Removing the fuel Tank

[l33haw]

[quote="Flying Phil"]
Is there a special 'trick' to removing the fuel tank? Mine sprang a leak (I suspect the fuel level sender unit seal), so I've got to remove it
The only way I can see to accomplishing this is to remove the Tub. Any thoughts or experiences appreciated!
[/quote]

Thought I should be more helpful and provide some details. It's a two man job!

I removed the engine cover and seat first to aid access.

First disconnect the gear linkage rod ends (not sure if they are actually called rod ends) from the gear stick, and then the holding bracket. All from underneath.

Next loosen both end of the rad pipe and wiggle so the bracket under the gear stick holding the pipes pops down. Whilst one of you pushes and twists the pipes back, the other will have to pry the rubber pipes off (not easy). Then push towards the front and do the same on the other end. All of this is much easier said than done!

Next you will need to remove the water pump from its holding bolts so you can push it out the way.

Then pull off tank the breather pipe.

Unplug all the gubbins and cut all the cable ties on top of the tank.

Now it really is a case of wiggling.you will get to a point where you will think it's impossible, but persevere. We nailed it by pushing the tank as far to the filler end as possible, then jacked it up as high as we could without crushing anything. Then on the other side I pulled and pushed it forward and down until it popped through.

Then unplug the fuel lines. And you are home free!

2hrs dead is your time to beat!

[John Scherrer]

Well done Lee !

The leak is coming from the tank itself and not from elsewhere and just dripping onto the top of the tank?
You'd have thought there'd be visual tell-tale signs where it was leaking from.

Good luck ..

[l33haw]

[quote="John Scherrer"]
Well done Lee !

The leak is coming from the tank itself and not from elsewhere and just dripping onto the top of the tank?
You'd have thought there'd be visual tell-tale signs where it was leaking from.

Good luck ..
[/quote]

It must be the tank (I hope) as everything north is bone dry, even the top of the tank is fine. There is visible staining around the back of the tank but not obvious source. I will spend some proper time on it tomorrow as too dark/late once it was out.

The mystery continues!

[l33haw]

Iv found it!

Managed to muscle off the cradle from the side I suspected had the leak then filled the tank with water, and hay presto! As Paddy Mcguiness would say, leak reveal yourself!

It's so thin you can barely see it, but it's long! Around 60mm! The lower 3/4 is much cleaner so I suspect this is where it's got worse in the last week.





Just got to find someone willing and able to weld an aluminium fuel tank now!

[John Scherrer]

Good find !

Might it may be more cost-effective to just fit a new one?

[l33haw]

Spoke to a friend who does rally cross last night and he knows someone who does ali welding, so I'll get a quote this weekend. A new tank and cradle (I dont think the old cradle would be reusable once it's pulled off) is over £500 with VAT, so it shud be a cheaper option. I'm a thrifty bugger so will always find the most cost effective route. Waste not want not etc.

When reinstalling I'm thinking of replacing the metal spacers where it bolts to the chassis with hard rubber ones to reduce vibration. Anyone c a problem/side effect to this?

[ross]

I can't believe tanks are still failing like this - how old is your car Lee?

That must have been one hell of a big batch of tanks as it must be getting on for 10 years since a weld on my tanks first sprang a leak.

[l33haw]

[quote="Ross McWilliam"]
I can't believe tanks are still failing like this - how old is your car Lee?

That must have been one hell of a big batch of tanks as it must be getting on for 10 years since a weld on my tanks first sprang a leak.
[/quote]

My car is Nov 2006.

It's hard to c from the pics but the crack is between the weld and the tank.

It is a little worrying,obviously from safety grounds, but also once reinstalled how long will it be before another crack emerges? It's not an easy job to do so I wouldnt relish doing it every other year!

[ross]

I imagine that this is issue has always been due to vibration fatigue at the edges of the welds rather than any bad batch of tanks.  I guess this is more of an issue on Atom 1's and 2's which vibrate more.

When this happened on my 1, when I refitted the new tank, I added some vinyl sheet between the tank and the cradle to try and reduce the vibrations.  Didn't happen again thankfully although I don't know if this was luck or because the rubber helped.

Has anyone had a cracked weld on a tank on a 3?  If so, then I think the tank mounting should really be redesigned so that it's on rubber mounts to help isolate it from vibration fatigue.

Cheers, Ross.

[benyeats]

[quote="Ross McWilliam"]
That must have been one hell of a big batch of tanks
[/quote]

Either it was a huge batch of tanks or the initial failures all came from one smaller batch and the excuse stuck.  I lean towards it not being a batch problem and more a TADTS problem.

Having said that did not happen on my Atom 1 and so far so good on the 2.

Ben

[l33haw]

I'm gonna do exactly that and fit rubber mounts. Once sourced I'll post what they are as it could be an easy fix for Atom 2 owners to swap the metal mount for rubber.

Thanks for the tip on lining inside the cradle. I'll try something along those lines too. I'm also tempted to pipe on a fire sealant on the open gap all the way round between cradle and tank purely to stop stones getting stuck between the two, which may have been the original cause of the crack.

[ross]

[quote="benyeats"]
Having said that did not happen on my Atom 1 and so far so good on the 2.

Ben
[/quote]

You have a large mass acting as a vibration damper Ben - located somewhere round the seat...

[ross]

[quote="l33haw"]
I'm gonna do exactly that and fit rubber mounts. Once sourced I'll post what they are as it could be an easy fix for Atom 2 owners to swap the metal mount for rubber.

Thanks for the tip on lining inside the cradle. I'll try something along those lines too. I'm also tempted to pipe on a fire sealant on the open gap all the way round between cradle and tank purely to stop stones getting stuck between the two, which may have been the original cause of the crack.
[/quote]

Yeah, anything you can do really, it's not the kind of job you want to do twice really.

[l33haw]

Indeed. The first fill after reinstalling will be a tense moment!

[glyn430]

I think this is the sort of thread where we should have some input from the factory, if parts are failing and help is needed , just my opinion, customer service and all that?