Recently we ran into a an issue with a fuel tank lining on a 1999 Fatboy. The issue was that the fuel tank lining was starting to or had been falling apart. The lining itself, some type of epoxy material was getting caught in the carb and the petcock filter. This would cause the bike to starve for fuel and shut down. We had taken this motorcycle in on trade and had then sold it to a good customer of ours. He was overly understanding of the issue. At first, I must say, we missed the problem. After that we determined that the tank lining was falling apart.
The next step was to determine how to fix the issue. Initially we found information on the net that allowed us to break up the inner lining and flush it out. This initial step did not work. The tank lining continued to break apart when it became in contact with fuel.
The second time we made an attempt, we dropped screws, chains and all sorts of other items inside one side of the tank (two sided tank). We shook the tank for close to a continuous hour with all those items in there. We then removed the items and flushed the tank with warm water until our hot water heater ran out of hot water. We then ran an air hose inside the tank to dry it out and break up any leftover lining. We then took a Snap On Camera and peered inside the tank. The tank lining was minimized, but not gone by any means. We then purchased a product from Sherwin Williams that breaks down Epoxy. Sherwin Williams actually called their paint engineers to assist in this. They believed that this special product would eat the epoxy lining. However, sadly, it did not break up the epoxy anymore than the chains and screws had jiggling them around. It was powerful stuff however, it filled the whole service bay with fumes.
We called several dealerships and asked if they had run into this issue. Not many had. Some dealers recommended a product called Kreme that would allow you to seal the inside of the tank. We purchased some of that, but after reading the directions, it indicated that Kreme is for sealing a tank when the lining is completely gone. In addition, it indicated that it did have some limitations. We also heard that there was some other products out there that would seal this tank. We decided as a group that if the inner wall of the tank was not completely bare, any sealant would eventually fall apart.
As a dealership with 62 years of good customer service, we decided to purchase a set of tanks. Harley-Davidson no longer paints 1999 tanks themselves. They have a great third party company painting them called Caliber. We asked them to rush the paint job. They did a good job. The cost of the paint and new tanks was approximately $2300.00.
In an effort to help others, what have you seen and how did you fix it?
