She REALLY don't love me no mo!

[HayHauler]

I took her down for a lung transplant (carb replacement).  I just happen to have a set of stock IS carbs and thought while I have her apart for paint and body work, I would swap the carbs. 

Looks like I have the stock jets, both low speed and the high speed jets.  100 on mains and 35's on the lows. 



Now I need some advice.........
The bowls and jets are covered in what looks like very fine dirt or rust.  Since I have the tank off and drained, should I rinse it out with something in an attempt to get any residue out of the tank?  The carbs I am replacing the current ones with are clean as a whistle and I sure don't want them ending up like the originals if I can help it.  Here are some pics. 


2,4, and 6. 

1,3, and 5. 

Close up. 

Here is what tapping the bowls on the towel and what the stuff looks like when wiped out with a blue paper towel.


Nasty huh?
What do you guys think?  Rinse the tank? And if so, what to use?

Hay
Jimmyt

[indiandave]

When I have rust issue in a fuel tank. I used a bathroom cleaner that is called "The Works" is very cheap can be found in Walmart. After your done can use it to clean your toliet.  . This is a strong acid, so do NOT get on paint will strip it or discolor it - a running water hose standby just in case. Wear rubber glove as this is Strong stuff. You must plug all opening on the tank, would not clean with the level sensor in tank. Just pour it in , plug up the tank and swish it all around for about 30 mins. Then pour it out, I take the plug out where the petcock goes and drain into 5 gal buckit - less chance of getting on paint. Then flush the tank out with a lot of flowing water from hose. Once it it coming out clean you can stop flushing. If you look in the tank and still see rust - just strain the works to get the big stuff out and pour and repeat. I have on bad tanks have done as many as 3 times to clear it up. After you done you can use Ozfor (a rust inhibiter you can get at ACE cheap and I like the way it looks when finshed let it dry for 3 days) or a sealer like Kreem (not a big fan but have used it) or just dry the tank out with vac/blower, but I would put it on bike and keep it full of fuel if you only dry it out. It is up to you - may also place a magnet that will stick under tank to trap rust in future. I have done this on many old bikes and it works well The Works & Ozfor. I found out about this on the Honda Rebel site it works great. Again do not get on yourself or paint.
David

[justintyper]

that doesnt look like rust to me it looks like the varnish/residue from gas that evaporated in the bowls (ive seen the same stuff in the carbs of the small engine equipment at work after sitting all winter) how does the inside of the tank look? is it covered in the same stuff? i dont think you need an acid at all to clean it out if you do id just soak it with fresh gas or maybe some good carb cleaner till it comes clean.

[Patrick]

The bike was running fine with those carburetors wasn't it ? From what I see in your pics is normal and it should clean right up. All metal fuel tanks will develop some rust so I just rinse them out.

[salty1]

Check the tank for any signs of rust. I agree with the others in that The residue looks "normal" after extended use. If you need to remove rust, use a product called Evaporust available from Harbor Freight. Its paint safe and works well as directed. Be sure and clean your jets while you have your carbs apart. If you have any stubborn residue use some "Brasso" to clean it up and then rinse it with carb cleaner.

[Pappy!]

I do carburetors on a daily/weekly basis, mainly in the marine industry.
I see the same exact residue in bowls where the fuel tanks are made of plastic....no rust!
Residue comes from repeated evaporation of fuel from the carbs.

[HayHauler]

Well, I guess she qualifies as extended use, there is 102k on the clock and the carbs have never been off of the bike.  I always fill the tank when returning home from any trip, with the exception of daily work and back. 
I was curious about something though.  When I took the bowls off of the carbs, not all of them had much gas in them.  A couple of them had a very little bit and others were full to where has came out around the seal when I loosened the bowl screws.  Maybe they are all connected and while moving them around, the gas migrated to one end of the bank?  Just curious. 
Inside the tank, the ridge that comes up in the middle of the tank looks brand new.  The tube, that I think is the metal vent, is coated with a rust like coating.  I will take a picture down the fill hole and post in a few.

Dave, thanks for the clean up ideas, I may need them should this turn out to be worse than it looks now.  I hope there isn't a lot of rust in the tank. 

Justin, I hope what you are saying becomes the solution. 

Patrick, yes, it was running good, but my mpg has always been around 24-28.  I don't know if it is the way I ride it, like I stole it, or that there is a problem somewhere. 

Salty, I have a spare set of stock carbs I am going to install.  I will work on cleaning up the originals when it is too hot to ride or when I have some down time. 

Pappy, from the responses, I am starting to think it is pretty normal.  But, I will get some pics of the inside if the tank and make sure the problem isn't more serious. 

Thanks for all the replies.  I knew there was some people on here with a lot more experience than I when it comes to carbs..... 

Hay
Jimmyt

[Ricky-D]

That residue is organic matter and should wash out with hot water and soap.

Typical results from continuous use of ethanol enriched gasoline.

For the gas tank I would only shake it with clean gasoline to dislodge what can be shaken loose and pour it out from the fill hole.

Any thing remaining in the tank will cause no trouble.

***

[signart]

Remove that tank filter and inspect. That'll tell you what your tank looks like inside.

[pancho]

Hey HayHauler,,, while you may or may not have a bit of rust in the tank,, it wont be much considering you said the center looks like new,, I don't think what is in the carbs is from the tank. Like everyone else said, what you are seeing is about the normal amount of residue from our crappy gas for 110K. Clean them up,, they will be good to go. I'm afraid the carbs that are "clean as a whistle" will look just like these one in 100K miles. Run a bit of Barrymans through the fuel every now and again,, it may help.

[HayHauler]

Well I took a few pictures of the inside of the tank and everything looks fine. 
Here is the inside of the tank that shows the tube that connects the two sides of the tank. 

This shows the shiny inside of the tank. 

Here are two petcocks.  Left is a brand new one and the right is the one with about 20k on it.  There is nothing wrong with my petcock. 


I put a half gallon of gas and 4 ounces of Techron on the tank and swished it around.  I dumped the mixture into a clear bowl and there were only little chunks of stuff in there that would have never passes thru the screen. 
I swapped the new petcock for the old one and will keep the old one as my good spare. 
Thanks to all of you for the help. 

Hay
Jimmyt

[Robert]

That residue is organic matter and should wash out with hot water and soap.

Typical results from continuous use of ethanol enriched gasoline.

For the gas tank I would only shake it with clean gasoline to dislodge what can be shaken loose and pour it out from the fill hole.

Any thing remaining in the tank will cause no trouble.

***

You are right on with this one I have seen the same thing also. Its really a problem when the jets start to turn green.