Fuel tank question....

[Big Sal]

I'm getting ready to acid clean the tank on my 250SX project...so I removed the petcock assembly and inside the tank was a plastic tube with screens on it...well it wouldn't come out too easy and when I finally got it out it was pretty much fubar....is this piece actually nesessary? I was thinking....can an just run an in line filter rather than pony up the $20 plus dollars for this 5 cent piece of plastic??

[Tippmann98]

An inline filter is good too but that doesn't stop gunk from getting plugged up inside the petcock. Those petcocks aren't made to come apart and can be hard to clean if you get crud stuck in the right spots. If you do decide to buy just the strainer, don't. For about the same price ($26) you can get a brand new petcock and it comes with that strainer too. Of course you could always run the old petcock and if you ever have problems try to clean it. If that doesn't work then you could resort to buying a new petcock.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Honda-ATC250SX-250-SX-1985-87-Fuel-Tank-Gas-Petcock-New-_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQhashZitem3a638cc869QQitemZ25077 8273897QQptZMotorsQ5fATVQ5fPartsQ5fAccessories#ht_ 1433wt_930

[RubberSalt]

Yeah, if they get dirty, you can usually wash them out pretty easy. Just run something through it backwards, maybe little soap and water. Gas it self is fairly clean, unless you get chunks of dirt in there, I'd say it's fine.

[Big Sal]

Thanks for the info...I'll run it for now...if it becomes a problem I'll swap out the whole thing for a new one...

[200XMichigan]

Depending on the type of tube you may loose the reserve function. The plastic tube acts like a straw that in the "on" position sucks gas from maybe 4 inches up. You switch to reserve and it will drain all the way to the bottom of the tank. That is how most I have seen are.

[Big Sal]

Mine has a brass tube fitted in the petcock that runs up thru the strainer...it's about 3 inches long...when it's on it pulls from the top of the tube only....then if you put it on reserve it pulls an opening at the top of the petcock itself only (shuts off the tube)...thats why I figured that it just strains the big stuff out from getting into the petcock and mucking things up...

[200XMichigan]

If you clean your tank real good and seal it you shouldn't have anything to worry about.