Gas tank part Duh.

Kit came in today, so I decided that it would be a quick thing I could do before watching the Bruins win the Stanley Cup.

I did prep the tank, and sprayed the underside with a bed liner material that will cut down on road noise if nothing else.  I then flipped the tank for access to the holes  for the kit installation.  I started by wire brushing all the holes outer surfaces.  They were all in great shape, just dirty.  I used a spray bomb paint to reseal up the bare metal and allowed to cure.  I did pull out the sender which worked fine to install a new o-ring.  Had the process to remove the tank been difficult, I might have replaced the sender out of a precautionary effort, but since the tank comes out quite quickly I decided to reuse the sender.

As I had stated, the tank was in great shape.  The only tell tale leak spots I found were around the grommet holes.

So with Oeticker pincers in hand, I started the reinstall.  First was the sending unit, which received a dab of dielectric lube on the seat.  Mostly as a protectant for the o-ring, but for ease of assembly as well.  I also used it in the grommet holes, and the grommets themselves when inserting the crossover tube.

The kit does not come with directions, but its pretty self explanatory.  Two lines come from each of the vapor tanks in the front wheel wells, and there are two lines on each side that need to be attached up.  One large grommet for the fuel fill tube, and three smaller ones for the crossover tube (2) and the fill neck vent tube (1). Simple stuff really. 

The only advice I have is to use the existing rubber hoses to fashion your replacements with the pre-existing hard plastic pieces, assemble them without clamping yet to ensure you have the length required and then clamp them working your way up from the tank but leaving the last one untouched. 

When you lift the tank into place, put the forward lip into place allowing for access to reattach the sender wires and feed the rubber tubes through the space above the frame rails.  Then lift up the rear of the tank but have a screwdriver handy to wedge in through the cross member hole as to hold up the tank while you get the tank straps and bolts.



Picture taken of filler neck hole before replacement of grommet



Insert the tank straps and finger tighten the bolts so you have no concerns about the security of your tank.  Then you can go to each wheel well and attach the final Oeticker clamps to the vapor canisters.  While you are on the passenger side, insert the filler neck using a bit of the lube and then the vent tube into the final open grommet on top of the tank.  Screw in the three screws that hold up the filler neck to the other plastic filler panel and screw in your cap.

Now go back under, tighten up the tank bolts before you forget and then attach up some new fuel line and clamps to the fuel filter / pump on the passenger side and the return line on the drivers side.  Add some fuel and fire it up.

As you can see from the following pictures, it was not the large filler neck grommet, nor the o-ring at the sending unit, but the three smaller grommets that failed.

Wow, one month.

Since last update.  Guess anyone can see that starting a new job on the 9th can get in the way.  So here it is, one month later and what have I done?

Plenty.

I have installed the nylon shift ball on the transmission.  Should be problem free for years.  Will post pics later.  My Droid died last week, and I need to get pics off the old sim card.  Thank God for my iPhone, as when the Droid died, I was using it for a GPS in central Florida.  Nothing but pasture land, and I had not really paid attention on the way to my destination in late afternoon due to the BITB (bitch in the box - GPS), then I needed to get back and it was now midnight. 

Well that was a trip down Useless Information Lane.

So, this morning I removed the gas tank.  When I filled it up, it leaked and I wanted to determine the reason.  I suspected one of the grommets had dried up and split which is very common.   What I found was nothing of the sort.

After securing the van on a couple jack stands so I could slide under with the creeper, I disconnected one of the lines and removed any gas in the tank.  The tank is held in by two straps.  These straps are held up by a bolt each on one end, and a tab that slides into the cross member on the other end.  Very simple, very efficient, very VW.  Anyway, the 13mm bolts, after a spray of PB Blaster and a 20 minute soak while I accumulated the other tools I would need came out relatively easy.  I was anticipating a break of one (if not both) bolts.  I used one of my floor jacks to support the tank while I removed the bolts.

I then went up to the gas fill and removed the three screws that hold the outer plastic pieces to the filler neck which in my 1984 is also plastic.  I think the earlier Vanagons had metal filler necks, but I am not completely sure on that.

So with the three screws removed, I had some play in the movement of the neck to coerce the neck down to the wheel well and slide it out.  There are two parts to the neck: the main fill portion which is approx 2 inches in diameter, and the overflow tube which is about 3/4 inch diameter.  Both have rubber grommets, and as I found out, the overflow one had not been inserted correctly and had been placed into the tank only half inserted on one side.  I know my description is poor, but maybe a photo will help.

It honestly looks as if someone was here somewhat recently as the hoses and connectors are in good shape, but the grommets are another story.  These little beauties were still whole, and looked complete but when you touched them it was like touching fresh butyl rubber.  They were tacky, pulled apart easily and were sealing absolutely nothing.  I have a kit coming from Go Westy, so I will replace them all.  I went with the Go Westy kit out of convenience.  I have made far too many business trips across the country since I started a month ago to take anymore time than I need to from my son while searching for the appropriate grommets.

I have sprayed down the outside of the tank, which is a good condition replacement from original, with some professional kitchen spray on grease cutter. Stuff is caustic, and will burn your hands if left on too long. I will give it a good scrub, a good rinse and coat it with some bed liner or something like that before re-installation.

While in here, I am also replacing the fuel lines from the tank back to the engine compartment (which has had all engine compartment fuel lines replaced).  Hopefully after this thorough fuel line rework I will not ever have an issue.

Did notice that one of the rubber fuel pump mounts was broken.  Have to investigate my options there.