
Posts: 13
Joined: Tue Jun 10, 2014 4:52 pm
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Years Owned: Own 2002 Oldsmobile Alero
Own 1966 Oldsmobile Toronado Delux

Re: Cleaning out old Gasoline

Postby metroidz » Thu Jun 19, 2014 5:51 pm

69W34 wrote:where did you buy the car?


An hour from where I live now. Towed it home from Garland, Texas.

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Otto Skorzeny
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Re: Cleaning out old Gasoline

Postby Otto Skorzeny » Thu Jun 19, 2014 6:03 pm

Yes, if it was out in the sticks somewhere it might actually have non ethanol tainted fuel.

Still, here's what I would do.
1. Drain the entire tank. You can do this via siphon and/or unhooking the fuel line and taking off the gas cap. Back the car up on ramps so gravity works for you.

2. If you have compressed air, blow out the fuel lines.

3. Buy some fresh PREMIUM gasoline - ethanol free if possible but it doesn't matter. Fill the tank

4. Install a new filter (or clean one) at the carburetor inlet

5. Install a clear, inline filter with replaceable element before the fuel pump.

6. Start the car and see what happens.

7. Use carb and choke cleaner if necessary but see how it does on its own first.

When I bought my car it had been driven very little and I had flat spots and bogs in the carburetor. After a couple months of regular driving the carburetor straightened itself out and the flat spots and bog disappeared.
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Last edited by Otto Skorzeny on Thu Jun 19, 2014 6:07 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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Otto Skorzeny
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Re: Cleaning out old Gasoline

Postby Otto Skorzeny » Thu Jun 19, 2014 6:04 pm

Yes, if it was out in the sticks somewhere it might actually have non ethanol tainted fuel.

Still, here's what I would do.
1. Drain the entire tank. You can do this via siphon and/or unhooking the fuel line and taking off the gas cap. Back the car up on ramps so gravity works for you.

2. If you have compressed air, blow out the fuel lines.

3. Buy some fresh PREMIUM gasoline - ethanol free if possible but it doesn't matter. Fill the tank

4. Install a new filter (or clean one) at the carburetor inlet

5. Install a clear, inline filter with replaceable elements.

6. Start the car and see what happens.

7. Use carb and choke cleaner if necessary but see how it does on its own first.

When I bought my car it had been driven very little and I had flat spots and bogs in the carburetor. After a couple months of regular driving the carburetor straightened itself out and the flat spots and bog disappeared.
Attachments
DSC04100.JPG
DSC04100.JPG (379.62 KiB) Viewed 15780 times

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Otto Skorzeny
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Re: Cleaning out old Gasoline

Postby Otto Skorzeny » Thu Jun 19, 2014 6:40 pm

Did you post a couple days ago somewhere on this forum? A white '66?

I also have a '66.

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Doc Hubler
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Re: Cleaning out old Gasoline

Postby Doc Hubler » Thu Jun 19, 2014 8:49 pm

You cannot drain the tank the way Otto suggests. The fuel outlets are on the top corner, passenger side. There are vent tubes as well that come out near the filler neck, but those are also on the top side of the tank. You need to siphon the majority of the fuel out, then, if you desire, remove the tank and attend to any problems. Best way is to install a fuel filter as Otto suggests, and run the car with as much fresh gas as you can put in there and keep filling with fresh fuel and checking your filter. You should be able to tell if the gas smells sour or has that varnish smell. in that case, take the tank off and attend to necessary repairs otherwise, you'll be fighting a varnish insurgency for a long time. Indeed, you what may find is that the filter sock on the inlet tube has varnished over, and the engine will be starved of the necessary fuel at higher speeds. I posted some pictures of the inside of these gas tanks at this site. There is a filter sock and there is a baffle in your tank. Look for May 14 pictures. https://www.facebook.com/PerfectShapeCu ... e=bookmark

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Otto Skorzeny
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Re: Cleaning out old Gasoline

Postby Otto Skorzeny » Fri Jun 20, 2014 5:09 am

Sorry about that. I figured it was like a normal car. Silly me!

Heck, my mom's '64 Galaxie 500 has a drain plug that threads into the tank like the oil pan drain plug.

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Doc Hubler
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Re: Cleaning out old Gasoline

Postby Doc Hubler » Fri Jun 20, 2014 11:14 am

Otto: Exactly! Everytime I think something will be "normal" construction on a Toro, I find that it's made different. Why there's no drain plug on these, I don't know. Take good care of your fuel tank because there are no replacements!

considering the nature of the fuel lines, with all the rubber that goes inside and back outside of the frame, I would seriously consider taking apart all of that and replacing the rather large amount of flexible rubber fuel line to get rid of any gunk or varnish. A car in texas is subjected to a lot of heat while sitting and that accelerates the problem. If the arteries are clogged, the engine will be starved of fuel!

metroidz
Posts: 13
Joined: Tue Jun 10, 2014 4:52 pm
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Years Owned: Own 2002 Oldsmobile Alero
Own 1966 Oldsmobile Toronado Delux

Re: Cleaning out old Gasoline

Postby metroidz » Fri Jun 20, 2014 11:31 am

Otto Skorzeny wrote:Did you post a couple days ago somewhere on this forum? A white '66?

I also have a '66.


Yes sir, that was me. All original, white, little rust, and absoultely beautiful. It was posted in the Intro thread.

Thank you all for the advice, I can't tell how much gasoline is in the tank. When I first started the Toronado, the fuel gage in the dash jumped up all the way to F, stayed there for awhile then slowly decended to exaclty middle marker between E and F. I will go with what Doc suggests. If anyhting else there is a Midas around the block and I've been working with them for awhile.

Video is here incase that is allowed and if anyone is interested: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ar_JHir ... e=youtu.be


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