GnatGoSplat Posted May 5, 2007 Report Share Posted May 5, 2007 My fuel pump is completely dead, and my tank is completely full - the last place I went before the pump died was the gas station and I topped off the tank. What luck! Anyway, I want to drain the tank and I think the easiest way would probably be to attach an inline pump to the line at the fuel filter. Will fuel pass through a dead pump, or will it act like a solid obstruction? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
R Dubya Posted May 5, 2007 Report Share Posted May 5, 2007 I would say worry about draining it when you get it out and down on the ground flat where you can just run a line in the tank and another to some containers to fill with the gas. Dropping it full isn't so much of a problem but putting it back in full is. If you have a standard hydraulic jack and some wooden planks use them to keep it stable and definetely get yourself some muscle under there with you to maneuver it around. I don't know if you can run suck the fuel through or not, will be interesting to find out if you try that route. Good luck!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DiscoStudd Posted May 5, 2007 Report Share Posted May 5, 2007 The FP on my Crapalier shit the bed at the gas station after the wife filled up the tank! What I did back then was buy one of those "fluid exchange" pumps (it looks like a small version of a bike tire pump, but the tubing is 3/8") and about 5 extra feet of poly tubing. I jammed the tubing down into the tank, trimmed off the excess, and pumped the gas out and into a couple of containers. It worked slick and didn't take all that long to get most of the gas out of the tank. If you have to contort the tubing too much to get it in through the filler neck, it might be easier to remove the neck & pipe and run the tubing directly into the tank from underneath... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kuwaitliberation Posted May 5, 2007 Report Share Posted May 5, 2007 If you have to contort the tubing too much to get it in through the filler neck, it might be easier to remove the neck & pipe and run the tubing directly into the tank from underneath... I had to replace the entire tank on my Ford Ranger. It was half full when a piece of rebar slammed into it and put, not just a hole, but tore it. That actually made it easier because I just put the tube in the hole I agree on the pump thing. Just make sure it is one for fuel. Some others might have metal on metal that can and will produce sparks. These others are just ball vall pumps that force the fluid in one direction. I got mine at Wal-Mart in the boating section because those are on every outboard motor out there (that I know of). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GnatGoSplat Posted May 6, 2007 Author Report Share Posted May 6, 2007 Dropping it full isn't so much of a problem but putting it back in full is. If you have a standard hydraulic jack and some wooden planks use them to keep it stable and definetely get yourself some muscle under there with you to maneuver it around. That's the problem. I'm a computer nerd at night, computer programmer by day, we don't have any muscles! I have no local car guy friends and my only assistant would be a 120-something lb woman which is like no help at all when dealing with something big & heavy. Anyway, I put a slight vacuum on the new pump. It holds, meaning fuel won't flow through a dead pump. I can't siphon through the filler because there's a checkball or something like that in there preventing siphoning. The service manual says I can drain the tank by pumping it out through the filler vent tube. I guess I can try that. I also wonder how low in the tank the return line goes. It might work to pump it out through the return line. I think it will be a lot easier to deal with when empty, even when dropping it. I feel like I want to buy an electric pump to get all that fuel out because I don't feel like using my hand siphon to get 16-gallons out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crazy K Posted May 6, 2007 Report Share Posted May 6, 2007 the w-body tanks have a ping pong like ball that prevent siphoning. to get around this, remove the big hose between the filler and the tank, and knock the ball into the tank with a long rod (it is about 4-6 inches into the tank in the large tube). run your siphon hose into the tank and pump the gas into containers or another vehicle. i did this once but for safety I grounded both vehicles to each other with jumpercables... just in case. unless you want crazy k to come by.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rockfangd Posted May 6, 2007 Report Share Posted May 6, 2007 screw the draining . i just drop it full. all of my clients like me to do their tanks, pumps, etc... with full tanks so i just got used to it lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crazy K Posted May 6, 2007 Report Share Posted May 6, 2007 I just checked! you CAN drain the pump via the return line! all you need is either presure or suction and it will probably start and go. the pipr goes all the way to the bottom of the pump, as it is the tube where the bottom bracket is attached!!!!!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GnatGoSplat Posted May 6, 2007 Author Report Share Posted May 6, 2007 I just checked! you CAN drain the pump via the return line! all you need is either presure or suction and it will probably start and go. the pipr goes all the way to the bottom of the pump, as it is the tube where the bottom bracket is attached!!!!!!!! Excellent! I was looking at the service manual diagram of the module trying to figure out where the return line went, and wondered if the pump mounting bracket was the return line. Thanks for confirming that, Ken! Would you say using that would work better than running a tube into the filler vent line? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crazy K Posted May 6, 2007 Report Share Posted May 6, 2007 yes i think it would. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gp90se Posted May 6, 2007 Report Share Posted May 6, 2007 kick the gas tank a few times, ive got a couple last runs out of dying pumps Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GnatGoSplat Posted May 7, 2007 Author Report Share Posted May 7, 2007 The coil is completely open-circuit, I don't think it can be kick-started. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andrew Posted May 7, 2007 Report Share Posted May 7, 2007 The coil is completely open-circuit, I don't think it can be kick-started. this made me LOL!!! keep us posted on the progress! i dropped a full tank once. not fun. im glad you figured out a much easier way! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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