Walbro 255 intank "sock" ie prefilter

So im boiling out a fuel tank via electrolosis, the old sock is fubared and full of junk so id like to replace it before i slap it all back together because im putting a new inline filter as well. The only brain i trust is this one, and because its an aftermarket pump im kinda stumped. So what sayeth thee? What sock should i put on my walbro 255 in tank pump thats grm friendly (ie cheap)?

Assuming a performance application: Hydromat. More expensive than junkyard, but cheaper than a swirl pot.

Assuming cheap over performance: OE for the tank in question.

I just rigged my stock one on my 240sx. Worked fine.

I didnt think oe cause i thought it was smaller (oe pump was lowpressure in tank with a highpressure inline that was replaced with one intank walbro in question). I guess i should go to autopartsstore and see if the factory one fits. Hydromat would be nifty but its got a strange basket baffle that might interfere, that and its my girlfriends spare car so not exactly race car but not bottom barrel oe stockness either.

I guess my real question would be, do filter socks have different fuel pump inlet diameters? Or is it one size fits all besides the actual exterior dimensions of the sock itself?

Cant go back with what i had because that tank was beyond nasty, like big black flakes of rust along with the little bits that clogged 2 separate main filters. Which is why im cleaning it via electrolosis first.

Last question, anything i should coat it with or just run it raw steel like oe? I recall some por15 type stuff but also have seen them flake off in chunks if not properly prepped, im thinking a parkerized finish like on a gun? Or is that not a good idea. Sorry for rambling my brain is a jumbled mess so my thoughts come out the same.

An OEM filter for the high pressure pump you have should be fine. They fit on the bottom and are specific to the pump, not the tank or other application. Figure out what other vehicles use a Walbro 255 and get a sock for that.

As for the tank, it depends on how clean you manage to get it. If you can get it really, really clean and get all the crud out of it, like by putting some chains in it and rolling the thing around until no more loose stuff is stuck on, you might be OK. If it is that bad, the POR15 tank treatment, or one of the others like Eastwood sells, would probably be a real good idea to avoid future problems. The older treatments were said to come off when ethanol was introduced to gas. The newer treatments are said to tolerate the ethanol.

Socks are not necessarily specific to the application. Depends on how the sock is attached. On some applications, there's a pickup tube the pump sucks through, and the sock is specific to that tube.

This is a mysterious tank. Maybe mentioning what it is might open up some specific info.

I have used Kreem to seal a tank. Worked well, but about $100 for a relatively small car tank.

Yeah sorry should have mentioned from the get go, car in question is an 88 volvo 240. My plan as i stated before is cleaning via electrolosis, basically dangling a steel rod into the tank thats filled with baking soda and water, hooking the battery charger to the tank and the rod and letting her go for a day or two. Ive not done it before myself but the results ive seen leave it squeaky clean with bare metal. I believe the factory didnt coat it just keep it full and ideally doesnt rust. But then again it didnt last 28 years and i prefer to try to fix things so they last longer than they did original.

Reason i said parkerizing is i had a friend mention some redneck way with some random chemical i cannot recall, when i tried decifering what he was saying "pickling the steel" i think he was basically talking parkerizing but idk... Sounds good to me in theory but i dont know if it works in real life.

So if there is no tube and the pump has the sock clipped onto the bottom, my best bet as someone mentioned is find a car that ran a walbro 255 stock? I can upload some photos if needed, just have to go out and take them

I think the Walbro pumps come with a sock. If you're dealing with used, see if you can get one from Walbro. I don't think those pumps are oe on anything, but I could be wrong.

Don't tanks usually rust when the car sits and gets water in the fuel? I'd concentrate on protecting the outside.

I bought the pump new, ran it for a year until it clogged up a filter, swapped out another and know its time to just clean out the tank. The exterior of the tank is good, volvo was good about undercoating and its lived its whole life in mississippi so no rust anywhere on the car. Inside the tank is a different story, like i dont know how it got so damn rusty inside. I didnt think walbros came stock on anything i was just repeating a suggestion i saw here earlier that i didnt know but thought he may?

The fuel i poured out of the tank was a little dark at first, the last bit was completely black complete with nasty chunks of various sizes, like the fuel might not even go into the mower bad haha

Edit: keith do mean water getting in through the filler? Thats an idea i havent thought of, and a possibility ill have to check out. Thanks for the suggestions guys, mainly you keith, youve always been a good help.

