Will_K

I have a 36 gallon tank. I picked up a 36 gallon (I'm pretty sure) tank, the molded in part number is 9l3Z with a -D suffix. I got it from Pontiac and they list the vin and options on the vehicles. It was from this vehicle:

https://www.u-pullandsave.com/vehicles/15898730

I made a quick stop after work Friday and in order to expedite the removal process, I used a sawzall to cut the fuel line and filler neck. Holy crap, the shower of rust particles I got from the pickup bed shaking! LOL

$30 for a gas tank with fuel pump.

djfllmn

iTrader: (1)

IMO, I would not trust that fuel pump. I would spend the money and replace it while its out

MPETE

iTrader: (1)

You should have the correct tank. I agree with the previous comment that having the tank out is the ideal time to replace the tank. But I also know that sometimes the wallet doesn't allow fixing things that aren't broken.

Will_K

I've used salvage fuel pumps before, and in my experience the biggest risk is that the plastic becomes aged and brittle and you can more easily break it during removal and installation. I'd have the same risk just from removing the fuel pump in the current gas tank. I have a carter fuel pump arriving tomorrow from rockauto along with hardware, a seal, and fuel tank straps.

Meanwhile I'm planning the best way to plug the drain hole added by the salvage yard. I'm figuring a bolt, steel washer, nylon washer, fuel tank, nylon washer, steel washer, nut. And maybe add some marineweld JB weld on the nylon washer that's on the outside of the tank to seal any potential gap.

mikeru

Doesn't gas dissolve nylon? IDK, maybe not, but you might want to look for the best material that will hold up to gasoline. Might want to do a little research on sealing leaking gas tanks.

No way I'd go with a salvage yard fuel tank unless I was desperate. How much is a new one from Ford? I priced a 33 gallon fuel tank for a previous Ram truck I used to own. It was surprisingly affordable. And no hole to figure out the best way to plug.

Edit: Nevermind. I see that they are discontinued from Ford.

Will_K

When you search plastic gas tank sealing, you find recommendations of epoxy or plastic weld. I'm honestly inclined to put more faith into something a little more mechanical and use the JB weld as the epoxy to fill gaps but not count on it to bridge the hole.

Nylon-6 is chemically resistant to petroleum.
https://www.curbellplastics.com/reso...e-of-plastics/

Laminar

Why are we replacing a leaky gas tank with another leaky gas tank? If the current one needs resealing (for whatever reason...) why is it being replaced with another tank that also needs resealing?

Will_K

So... these examples might be more extreme than the reality. But on one hand, a shark bit off a leg below the knee. On the other hand we have a needle puncture mark. Or another analogy would be that on one hand we have a crazy ex girlfriend slashing the sidewall and on the other we have a nail puncturing the tread. One is repairable but the other not.

My current gas tank is had to photograph in vehicle but hopefully this shows the Sawzall damage.


The drain hole was actually hard to see on the inside but here is the outside then inside with a pic sticking through to locate the hole.

BlkNBlu

Those side box steps are a p.i.t.a mine has never worked.. once I finish recovering from surgery I'll be fixing both..

Our trucks are twins

Will_K

Well... here's where I'm at, and this is a problem of finding a time block in my life that completing this project can fit.

It wasn't terribly difficult to remove the fuel pump from the salvage yard gas tank. The fuel pump may have been recent as it was pretty clean, and it may explain why it wasn't too bad to get the gas tank off the truck in salvage. Regardless, I stuck to the plan to replace the fuel pump.

I was able to drill out the two holes to 11.9 mm and plug them with 12 mm bolts and washers as I described above. Out of the 2 holes, the near hole was easy to reach. The hole further forward however was beyond what I could reach sticking my arm through the fuel pump hole. I put the bolt through the hole with the washers on the exterior. I used a harbor freight telescoping magnet to place the washer over the bolt, then I used it to place the nut. In order to place the nut I had to keep the magnet straight, so I used a nail like a split and wrapped tape around it. Once I felt the nut sitting on the bolt, I had my son turn the bolt. Then, I needed a wrench to hold the bolt. An open end wrench needed to have an extension taped on in order to reach, and once I had that I could tighten the bolt.

The new fuel pump with a new fuel pump retaining ring and o-ring went in okay. I used the o-ring with the new fuel pump retainer because the o-ring with the fuel pump was oval-shaped. It was a slight pain in the butt to get it to stay down in all the tabs at once.

So I do have the fuel tank ready to install. However, when I went to drop the fuel tank in my truck, I can't get my 2 fuel tank strap bolts to turn. I have new fuel tank straps, so I don't mind the idea of cutting the straps to remove the fuel tank and then dealing with removing the bolts. But having a block of time I'd estimate at 4 hours where I'm available and don't need to go anywhere (while the sun is out and it's not raining) was something I couldn't find over the weekend, and not that I'm back to work and 3 of the next 5 days I have soccer games to go to... and the other 2 days have rain forecasted... I'm not sure when I can get this done, but I'm going to be getting gas 5 gallons at a time for most of this week most likely.