Date: Wed, 25 Sep 2002 12:52:54 -0400
Reply-To: Jay L Snyder <Jay.L.Snyder@USA.DUPONT.COM>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Jay L Snyder <Jay.L.Snyder@USA.DUPONT.COM>
Subject: Re: gas filler neck leak
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii
IIRC, the front edge of the tank goes above the front crossmember, and the
back of the tank pivots up, held up by the long brackets underneath. On
the brackets were several rubber pads, maybe six as you said, spaced along
the length of the bracket. If your front lip is below the crossmember,
that is the problem.
It seemed to me the better design would have been to have the rear of the
tank sit on the crossmember and allow the front to pivot up and down. This
way you would have room to hook up all those damn lines, but Noooooo, VW
couldn't have done this!
Jay '85 Westy
dr <dxrobertson@NETSCAPE.NET>@gerry.vanagon.com> on 09/25/2002 12:36:28 PM
Please respond to dr <dxrobertson@NETSCAPE.NET>
Sent by: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
cc:
Subject: Re: gas filler neck leak
Pictures would be great. Thanks.
From your description, it seems like you may have a different design
than mine. I do not have a lip on the back frame cross member. The
tank just sits on the the 2 brackets at the back. It requires use of a
jack to hold it up until the brackets are in place, then the tank rests
on them.
I think what is prohibiting the tank from being fully installed is its
binding on the from frame cross member. I have tried to lift the tank
by hand and carefully with a jack and it wont move at all as it is
currently installed. I plan on removing both brackets, lowering the
tank at the rear slightly, and then try to raise the front some.
The shimms you describe are certainly different from mine. I dont have
any on any of the frame to tank contact points. The "bumpers" as I
describe look as though they came with the brackets. The brackets look
new and the bumpers are mounted onto the brackets. They are about 1/3
the way back from the front of the bracket, where you screw it into the
front cross frame. They are about 1/2 inch thick and the tanks rests on
them, once the brackets are installed.
Where are your 6 shims located? Across front, back, or along side frame
areas? If it makes sense, I may have to make these.
I painted all the metal parts of the filler neck with por-15. Been
expermenting with that product.
Good to know autozone has something I can maybe use as a last resort.
I'll check them out if need be.
Thanks for your assitance, David
Jeff Strickrott wrote:
> Hi David:
>
>
>
>>OK. mine does fit between the left to right cross members. The front
>>lip of my tank sits on the lip of the front crossmember and the back of
>>my tank doesnt really sit on anything, it is held in place by the 2 tank
>>brackets that slide into slits in the back cross member.
>
>
> I will see if I can take some pictures of mine from underneath and send
them to you tonight. Both the front and rear lips on mine sit inside the
cross members. Not hitting at all. The only part of the tank that comes in
contact with the frame is the lip on the sides of the tank (left/right).To
install my
> tank I had to first slide the front of the tank over the lip of the
forward cross member, then sideways to allow the metal vent tube (going to
the fuel filler tube) to clear (go above) the right frame member.
>
> I am wondering if what is keeping your tank from going all the way up is
the plastic vent tube assembly. On my vehicle, the old vent tube went
between the metal body of the floor, and the heater vent assembly. To put
the new plastic vent tube in, I had to disassembly part of the vent
assembly to get the
> tube in place. If the PO was lazy, maybe they just left it underneath and
thus could not push the tank all the way up to keep from crushing this
assembly.
>
> Of course using the plastic vent tube assembly, trying to connect the
metal vent tube, balancing everything and getting the tank in place (for
one person) was a real pain. So on my third attempt I modified my vent
assembly such that I could hook everything up when the tank was on the
ground. That meant I
> have a longer vent tubes than stock, but so far no problem.
>
>
>>You mention rubber shims. The only rubber that I have on
>> mine are small dome-shaped rubber "bumpers" about the diameter of a
>> quarter that are mounted on the tank brackets, fitting between the
>> brackets and the tank when it sits on the brackets. Is there something
>> else rubber I should have?
>>
>
>
> Regarding the shims, I have 6 rectangular shims, about 1/8 in thickness,
that go between the tank and the frame. Nothing was attached to the braces
that hold the tank in place. Just metal to metal contact. The tolerance was
so tight, that I am not sure that I could have placed any shims between the
two.
> Were these rubber bumpers added by the PO?
>
>
>> I'm not talking about a
>>small drip of a gas leak, it literally runs out.
>
>
> I have been their, my old seal was loose enough that whenever I sloshed
the gas around it would leak. I did a test on the new system, with water in
the bathtub to prove to myself that the new system would not leak. As long
as the fuel filler tube went straight through the grommet, then no leaks.
Torque
> it to one side or the other and you can develop leaks. I wonder if all
cars have such a cheesy seal.
>
> I went and got some sealer (never used) that appeared to be tar based and
gasoline proof (from Autozone) that I thought I would use to improve the
fuel seal. But as I had so much fun installing the tank, I figured trying
to put a seal around the fuel filler neck was out of the question.
>
> One thing I did do before installing all the metal was to paint them with
a rubberized truck bed liner (though I think if I had to do it again I
would use metal primer and plasti dip). I wanted a tough finish for the
tank and to protect the fuel filler tube from rocks. One benefit of this is
that the
> fuel filler tube is about 1/2 mm larger in diameter than stock, thus
making a better seal with the grommet. I made sure that the paint I used
did not dissolve in gas (at least not for the 1 day test I did). We will
see what happens over the next couple of years.
>
> I hope that this helps.
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