[Doyle]

Happy Halloween!
I am tring to remove the left fuel tank from my 1988 and can't seem to get it to clear the opening. What is the procedure to remove it? Front first? Rear first? I have removed the left motor mount but this was of no help.
What next?

 

[Vulcan Grey]

Do you have the hatch off? Or at least disconnect the struts and open the hatch much further than normal?


I had to remove the intake manifold and intake cam tower to get my tanks out.

 

[Doyle]

Yuck! I was thinking of lowering the transaxle or cutting the body above the tank and glassing it back would be much easier for as I am much better at bodywork than mechanics.the hatch isn't in the way, I did remove the strut on the left side but the tank pins itself between the body and the engine.

 

[89.5 Esprit SE]

Yuck! I was thinking of lowering the transaxle or cutting the body above the tank and glassing it back would be much easier for as I am much better at bodywork than mechanics.the hatch isn't in the way, I did remove the strut on the left side but the tank pins itself between the body and the engine.

You should be able to get the tank to hit the cam towers, then you either remove engine parts, lower the motor, or raise the body off the chassis. or a combo of all three.

If you haven't gotten the tank past the side bulkhead and up against the cams then you are not coming out of the hole correctly.

The tank only comes out of the hole one way, it is very tight and it is easy to get stuck on the way out or in.

The way to pull it after you remove all the brackets and the seat belt and the throttle is to work the outer edge up and back a tiny bit first. Keep going that way till you are able to clear the drain pipe. It will pretty much be up against the quarter window. Keep rotating the outer edge up and in till the top of the tank is facing the opening and the engine. If it doesn't want to go this way you are not getting the front outer corner up and rearward enough.

This is the only way the tank comes out. I am always amazed how tight it is, and how it has to be just right or it gets stuck.

Randy

 

[Doyle]

I have taken the left motor mount off, what a pain! And that just made it rock forward a little. Can the transaxle be lowered on the left side also? I have the outlet on the bottom clear but the tank wants to roll out towards the engine and not out above it.

 

[carbuff]

Are we assuming that you also loosened the trans mounts to allow the drivetrain to "sag" enough towards the left-front?


++++++++++++

It sounds as if you are past this point already, but FWIW on my '88 I had to bend the top flanges of the tanks a bit so that they would clear the seatbelt mounts.

 

[Sanj]

Remove the right side engine mounting leg as well, then drop the engine down as far as it will go towards the firewall. Remove the intake cam cover, but cover the innards. You will need to trim the fiberglass at the top of the opening above the tank before you will be able to remove it. You will see where it needs to be trimmed when you first try to pull the tank out.

It can be done, we just did this yesterday on a '90.

 

[MRDANGERUS]

I've heard about a "body lift" method. You have to remove the rear body mounts - at rr boot, bulkhead and seat belts and lift the rear about 3-3.5 inches.

 

[Doyle]

I haven't tried to remove the transaxle mount yet but I did trim the body at the opening but it was still hitting the engine. I will loosen the trans mount next week when I get back from a business trip.Thanks for all the great help!

 

[Sanj]

Did you remove the other motor mount? We did not touch the transaxle mounts.

 

[QuadCam]

You really have to trim the body a bit? That's not cool.

 

[petemon]

I'll +1 Travis's post. My left tank would not come out after disconnecting both motor mounts and removing the cam cover. I'm not even sure that cutting a slot for the crossover tube would have helped, not that I would have anyway. I'm pretty sure removing the intake cam is the only way short of pulling the engine. The body lift idea is intriguing but scary (I can hear the fiberglass cracking in my head).

Ultimately, my tank wasn't leaking, just rusty on the bottom so I elected to refinish it in place. It had already been reworked about 10 years ago but the shop that did it put the "sponge" back on. - Doh!
I managed to get the tank sideways and rotated so I could access the bottom. I masked off the entire rear of the car with plastic, then wire-brushed it. I filled any pitted areas with epoxy then applied Ospho to neutralize any remaining oxidation. 3 coats of POR-15 (great stuff!) and 3 coats of 3M Pro Undercoating along with some U-channel to protect the bottom seam and it should be good to go, certainly until the next engine-out service at least.

Also...tape a rag or some cardboard over the side windows. I screwed up the tint film on both sides messing with the tanks.

 

[Sanj]

You really have to trim the body a bit? That's not cool.

It's either that or pull the cam carrier, at which point you might as well pull the engine.

 

[Doyle]

Thanks for all of the advise and wisdom guy's! I got the tank out with only taking the left motor mount off and trimming the body slightly. Now off to be repaired.

 

[Laser Bob]

Hey Sanj-

I just completed repairing both tanks on my Esprit, and need a new fuel gauge sending unit. I have heard 2-3 times to get an ISS pro sending unit, but need to know what the resistance is on the stock fuel gauge in the binnacle.

Is the gauge 0-180 with 0 being empty, or is it 180-0 with 180 being empty?

 

[Sanj]

The fuel gauge I put in my car is 10 ohms empty, 180 ohms full.

http://www.summitracing.com/parts/vdo-301104/overview/

That said, Bob, does your car have VDO gauges, or ???

 

[Laser Bob]

The gauge has SMITHS on the top of it.

 

[Sanj]

In that case, my information is not going to help. Is your existing sender completely dead?

It may be worth checking other British car forums for info, I imagine Smiths gauges were pretty commonly used.

 

[Laser Bob]

When the tanks were pulled, the sensor came out in 3 or 4 pieces & was very rusted.

FWIW- when we pulled the gas tanks, both were rusted on the bottom so we cut about an inch or so off the bottom of each, cleaned everything inside & out, and fabricated a new bottom piece.