Date: Fri, 2 May 2003 12:28:43 -0700
Reply-To: Tom Young <tomyoung1@ATTBI.COM>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Tom Young <tomyoung1@ATTBI.COM>
Subject: Gas tank R & R - Air-cooled Vanagon
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"
I just dropped and then re-installed the gas tank on my '81 Vanagon. Since
the Bentley procedure for this operation was very poor - unclear, included
unnecessary steps and omitted required ones - I thought I'd post some notes
on the process.
General:
You most likely can do this job without jacking up the vehicle. Since I had
the rear of the vehicle jacked up (engine out) I had a little more room
under the bus than with all four wheels on the ground. Having the front
wheels off would be nice from the standpoint of reaching in and re-attaching
top hoses, but since you're constantly getting under the vehicle and out
from under the vehicle jack stands could end up getting in the way. Don't
know what's best here.
You want the tank to be as empty as possible before attempting to drop it
from the vehicle. Not only does gas add weight which you'll have to
manhandle, it's dangerous, and not solely from the risk of fire. It's toxic
as hell so don't get any on your skin or clothes. Run the tank as dry as
you dare then siphon out the rest.
I did this single-handed. Another person to help would speed things up
(just about always does!) but a helper isn't required.
One thing I wish I'd done, but didn't, was hose off under the wheel wells a
day or two before dropping the tank. It's amazing how much junk collects up
in there.
Removal Procedure:
1) After emptying the tank, detach the plastic fuel filter from the tank
output hose (watch for gas spills as there'll be some gas in the filter) and
plug the hose with a short 8mm bolt, held in place, loosely, with a hose
clamp. Do the same on the gas return line. This'll keep any remaining gas
you couldn't siphon from spilling as you move the tank around.
2) I'd say to go ahead and remove the 2 plastic expansion tanks under the
wheel wells, which are held in place with a 13mm-headed nut. It'll give you
a little more room for maneuvering, i.e., removing the filler neck and
reaching in to detach and re-attach the top vent lines. Plus, there's a
grommet up on top of these tanks which, if leaking, can result in that
"gasoline smell" after fill-up and can only be inspected with the tanks off.
In addition to the one nut there's a pair of steel vent lines that run into
5mm ID fuel hose at the bottom of these tanks. Remove the steel vent lines
from the 5mm hoses. Let the float valve (that's the piece that enters the
top of the expansion tank through the grommet) dangle.
3) There's a metal breather tube that runs out from the top of the gas tank
towards the filler neck. The tube is then attached to a fairly large
(11mm?) rubber hose that in turn attaches to a short pipe on the filler
neck. Detach the hose from the neck.
4) Unscrew the gas cap and remove the 3 Phillips head screws that hold in
place the metal plate the cap attaches to. Set the cap, 3 screws and metal
plate aside.
5) Grab the filler neck and push it in (toward the gas tank) and down so you
can then pull the filler neck away from the gas tank and out past the tire.
It could be fairly tight so you might have to lean into it a bit.
6) Run your hand in along the metal breather tube. It enters the top of the
tank vertically through a rubber grommet. Grab the tube right near where it
enters the tank and pull up until you free the tube from the tank. Pull the
tube out through the wheel well and set it aside.
7) A couple of inches inboard and to the rear of the grommet that holds the
metal breather tube is another grommet that holds a "Y" shaped plastic
piece. One end of the "Y" is attached to a hose that runs across the top of
the tank toward the driver's side, while the other end of the "Y" is
attached to a short section of 5mm hose that in turn attaches to one of
those steel vent lines that runs into the bottom of the expansion tank.
Pull up on the "Y" piece until it comes free from the tank but don't attempt
to remove it from under the car.
(If you don't have room to reach in there and pull out the pieces per steps
6) and 7), don't worry about it. We'll gain an inch or so when we unstrap
the tank and that'll probably allow you to get your hand in there.)
8) At this point you can tuck the other steel vent line (i.e., the one not
attached to the "Y") back inside the frame and on top of the tank where it
will ride down with the tank when we drop it.
9) Go around to the driver's side. There's only one grommet over here
holding the other "Y" piece in place. Reach in and pull this "Y" out of the
tank but don't attempt to remove it from under the vehicle.
10)Tuck the other steel vent line (the one not attached to the "Y") in on
top of the gas tank.
11)Under the vehicle, unscrew the two bolts (13mm head) that hold the two
rails in place to the frame. As you remove each bolt the front of the rail
will fall down but you don't have to worry about the tank falling on you
since the front of the tank fits over the top of the frame. With both bolts
removed and the front of the two rails down on the ground you'll gain a half
inch or so of room up above the tank if you couldn't get the lines off at
steps 6), 7) and 9).
12)Stack some pieces of wood or something under the rear middle of the tank,
stopping short of the tank 6 inches or so. Support the rear of the tank
with one hand and pull the rear of the rails out of the slots that hold them
in place. Lower the rear of the tank until it rests on your stack of wood.
(The tank will pretty much stay in place with one of the rails completely
removed, so you can remove one rail, get out from under the car, get back
under on the other side, and then complete the process.)
13)Make another stack of wood at the front of the tank, similar to what you
have at the rear, and slide the tank back an inch or so until the front of
the tank is released from the frame. Lower the front of the tank to your
until it rests on your stack of wood.
14)Reach in over the top of the tank and disconnect the electrical
connection to the fuel sender.
15)"Walk" the frame down to the ground by alternately removing pieces of
wood, then slide the tank from under the car.
16)At this point you can slide back under the car and remove the breather
tube setup you left behind if you wish to inspect it or plan to replace it.
However, before you pull it out, note carefully its path under the car,
especially over on the driver's side. It runs over the warm air hose,
behind the structure that holds the warm air hose to the body, over the
various lines and tubes under the driver's side but under the emergency
brake line.
Installation Procedure:
Installation is, as they say, pretty much the reverse of removal. A few
thoughts:
1) Apply a little light grease or Vaseline to the pieces that go into the
top of the tank to make it easier to push these parts through the grommets.
Put the grommets on the tank before sliding it back under the car.
2) You probably want to push the lines through the grommets while the tank
is loosely in place, i.e., before bolting in the rails. There's just not
much room up there and you don't have a lot of leverage.
3) When you go to bolt the rails in place, pull forward on the rails to get
the hole in the rail to line up with the captured nut in the frame.
4) I found that I could hold the rail up to the frame with a knee, which
gave me both hands free to try and deal with getting the bolt, started in
its nut.
5) I did remove the front wheels - one at a time - to re-install the
expansion tanks since that made access easier.
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Tom Young '81 Vanagon
Lafayette, CA 94549 '82 Westfalia
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