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G.O.M.
P Plater
13 Posts
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 Posted - 31 Oct 2010 : 08:23:44 AM
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I filled my vn's fuel tank yesterday & parked it nose down on my rather steep driveway. When I went back out to it about 20mins later it was quite literally pouring petrol out all over the ground. I reckon it must have leaked about 5lts in that 20min period. Anyway I know the problem is somewhere up the top of the tank so I've got to remove it to see what's going on. Can anyone give me any hints & tips on removing & refitting the tank as it's the first time I've pulled a fuel tank out of anything & I can't afford to pay someone else to do it at the moment.
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dryVN
Fully Licenced
228 Posts
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Posted - 31 Oct 2010 : 09:34:02 AM
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There are 3 points to check for a leak.
1 : The tank is holed itself. Re-move and Take it to a radiator repairer who can re-solder it.
2 : Some or all the fuel hoses have perished or broken. Replace them all.
3 : The tank is leaking around the Fuel pump gasket. Replace gasket.
Jack up rear of car on a level surface and support on stand's
Remove Left rear wheel.
Remove the rear wheel well fuel neck filler cover. Its a plate at the rear of the wheel tubs held in with 3 screws.
Check all the hoses attached to the filler neck and replace if perished or broken.
With removing the tank.
Drain the fuel completely out of the tank by removing the hose located next to the fuel pump.
Drop this into some buckets or oil trays. It will take a while as the flow is slow.
Its also fine and quicker to drain it the old hose in the tank way into jerry cans.
Remove wiring to fuel pump and all hoses attached to the tank
Then remove the 4 bolts holding the tank straps to the underside of the the car and let the tank drop out
It can be supported on you chest or balanced on a jack.
There will be a hose attached to the top of the tank in the middle that needs to be removed for the tank to fully drop out
You Might need some extra help with this.
Then drain the rest of the tank and check for holes. |
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G.O.M.
P Plater
13 Posts
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Posted - 31 Oct 2010 : 10:21:26 AM
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| Thanks for that dry VN. I beleive there's a breather of some kind up the top of the tank, probably the hose you mentioned me needing to remove? I'm pretty sure the leak is coming from that as it has smelled a little of petrol after switching the engine off for a while now but only when it's full. |
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Mechknight73
National Driver
1001 Posts
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Posted - 31 Oct 2010 : 10:34:58 AM
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| Those breather hoses always perish and eventually leak. If all the metal parts attached to the breather hoses are ok, then go buy some new breather hose, and replace the lot while you have access to it. Also, if you overfill any fuel tank that has a carbon canister attached (that filter-type thingy up at the front of the car) some fuel may vent through that, and it will smell a bit from the fuel until you use up the excess. |
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G.O.M.
P Plater
13 Posts
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Posted - 31 Oct 2010 : 10:57:29 AM
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Thanks for the reply Mechknight73.
I always fill the tank just short of the first click. I mostly do short trips so I slightly underfill so that I don't need to worry about expansion in the tank. The smell has been coming from the back of the car anyway & I havn't seen any visible leaks until the other day so I'm pretty sure it's the breather. Even if it turns out not to be that it is getting replaced anyway because like you said I might as well do it while I have the tank out already.
Thanks for the tips & I'll let you know how I get on with the job. (won't be doing it until tommorow night) |
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Mechknight73
National Driver
1001 Posts
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Posted - 31 Oct 2010 : 2:28:48 PM
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| I was going to say, just make sure that the fittings for the breather aren't damaged; rubber hose is a cinch to fix, but if where the breather pipes are connected is broken, you will need wither solder or epoxy putty to seal it up. Soldering a fuel tank usually involves filling it with something inert to replace the petrol fumes, like water. Hopefully none of that is necessary, and you just have to buy a couple of metres of rubber hose |
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spac89
P Plater
47 Posts
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Posted - 29 Mar 2011 : 11:16:48 PM
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got my tank parts from holdens they still sell the hoses arent dear at all  quote:
Originally posted by G.O.M.
Thanks for that dry VN. I beleive there's a breather of some kind up the top of the tank, probably the hose you mentioned me needing to remove? I'm pretty sure the leak is coming from that as it has smelled a little of petrol after switching the engine off for a while now but only when it's full.
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dirk diggler
P Plater
32 Posts
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Posted - 08 Aug 2011 : 5:39:48 PM
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| i had a problem too i filled up to the max cos petrol was chaep at the time got home and i could smell petrol on the right hand side so i had a look and just like wat u guys said the three hose from the filler neck perished and because it was a full tank i wasnt gona drop it down completely just enough to get fingers thru but those little squezze clamps were a pain in the arse so afterwards i used the normal hose clamps it took me about 4hrs all up |
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Leaking fuel tank
