Gas tank issue?

Okay, I had an old Johnson 6 gal gas can in the garage sitting for 10 years that was GF's grandfathers. I dumpped the gas and refilled it. Put new gas line on it.
Took my new-to-me Johnson 9.5 out and it started great and ran fine for about 5 min. It started lagging a bit but I was at my fishing spot so i turnned it off and used the TM. After a while I tried to start it again but it would not start.
My theory (and question) is that the old gas tank had some internal line issues and it probably gunked up the carb? If so should I be able to just clean the carb and get a new tank, or do I need to rebuild it with a kit and get a new tank?

a can of carb cleaner and your time is a cheap invest for a possible fix. also ethanol eats stuff not made to handle it(stuff made before the subsidies).

You should be able to just clean the carb and get another tank. I have revived tanks before by filling them with small rocks and shaking vigorously. That will loosen any rust deposits inside and you can then reuse the tank. I have an inline fuel filter on my line between the tank and the motor. That will help in the future.

uhhh, simple question, did you open the vent and/or is it breathing?

Yes vent was open, but excelent question.
KMixson, I think thats a great idea. I'll probably get one for my line. can't hurt anyway.

Open does not always mean working. However as stated above Ethanol is eating most hoses on boats. If youy have an older boat with regular rubber hose you are only a short time away from a problem. We have at least one customer a week come in and complain about carb issues. ALL are related to ethanol. If you do not have acahol resistant hose on your boat, get some and run new hose. Next add a filter. I like this kind.


This needs to be placed betweent he tank and the motor. This particular one is a 10 micron filter, but they make them to a 21 micron. Now if you did not have any kind of filtration between them, you could have a plugged fuel filter like this.

Follow your fuel lines and clean anything in it's path. But do not forget the inside of the tank as suggested above.