Since my car isn't going anywhere for a while (anyone not in the know of why can click http://s988.photobucket.com/albums/a...s/Body%20Work/ ), I've decided that it's time to get rid of some of the fuel system parts that are very close to being Swiss cheese due to rust, namely the fuel lines. I also want to check the ones on the fuel sending unit closely to find out if I need a new sending unit or not, as well as just to get the fuel tank the heck out of dodge for if/when I end up doing some welding on the rear quarter so I don't end up blowing something up.

I have a couple questions about the removal of the fuel tank, for those who have done it.
1. How much does the empty steel tank weigh with the sending unit installed?
2. Is there a way to pull the tank without losing any gas?
3. How much gas can I expect to lose if I can't avoid it?
4. Just how do I finagle the thing out of there, with the filler pipe sticking through a couple parts of the body to end up in the fuel pocket? It seems like it sticks through one hole in the underbody before it meets up with the fuel pocket on the driver's side, and there doesn't seem to be much room under there to move things around. Or, is the filler pipe removable, like the newer cars?

 

1. don't know a # but without fuel or with little, it doesn't weigh all that much.
2/3. you shouldn't lose any. except a little when you take the lines off.
4. they say to remove, or drop very low, the rear axle (unbolt shocks and watch fuel lines and have the rear of the car jacked up very high) and you should be able to twist it around and what not to get it out. if you leave the rear suspension hooked up and try to get the tank out, it will be very difficult to impossible.

 

I don't remember how much fuel there is in the tank because my gauge was on the fritz again when the car was parked (does that sporadically due to a wiring fault somewhere either under the dash or otherwise), but I think it's close to 6 gallons, as I never run the car with less than 4 in the tank (well, according to my service and owner's manuals, the tank takes 16 gallons and I never let it run down to where I need more than 12) and I think the amount was slightly more than that.

Entire rear suspension is out. Wiring harnesses are gone. Exhaust is out. All that's left is to disconnect the fuel lines and remove the tank strap bolts.

 

1) About 20 lbs. Its pretty light, just bulky
2) Yes, empty it before hand
3) None if the tank is nearly empty, I wouldnt suggest pulling with over 1/4 tank. In your engine bay locate the pump relay and find the prime connector. Its a red wire with a small black connector thing on the end. Add 12v to this wire and the pump will run. Unhook the fuel line at the filter and run a hose from the line to a gas tank. Prime the pump until the tank is dry. If your pump is dead you are SOL
4) The filler neck is not removable and is quite the PITA. You have to rotate the tank just right for it to come out. Do not let the tank rest on the neck or it will bend and you may never get it out

If all else fails you can remove the sender with the tank still hanging. It's still not easy, but an option of last resort

 

Definitely a good idea to empty that tank before dropping it. When I dropped the tank in my Camaro I had no way to empty it out and it had a good 10 gallons or so of old gas in there and it was terrible to get out.

 

To get the tank out okay; sit right underneath the tank, slide it towards the passenger side, and then twist it towards you (remember to take off the filler cap). With the suspension and exhaust out of the way, it should be really easy.

If you have any fuel in there, it's going to be cumbersome and tiring.

It might get stuck on the filler neck, but sometimes you can push down on it and it will pop out.

I've dropped three tanks so far, first one took me a couple hours, second was only 45 minutes (empty tank, hand tools), and third only 25 minutes (power tools, but 3 gal in tank).

 

Can't empty the tank through the fuel system... NO WIRING in the car other than the plug wires and the neg batt cable (I'm dead serious about getting the body work done and the wiring is in the way in the interior where some of the rustouts are under the kick panels, plus the battery tray is toast and there is no battery either), and what's hanging off of the fuel sender. And I know what relay the FP relay is and how to remotely trigger the fuel pump, provided the wiring is in the car.

Guess I'm just going to have to work it out the hard way... Same as the rearend (LCA bolts rusted to the bushings and had to be cut off).

 

If the rear bulkhead connector is still in the car, and I cant see someone removing it, tap into the fuel pump 12v wire and run the pump directly

More than one way around it

 

The rear fuel pump connector cannot be removed from the main body harness that runs from the C208 to the tail lights, so it was pulled as well with the rest of the harness (main body harness was in the way of the rust on the driver's side).

I can try to get it from under the car. That's the best I can say. Problem there is that I believe there are between 4-6 gallons in the tank (if I didn't say it before, the gauge was on the fritz again when I parked the car so I couldn't tell just how much was in the tank based on the gauge), and I don't have anything other than a 2.5 gallon gas can right now.

 

Itll be heavy, but you can manhandle it

 

Yep. Done so with the auto trans and the manual trans, and also for an auto transaxle on another car (with the help of my jack, of course).

I think I'm going to try to get as much gas out of there as I can (gas can and power equipment need gas as well), and then do what I can.

 

it wont be that bad, but be careful not to let it hang on the fill neck.

loosen the bolts holding the tank in a bit and you should be aboe to judge how heavy it is. Wouldn't be a bad idea to have a friend nearby to help guid the filler neck and lend a hand under the car if need be.


cleaning up the rust while your down there?

 

Cleaning up EVERYTHING down there. Fuel lines are going to be replaced, brake line is going to be replaced. Grease (from leaking RMS a while back and the continued leaking oil pan gasket I haven't been able to fix) will be gone. Chipping/peeling paint will be replaced with some equivalent of POR-15 black. All the suspension parts will be replaced (as opposed to dealing with stock parts with bad bushings, with the exception of the sway bars). Have a couple broken bolts that need to be drilled out and holes rethreaded. New exhaust going down there. And I do mean NEW exhaust... No more JY crossover pipe, cruddy fitting Walker replacement intermediate pipe, and other parts that don't and won't seal (SOOO sick of that exhaust leak I just can't get to go away that I've had since I bought the car and found the crossover pipe broken in half and welded back together just as half-baked as the PO did the quarter panel repairs). Also going to check the fuel lines on the sending unit, as I said above, to see how bad they are. Mostly, I just want the tank out of the way for later welding (quarter panel and some other spots) to avoid bigger problems.

With this thread, I was just looking to ballpark the weight of the fuel tank assembly so I would know what to expect.

 

cool beans, just curious

 

Yep. She's getting a makeover from front to back, inside and out. Sick of rust problems killing cars in this family (had to get rid of a 190K Cavalier with a perfectly running engine and trans because of severe metal cancer and an Olds equivalent of the same before that). Other than the engine, trans, and front suspension still being in the car, she's naked...

If I had the air sander I wanted to get, there would probably be more paint missing. And no, she's not sitting bare like that. I have my beat up car cover doing it's job over the top, keeping water out of the windows.