With the fuel mixtures since 2006 water absorption has been a problem thru the tank vent. The biggest problem with any coating you may put in the tank is the fact the government keeps changing what "gas" is. For instance "KREAME" coating was the best in the 70-80 for fixing pin holes and rust but as soon as MBTE and then Alky came in to "gas" Kreame would peeled off in sheets. There are two coatings that are highly recommended today. The one I find the best is Caswell plating's Phenol Novolac Epoxies. Why? once cured no solvent will melt is out. The other is RedCoate. I've not used the newest formula of redcoat. Caswell has been great for me I've got 26 motorcycle tanks coated with it now. my main street bike has had it in the tank 5+ years now still has a gloss shine to it. Also for me I'd forget about electrolysis on gas tanks its to line of sight with depth of penetration. and hard to get a big enough anode in to the tank so you don't have to clean it every 20 minutes. Buy a gallon or 5 of evaporust instead and pour it in and let it sit 8 hours roll on to a different side let sit until all sides have been sat under the liquid. drain it thru a coffee filter and pour it back in to the jug it came in and reuse it later!.

In reply to 44Dwarf:

Im thinking at this time ill just keep the tank bare as it was from the factory, but could you divulge a bit deeper into the electrolosis problems? Im using a 3/4 round stock that i could turn some groves in or something for a bit more surface area if you think that would help? Reason im not using a chemical like evaporust is thats much more expensive than the free stuff i have, no use to me being able to reuse it because im moving across country in 4 months and would rather not bring gallons of chemicals woth me. Also saving all extra money for the move is why im being such a cheap ass here, less i spend is the more ill have to get where i want to be, physically that is. Im thinking worse case being hooked to a battery charger a day or 3 and it still has some rust ill just fill it back up with whatever solution im using (im thinking baking soda and water is what ive seen people online mostly use) and if the anode is ate up or whatever ill cut off another. Stock is free, water is cheap, as is baking soda, already have a low amp charger so thats why im thinking run with what i got.

Comments and suggestions are greatly appreciated, im going in mostly blind here thats why im asking the hive.

Ill update with photos if requested but i dont have before photos, imagine the rustiest piece of steel you've seen with 1/4 in thick rust flakes. Ive since done electolosis with not baking soda which is sodium bicarbonate but washing soda which is sodium carbonate (buy at walmart, armandhamer brand washing soda) and after about 24hrs of "boiling" at 12v and 2amps its looking great! Not completely spotless as it could go longer if i desired but im so surprised id did as much as it did. I fudged up and poured the soda in the tank then the water, in hindsight should have disolved the soda in a bucket then poured it in as i had hunks of undesolved soda at the bottom but hot dang color me impressed for basically no work other than dropping the tank and letting it hang out for a day on a battery charger.

As you found out the anode get coated so the smaller the anode the less work it does. If you had cleaned it off say 1/4 of the way though and again at 1/2 and 3/4 it might have gotten to all the spots. The closer the anode is to the rust the faster it will work as well so let say to have a square with a single peg coming in a hole at the top. the area around the hole will derust 1st then the next area likely near the bottom. The area in the corners will be last if at all effected. You need clean anodes and good line of site. You definitely helped prolong your tank and pump as you could see the build up on to the anode so it was not a waste of time but it may come back at some time in the future. I still use it often for parts that will need welding later like rear end bearing cups, and other small parts in a 20 gallon plastic tub I use a bunch of scrap flex plates as my anodes. I was going to buy some sheet and then I said wait you got a load ready to go to the scrap yard.... Bill's sites a good one for how to and whys. Rust Removal using Electrolysis

Keith Tanner wrote: Assuming a performance application: Hydromat. More expensive than junkyard, but cheaper than a swirl pot. Assuming cheap over performance: OE for the tank in question.

Well.... Hydramat is several hundred bucks, I made a swirl pot for pocket change. Although it was admittedly an external fuel pump setup.

44dwarf, i did notice the rod getting nasty pretty quick so i cleaned it twice through the process. I need to flashlight around in the tank and make sure its good and clean after you said "line of sight", makes sense to me and how the tank is made, basically open with a 12in dia cylinder around the pump (which is where i had the anode) im wondering how the back side of that cylinder looks. Im about to put the tank back in and see how it runs (was going lean in boost) hopefully the injectors arent clogged up too.

Knurled, did you document that swirl pot? Or perhaps follow someone else's documentation? Im always interested in the sort of thing, you know diy instead of shelling out big bucks to companies for something i can make myself