Well firstly , let me apologise for bringing up what must have been a regular topic. I am just re commissioning my 76 Pre He and looking inside the petrol tank , its not the prettiest sight I have seen but its not the worst either. I am trying to work out whether its ok, and with the pick up on the surge tank and the engine mounted fuel filter whether it will be ok. There has been some talk about fitting another filter between the main tank and surge tank. I would welcome your experiences and views. I realise a brand new fuel tank would be great, but I have to consider the cost and I am sure there are loads of XJS running around with less than perfect fuel tanks. Anyway, I await your kind contributions. thanks a lot Andrew
Andrew, How long has the tank been sitting with gas …
IMHO, If it years and years and years.
Pull the tank, its well worth it. Fuel pump, flex lines. Its a reason for concern.
We have been noticing the FILM old ethanol is producing in the tank, it doesn’t stop.
The car runs terrible
Good luck either way
gtjoey1314
I added an additional filter on my '89 between the sump tank and fuel pump. It makes the fuel pump work a little harder perhaps since those pumps are better at pushing than pulling (so I’ve been made to understand) but it does not seem to have affected my car’s performance. Some cars apparently have a screen filter fitted in the sump tank. My car did not. If yours does then probably the additional filter is either unnecessary or would replace that screen.
New tanks are actually fairly reasonable. I got mine from SNG Barratt. No relation to them other than as a happy customer. You might check out all your options. Good luck!
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Thanks for that. Its been sitting a long time. I don mind pulling the tank, its really how to clean it successfully, and going forward given the corrosive nature of ethanol what to do to stop this being an ongoing problem. My E type has a Galvanised tank so is future proofed as much as I can foresee ( if we are allowed to drive ICE cars in the future) . Any suggestions on cleaning it out?
ps, see you on AMOC Vank threads as well!!
thanks Douglas. I have not opened the surge tank yet, ran out of time, but from the parts book it should have a pick up screen , so maybe thats a way forward. Didn’t know that SNG were doing tanks, will call them tomorrow. As you say, if its new its going to help a lot, but it has to be ethanol resistant in my view or else in a few years time it will be the same problem. As , like a lot of us I am sure, I have several Classics it will not be used a lot so standing fuel will be a problem even though I try to leave the tank very low at winter shut down time.
When I put in a new tank, I removed my surge tank filter and put in an external screen filter between surge tank and pump.
But I will soon be going back to original setup. My surge tank screen was really not bad, nor was the surge tank, after 30 years. Also, it was a huge PITA getting the 1/2" hose to wrap around properly from surge to filter to pump. And now I am noticing that my brand new Bosch pump strains a bit, making a slight vibration noise. I do not want my pump going out prematurely.
Only advice I would say if you stick with the surge tank screen, make sure to get the new and improved one, as pointed out in Kirby’s book. Luckily my 88 had the bigger one. I think the pre-HE’s had the smaller one that was more prone to blocking.
I also got a new tank from SNG. About $550. Perfect fit. But it’s still made of steel. I have no idea what it’s coated with on the inside. My original wasn’t too bad on inside, but was rusted on outside bottom, leaking fuel through pinholes. To prevent this in the future, I put a very good pad underneath (used a yoga mat), painted the bottom with Por15, and will eventually fix the leak in the rear windshield.
I would just make sure to run additives in the fuel occasionally, like techron and lucas, and also make SURE to add fuel stabilizer like STA-BIL if the car sits at least 3 months. Oh, and maybe throw in a bottle of HEET (water remover) around winter time (if you live in a cold climate)
Put a magnet on a stick in there to remove the rust
In the surge tank? Is rust magnetic???
It’s ferrite and yes a magnet will pick it up. Just throwing this out there as I haven’t seen the inside of the XJS tank, would POR15 work if it was sloshed around inside?
No way, I would not try POR15 on the inside. The XJS tank has so many baffles, you could not be sure to get proper coating everywhere, and may actually make things worse.
So why on a stick? Why not just put a magnet inside bottom of surge tank? Or maybe even outside??
I suppose the idea was to remove the rust particles hence the stick.
As I said, to remove the rust, You’ll be amazed how much sticks to the magnet
Andrew nice to see you on both, others make great suggestions but…you have a tank, baffles and fuel injection, correct?
THe smallest rust will strain on the pump trying to push fuel through restricted openings will only cause more headaches.
I like some others ideas but theres toooo much with the fuel injection.
Also ethanol EATS trhough everything, hoses, fittings and even washers.
Yu understand as with the Vanquish.
If your keeping the car, from tank to injectors you will be in for about 1,000 dollars but everything brand new.
IMHO , its wayyyyy worth it.
p.s that’s you installing not a shop.
gtjoey1314
Thanks Guys. I have bitten the bullet and ordered a new tank. I reckon that to spend all this time on the car and refurbish the injection system and then allow crud through it would be pointless and very amateur! This is what came out of my fuel filter when I held it to flow out of the inlet. Thankfully what was coming out the of the other end was a lot better but really.
Upon removing my tank, I saw how rusted the bottom was, as well as the body where the tank rested on. I sanded/treated the rust on the body and re-painted. And replaced the mat. I also replaced all the old bolts/nuts, and painted the hardware that attached the tank, as well as surge tank. So although it turned out to be a lot of work, it is peace of mind knowing it’s all renewed. Plus it looks like new!
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See, this tank is different than my '83. You’ve got that question-mark-shaped outlet tube which appears to be a solid design to me, although that loop protruding rearward looks clunky. My '83, though, had a block built onto the outlet of the tank with a compression fitting for a tube that went directly to the right and then turned 90 degrees downward toward the surge tank. It was the compression fitting that was causing the odors in my car; took forever to find it, because it never looked wet or anything.
Since you report that the body had rust in this area, I think you should carefully inspect to see if the structural integrity is what it should be. Particularly that the attachment points for the rear subframe are intact and located where they are supposed to be.
Mine was just surface rust.
different approach, POLY plastic tank , never have rust again!
also Stainless steel pump , alloy lines and fittings, alloy filter with replaceable cartridge!
alloy engine injector lines and fittings ,alloy FP regulator ,SS internals!
26yrs and counting, never a problem , and it sets around in garage for months sometime,thats when trouble could occur!
How many gallons is that tank?
No exterior rust on mine…Had my tank lined inside …removed sump pump permanently …put a filter in it’s place…new CARB rated hoses…fuel injection style clamps on everything . …thats what I did