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MG MGB Technical - Fuel Fungus

The fine mesh fuel filter before the carbs is repeatedly blocking up with a tar like substance coupled with sticking needle/seats, the fuel tank is s.s.and has been in use for over 2 years,I have drained the tank ,flushed it thru with petrol and am now running the car with an additive for cleaning carbs. Has anyone experienced a similiar problem ,is it a fuel fungus in the tank and how do I deal with it? All advise gratefully received
Trevor

Could be a rubber fuel hose breaking down inside.
J Heisenfeldt

If it like tar, either there is a pait seal on the inside of the tank, which is unlikely being stainless. Ribber hoses would be a good bet to check, but if it has been running ok and is now blocking only after an additive is used, is the carb cleaner reacting with any lead additive (if you use it) try running the car without carb cleaner for a little while!!

BC
B Cavagan

One of our B-707's had been leased out to a fly-by-night operator. When we got it back, it had a fuel algae that would freeze and prevent valves from operating. When the tank drains could be opened, green snot came out. We later had problems with the B747 that messed with the fuel controllers.

You might want to empty the tank, remove the drain plug and thoroughly flush the tank. (Not with water --- maybe steam).

Dan Robinson

We have had some fuel show a micro bilogical growth. A section of the Department I work for provides fuel to small isolated communities where commercial operators are not interested. This "bad" fuel was responsible for a lot of snowmobile and outboard motor failures. If fuel was put in a clear glass container overnight it would turn black.
Kelvin Hawkins

Correct when I drained the tank I found the green "snot" any thoughts on what I can use to flush the tank.
Trevor

That's new to me and worth knowing. I have only ever flushed fuel out of a tank to weld it, no experinece of evicting an eco system. I would guess that concentrated bleach would cure things. You could use a bactericide but if it's an algol growth it may not work. If I were doing this I would remove the tank and wash over the outside I would also take the fuel pump apart and wash inside that and also flush some bleach through the fuel line maybe by gravity using a funnel inside the engine bay, oh and inside the float chambers making sure you flush through the valves. My thinking here is you need to delete it 100% don't give it a chance to re-colonise. Then rinse and rinse to remove the bleach allow to dry and then put a few litres of fuel in and pump through into a container and discard. Be intersted to hear how anyone else who has hit this, esp in the complicated fuel system of a multi engine commercial a/c did it.
Stan Best

This and problems with fuel ageing and causing problems when the car isn't used for a while has never happened to me, and that includes the car not being used for 2 or 3 months and the fuel being several months older than that. I would tend to think it is a regional problem. Americans usually complain of fuel deterioration problems, I did see a reference to it in the MGOC mag earlier this year, but suspect they had picked it up from America and not from local experience.
Paul Hunt

This thread was discussed between 06/08/2008 and 08/08/2008

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