Cleaning a L555 fuel tank

[junkfxr]

A relative has had my L555 for quite some time and it just came back home with a fuel tank full of sludge. I could only get about 15 minutes out of new primary fuel filters and now it acts like the pick up in the tank is stopped up. Has anyone ever removed or cleaned one of these tanks? How much trouble is it to remove it? I've not had a good chance to look it over good yet to see but I'm expecting that it's a real pain. Thanks in advance for any and all help.

 

[Mike10]

You will need to raise the loader up off the ground enough to get the fuel tank out from under the frame. Block the machine under the frame and not the wheels. Once the loader is up you can remove the skid plate(s) to access the fuel tank. On the bottom rear there are two straps on back, which fit in cutouts on the skid plate and on the front corners there are also brackets. On top you will need to disconnect the fuel sender wires, filler tube, cross over vent hose, only one side is necessary and when you lower the tank some you will need to remove the fuel return line. If you can pump the fuel out of the tank first it makes the job easier, if not, then place a floor jack and a 2x6 under the tank to lower it slowly. I would not try to remove the fuel drain plug on the lower rear corner is fear your may not be able to keep it from leaking. One thing I would recommend while the tank is out is to replace the rear axle seals if they have not been replaced in a while. You're right there with the tank out.

 

[Ivan]

Is this sludge alage or dirt? I had some brown alage in mine and I added another filter in the line between the main filter and the tank. If you use a clear filter it can be cleaned several times before it needs to be changed. I treated it with an algaecide and finially it cleared up but I still kept treating is to make sure I good all of it. The stuff in mine looked like brown snot and would pull out of the line in one big long piece. I thought I was going to have to take my tank out also but with the help of the fuel company I got it cleared up

 

[junkfxr]

Is this sludge alage or dirt? I had some brown alage in mine and I added another filter in the line between the main filter and the tank. If you use a clear filter it can be cleaned several times before it needs to be changed. I treated it with an algaecide and finially it cleared up but I still kept treating is to make sure I good all of it. The stuff in mine looked like brown snot and would pull out of the line in one big long piece. I thought I was going to have to take my tank out also but with the help of the fuel company I got it cleared up

I believe it's mostly algae, brown snot. Because this is an old machine and has been well used / abused, removing the skid plates are almost out of the question. I had to remove the rear skid plate several years ago and had to weld it back to the machine, there was no getting it bolted back up. I've found a tank cleaner / algaecide that I'm trying and it seems to be working so far. The loader is being used for moving logs in the woods right now and it's a real pain to be changing fuel filters on the side of a ridge while trying to drag logs out but ya gotta do what ya gotta do. Thanks for the replies.

 

[Ivan]

I believe it's mostly algae, brown snot. Because this is an old machine and has been well used / abused, removing the skid plates are almost out of the question. I had to remove the rear skid plate several years ago and had to weld it back to the machine, there was no getting it bolted back up. I've found a tank cleaner / algaecide that I'm trying and it seems to be working so far. The loader is being used for moving logs in the woods right now and it's a real pain to be changing fuel filters on the side of a ridge while trying to drag logs out but ya gotta do what ya gotta do. Thanks for the replies.

If you put a cheap clear filter between your tank and pump you won't have to keep changing the main filter and chances are the stuff will pull right out of the filter when it gets clogged

 

[junkfxr]

If you put a cheap clear filter between your tank and pump you won't have to keep changing the main filter and chances are the stuff will pull right out of the filter when it gets clogged

It came with one of those clear plastic filters between the tank and electric fuel pump. That's the one that I could only get about 15 minutes out of and there was no cleaning it out, stopped up that bad. I had a fuel filter base off of a road tractor that I mounted to replace the clear in line filter and used the longest screw on filter that I could find for it so that it will hold more gunk before it needs changing. So far it has worked pretty good.