Fuel Tank Woes

[jimr]

My r850r's fuel tank lining is beginning to peel off in large pieces. Any suggestions on where to take the tank to have it cleaned and possibly relined? Thanks for any help.

[Vance]

i have heard tales of this before and I believe there are several places around the country that do this work. My suggestion would be to contact Terry Ware at Terry's Two Wheel in Pelham...I bet he will have a suggestion.....good luck with it!

[bill99rt]

If you don't want to do it yourself, you might check with a local radiator shop. I used a product called "POR-15" to reline the tank on a R100 that I had.

[jdubeemer]

If it has the fuel filter inside the tank like most other oil heads it would be best to take it to someone like Terry that knows BMWs.

[jimr]

Thanks for the quick responses. I would prefer to do the work myself but I'm not sure how to get all of the remaining lining out. I've had the tank off several times and I thought I had all of the loose stuff out but it just keeps on peeling after I put the tank back on. The lining pieces are large and suction from the fuel pump will plaster them to the filter screen causing the fuel presure to drop and the pump to make shrill complaints. I plan on replacing the fuel pump and filter but I want to eliminate the source of the problem by getting rid of all of the old lining. I'll check with Terry and contact some local radiator shops.

[jimr]

Better late than never. I thought I would update this thread in case anyone else has a similar problem. I checked with all the sources mentioned in 2013. No luck. Several radiator shops said they could dip the tank and clean out the old lining but they said it would ruin the tank's external paint. Not wanting a repaint chore, I searched the BMWOA forums and found several that said MEK would clean out the lining. I took the tank off, drained it, took off or covered anything the MEK might damage and got some large plumbers rubber plugs from Lowes. Sealed tank openings with the plugs, poured in 1/2 gal of MEK let sit for 4 days (2 days is enough) shaking tank every 4 hours to coat with MEK. Poured out MEK, rinsed tank several times with mineral spirits, and used mineral spirits soaked rags to get out 99% of lining. Replaced fuel filter and all in tank lines. Did not reline tank. No problems since fix. Made a trip with bamabiker to Taos, NM last summer and bike ran fine. Hope no one else has this problem but it is fixable at home. Do use heavy rubber gloves, eye protection, and if indoors, a respirator. MEK is strong stuff.