[amitk26]

Hi,

If you have noticed all Army vehicals have a date written on fuel tank indicating when it was cleaned last time, Cleaning I think is yearly affair.

Does any one ever get fuel tank cleaned for any civilian vehicle, What may be the reason for which army follows this practice ?

I think probability of getting dirty fuel is more from normal pumps so is it not something whcih we should also follow for our vehicles ?

Regards
Amit

[mithun]

You can get the fuel tank cleaned at every 20-25,000 KMS.

Cleaning is recommended because of the unclean fuel that's available in India which is usually filled with dirt/rust.

[GTO]

I don't know why the Army does it, but I have never felt the need to clean the fuel tanks of my cars....even those that have clocked over 1.5 lakh kms. Neither has the authorised service nor any after-market expert recommended it.

[hvkumar]

Same here, I have cleaned my Matiz tank once around 1L kms, but I have not done so for the Scorpio which has already crossed 1.5L

[DieselFan]

With the latest technology in fuel filtering and improved fuel quality in India over time cleaning of Fuel tank IMO has become redundant.

[m-hawk]

With the army the kind of fuel that is stashed away at strategic location s for use after places like in zanskar valley and on your way upto siachen the fuel get s definitely mixed with mud on my recent trip to leh from delhi the innova s air filter was nice and coated with a fine layer of the dirt from there . I remomved the filter and carefully dusted the mud and kept it in a zip lock bag as one of the many memento s from the trip !!
Regards
SaAjaN

[mithun]

Originally Posted by GTO

I don't know why the Army does it, but I have never felt the need to clean the fuel tanks of my cars....even those that have clocked over 1.5 lakh kms. Neither has the authorised service nor any after-market expert recommended it.

But I was told by a mechanic to clean the tank every 20-25,000 KMS of every vehciles including 2-wheelers.

[gd1418]

Not likely, unless due to heavy sedimentation (for whatever reason) you get to fill less fuel and run lesser kms on a tankful than when you used to when the vehicle was newer..

Originally Posted by kedarwalke

Will cleaning the tank give a good Fuel effeciency?

[raj_7703]

Hi all,

My Corsa crossed only 40K (LPG with Petrol) and lately i noticed that there is starting trouble in petrol and even if i start in LPG (no starting issues in LPG) and put in Petrol, vehicle was very sluggish and refuse to go beyond 3rd gear (or 30 km/hr). LPG has no issues at all
Took it to a multi branded car service center in Bangalore to clean the injector, plugs and fuel filter and found that all four injectors were blocked by dust and other particles. Fuel filter also was blocked. Plugs also were cleaned up (plugs had a very small gap of 0.3 mm, they increased it to a little bit more around 1.2mm). Still there was starting trouble and running issues in petrol. But in LPG, vehicle has become more smoother, more responsive and powerful.

They recommended me to clean the Tank when i told them that i use petrol only to start the car and run only in LPG, i have not finished my last fill of petrol (around 10 litres) which was filled around 4-5 months ago. around 4-5 litres are still left in the tank. Service guys told me that injector has some particles/rust pieces which would come only from the tank and needs to clean it and it will take a full day. so i said i will come after couple of days and left.

I would request all fellow BHPians to provide me some opineons/suggestions on this regard. Is there anything other than Tank cleaning and changing the fuel filter that i must consider asking them to do?

Thanks and regards
Raj

[Swifty2008]

Originally Posted by raj_7703

Hi all,

My Corsa crossed only 40K (LPG with Petrol) and lately i noticed that there is starting trouble in petrol and even if i start in LPG (no starting issues in LPG) and put in Petrol, vehicle was very sluggish and refuse to go beyond 3rd gear (or 30 km/hr). LPG has no issues at all
Took it to a multi branded car service center in Bangalore to clean the injector, plugs and fuel filter and found that all four injectors were blocked by dust and other particles. Fuel filter also was blocked. Plugs also were cleaned up (plugs had a very small gap of 0.3 mm, they increased it to a little bit more around 1.2mm). Still there was starting trouble and running issues in petrol. But in LPG, vehicle has become more smoother, more responsive and powerful.

They recommended me to clean the Tank when i told them that i use petrol only to start the car and run only in LPG, i have not finished my last fill of petrol (around 10 litres) which was filled around 4-5 months ago. around 4-5 litres are still left in the tank. Service guys told me that injector has some particles/rust pieces which would come only from the tank and needs to clean it and it will take a full day. so i said i will come after couple of days and left.

