Facelift Fuel Tank Replacement

XJ-S
61

Bad news because of the work required but a bit of a relief that you’ve found it at last. I feel for you.

Keep us posted on the reconditioning/replacement of the tank - if photos of the work are taken it would be interesting to see them posted.

Good luck!

Frankie

62

Most probabbly the later.
And now you know what was wrong.

63

So…I finally got the car back. After two weeks delay due to the mechanic getting COVID and me out of pocket for a week on vacation, I finally picked the car up today.

Charged $800 to recoat the tank.
Charged $250 to transport it to/from the place that coated it.
Charged for 9 hours to pull/replace the tank.
Charged 1.5 hours to replace the fuel pump and whatever else went on in there.
Please don’t ask me about the final price…I should have done it myself, but without a garage and a way to store 19 gallons of fuel, I just didn’t have it in me…until I saw the bill. Then I realized I did have it in me.

Spent two hours with the mechanic trying to figure out why the convertible top wouldn’t go up and down. He probed all wires to make sure everything was getting signal/power/ground. It was.

Lessons learned:

  1. Make sure ALL harnesses are plugged back in. I found two non-matching unplugged harnesses while he was testing and looking. One was for the second fuel pump that I don’t have (Apparently my car uses the same harness from a v12 which DOES have a second pump), so I left that one alone. The other one had it’s female end pinned behind something. Once we realized it needed a friend, the switch came to life.
  2. Label the four hoses that feed the hydraulic pump. Shop had swapped two locations. Even if they think they know, what’s the harm in labeling. If it wasn’t for another convertible XJS in the yard, I don’t know how many guesses we would have made.
64

I’m glad you have finally got it back Veekay. The pain of the cost will fade in time as you drive and enjoy.

Good point re labelling. When I take things apart I know I will remember how they go back together again - until there is an unexpected delay and I don’t go back to the job for a couple of days - and then my memory goes blank. Now I always photograph everything I do!!

Frankie

65

Thanks for the help with this Frankie! Much appreciated.