What is this stuff in my gas tank?!?

[DrDucttape]

Changed out my fuel pump last night and found the this crap in the bottom. Some of the pieces are about 1/4" thick and the biggest is 1 1/2" long. Had the consistency of toffee, crispy when cool and sticky and tar-ish when warm. My filter sock was full of it and caused the pump to fail prematurely.
I'm aware of varnish deposits and such but I've never seen anything like this...

Anybody had this?

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[Kckazdude]

Looks like a combination of rust and ethanol sludge. The ethanol attacks the rubber lines that were used in production of our cars. Over time it creates a nasty sludge.

 

[DrDucttape]

Possibly, what does sugar look like when it hits gas?

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[Kckazdude]

Looks similar to rock candy and is very hard.

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[DrDucttape]

That's exactly what it looks like... I don't have the testicular fortitude to do a taste test [emoji14]

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[Kckazdude]

Your pictures look nothing like sugar. Sugar doesn't coagulate like the myths say. There is no ruining of your engine or anything like that with sugar. It sort of gets together and gets really hard once dried out. It will usually stay at the bottom of the tank and sometimes clog the strainer. It will resemble sugar at the bottom of a coffee cup that was never mixed but will be really hard when dry. The pics look more like ethanol melted hoses and plastic rubber that have been in the tank for 25 years or so.

 

[zSP3CTERz]

First thing i thought of was volcanic rock haha

 

[DrDucttape]

I appreciate all the input, have some new info. Tried to dissolve the stuff in chemtool, seafoam and alcohol with no success. Tried water, and it just melted away. I'm pretty convinced that it is sugar, as I have never known gas deposits to be water soluble. Still haven't done the taste test yet..

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[MarkIII4Me]

^
Fairly certain that "chemtool, seamfoam and alcohol" would eat right through "sugar" deposits. Very strange that it took water to desolve whatever that stuff is.

 

[rhs]

Dissolve some in water and put it through a coffee filter to try and remove the black stuff. Then let the water evaporate and see what you get.