I would request all fellow BHPians to provide me some opineons/suggestions on this regard. Is there anything other than Tank cleaning and changing the fuel filter that i must consider asking them to do?

Thanks and regards
Raj

In addition to tank cleaning, get the fuel lines also flushed and cleaned.

Please post the expenses and details once you get your car back.

[coolmob]

Originally Posted by raj_7703

Hi all,

My Corsa crossed only 40K (LPG with Petrol) and lately i noticed that there is starting trouble in petrol and even if i start in LPG (no starting issues in LPG) and put in Petrol, vehicle was very sluggish and refuse to go beyond 3rd gear (or 30 km/hr). LPG has no issues at all
Took it to a multi branded car service center in Bangalore to clean the injector, plugs and fuel filter and found that all four injectors were blocked by dust and other particles. Fuel filter also was blocked. Plugs also were cleaned up (plugs had a very small gap of 0.3 mm, they increased it to a little bit more around 1.2mm). Still there was starting trouble and running issues in petrol. But in LPG, vehicle has become more smoother, more responsive and powerful.

They recommended me to clean the Tank when i told them that i use petrol only to start the car and run only in LPG, i have not finished my last fill of petrol (around 10 litres) which was filled around 4-5 months ago. around 4-5 litres are still left in the tank. Service guys told me that injector has some particles/rust pieces which would come only from the tank and needs to clean it and it will take a full day. so i said i will come after couple of days and left.

I would request all fellow BHPians to provide me some opineons/suggestions on this regard. Is there anything other than Tank cleaning and changing the fuel filter that i must consider asking them to do?

Thanks and regards
Raj

my santro which runs on CNG had same problem around 5-6 months ago even though i run it at least 100kms on petrol every month to keep the injectors and pipes clean. the problem was traced to a blown fuel pump which the hyundai guys said was a regular problem on hyundai's that run too little on petrol

[Swifty2008]

Check out this thread also:
http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/techni...ml#post1047465

[raj_7703]

Originally Posted by Swifty2008

In addition to tank cleaning, get the fuel lines also flushed and cleaned.

Please post the expenses and details once you get your car back.

Last Friday, i took the car back to the service station for cleaning the Tank as adviced by the service people. Also told them to change the Fuel filter as it had become dirty/clogged due to driving through water and mud filled roads earlier. Anyways, i dropped the car at the station and came to the office, and around noon time, i got the call from the service people saying that while cleaning the Petrol Tank, they found that Fuel Pump inside the tank has broken and need to replace. I said yes and went around evening to pick the car.
Thay had actually drained around 4 litres of bad petrol from the tank. Filled in 10 litres of new petrol and took a test drive and car is now in absolute good shape. Power and response has increased, it has become very smooth as well.

Very much satisfied with the service...

Cost:
Fuel Pump -- Rs. 4500
Fuel filter: Rs. 280
Tank Cleaning: Rs: 300
Misc items : Rs 100
Tax : around 650 (not sure, bill is at home)

Total: Rs. 5830

Paid Rs. 5800

Problem solved now and driven almost 100 + kms in the weekend and found no issues ...

Raj

[Swifty2008]

Originally Posted by raj_7703

Last Friday, i took the car back to the service station for cleaning the Tank as adviced by the service people. Also told them to change the Fuel filter as it had become dirty/clogged due to driving through water and mud filled roads earlier. Anyways, i dropped the car at the station and came to the office, and around noon time, i got the call from the service people saying that while cleaning the Petrol Tank, they found that Fuel Pump inside the tank has broken and need to replace. I said yes and went around evening to pick the car.
Thay had actually drained around 4 litres of bad petrol from the tank. Filled in 10 litres of new petrol and took a test drive and car is now in absolute good shape. Power and response has increased, it has become very smooth as well.

Very much satisfied with the service...

Cost:
Fuel Pump -- Rs. 4500
Fuel filter: Rs. 280
Tank Cleaning: Rs: 300
Misc items : Rs 100
Tax : around 650 (not sure, bill is at home)

Total: Rs. 5830

Paid Rs. 5800

Problem solved now and driven almost 100 + kms in the weekend and found no issues ...

Raj

Hello Raj,

Nice to hear that all your problems are resolved. What was wrong with the Fuel Pump?

[raj_7703]

Originally Posted by Swifty2008

Hello Raj,

Nice to hear that all your problems are resolved. What was wrong with the Fuel Pump?

Fuel Pump had a small crack ...

Raj