Removing your fuel tank from your van and replacing the sender unit.

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This article is not about solving a particular problem but about how to remove the fuel tank and what the pinch points maybe.

We haven't just removed the tank for the sake of this blog. We had fitted a

 diesel heater and needed to add a supply pipe.

This is possibly one of the simplest straight forward jobs you can do yourself

on this van. The tools for the job are simple as well, multi tipped screw driver

to include star bits. because this is manly a van of French manufacture the

bolts holding the tank in place are 16mm, four axle stands to do it safely, a 3

ton trolley jack preferred and a special tool to remove the fuel gauge housing.

Before we go on you should use safety glasses preferably ones that are full enclosed to prevent any fuel getting in your eyes or some form of glasses that

will deflect any droplet that springs off the pipes you release. If you get thesmallest of droplets in your eyes you will know it with a vengeance. This is

Experience talking. Please note the warning.

 

One of the most obvious pinch points is the amount of fuel in the tank. Liquids

are surprisingly heavy and unpredictably when they get moved. Once moving

they can build up a force that cannot be stopped causing untold damage to the

wiring and fuel lines connected to the tank. If you are laying on the floor with

it on a jack the chances are you will not be able to prevent it slipping off. It is a good idea if you have someone else about to give a hand. The emptier the tank the better.

 

If you are thinking of siphoning the fuel off think again as there is an anti

syphon device fitted. We did go this route because the gauge was showing two

bars on the segmented digital dash or about a quarter on analogue fuel gauge.

This amounts to 30+ liters in our case which is quit a weight for one person to lift, let alone control laying on the floor.

 

OK the first job is to release the filler neck and breather pipe from the tank.

There maybe a protecting plate fitted if not it means the tank has been off

before. If it has there will be an unscrew-able hose clip fitted making the job easier as it has replaced the tamper proof clip that will need cutting or breaking off.

 

Next the breather pipe, to release this you apply pressure ether side to the

buttons and it will slide off. Practice was different for us it would not move no

matter what we did so in the end we unscrewed the fill neck from the body

held in place with three star screws then fiddled the neck out. We were able

once the tank was out to remove the breather even then it fort us. The fill neck was put back in place before the tank was refitted.

 

The four 16mm bolts holding the tank in place were all released. These bolts

have thread lock on them so may take some effort to undo. Depending on

whether or not you have enough height once you have the axle stands in place

it is a good idea to place on the ground under the tank a sheet of ply, carpet

cloth etc. to protect the tank if you have to slide the tank out without the jack.

No point gouging the tank that may produce leaks at a later date.

 

 

We place a board on the trolley jack to help spread the load and protect the

tank. With it in place and jacked up we took the bolts out completely. Lowering

the tank very slowly as we still had 30 liters of fuel in it. Even so it nearly

pulled itself of the jack.

With the tank down you need to release the fuel flow and return pipes. The

pipes run along the top of the tank in groves that hold them in place along with

the wiring loom. These need to be gentle prized out. Once out remove the

pipes from the pump sensor unit this is quite simple they are squeeze together clips. Place both pipes in a container to catch the diesel that will leak out or

Plug the ends. Then unclip the wiring block connector.

 

With everything removed, pull the tank from under the van for the next set of

fun and games. If the top of the tank is caked in mud we suggest you clean it

off to stop the fuel being contaminated with it. We made the special tool needed to remove the locking ring holding the pump sensor unite in place.

 

Before you remove the lock ring look for an arrow and mark its position on the

top of the tank. If there is no mark then make your own. This is important

when tightening so you do not over stress the threads. Also make a note of the direction the pipe connections are pointing.

 

When placing the removal tool it should sit on the little step at the top of the

ring. With the home made tool wind in the outer nuts in until it grips and then

use the inner ones to lock it into place. Put a bar of a reasonable length between the upright metal and apply pressure slowly anti clock wise. It will be stiff to turn for a number of turns. The reason is that the unit is sprung loaded.

Pull the unit up slowly as there is a float attached to a long wire bar. This tells the dashboard how much fuel is in the tank.

 It is a little tricky getting it out you will need to lean the unit over at an angle. Keeping an eye on the O ring sitting at the top of the thread.

 

We did our modification and emptied the tank of most of its fuel to make the

replacement a lot simpler. It is also an opportunity to see if the fuel is

contaminated and removed. Before doing up the lock ring check the O ring is

properly in place if not it will leak. It is important that the hose connections are

kept pointing the right way and keep checking as the top of the unit will keep

moving until the lock ring becomes tight.

 

 

The empty tank makes its replacement a lot simpler. It is a case of retracing

your steps to get it back in place. Once all secure replace the fuel. Before you

start the engine use the priming bulb to charge the line removing the air.

If you are doing this for the first time allow a day, two days from start to finish.

The amount of time really depends on your circumstances. We did it over two

days as we had to make the special tool and really not in a hurry.

 

 

Pictures in order of apperance: 

1. Mounting place for filler pipe.

2. Breather pipe push fit connection.

3. Anti syphon trap.

4. Clip on to og fuel tank.

5. Connections on top of sender unit.

6. Plate of steel to make special tool.

7. Special tool put together.

8. Ridge on sender unit scuring ring.

9. placement of special tool.

10. Sender unit will need to be lent over to one side to take into account float and arm.

11. New fuel pipe for Wallas XC Duo cab heater.

12. New pick up pipe in place in sender unit.

13. O ring seal on fuel tank check not damaged.

14. Cover that protects fuel primeing bulb.

15. Primeing bulb.

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Replacing track ends. the pit falls.

the track rod ends on these vehicles are handed
nearside and offside.

Track rod end or track control arm ball joints no matter what you call it, it's at the end of the steering rack arms. For such a small ball joint it takes a lot of abuse from us the driver hitting curbs, bumping up them to park and potholes. It is surprising that they do not fail more often. It is all these little knocks and bump over time that led to them failing before they should. In most cases they are not noticed until they fail the MOT, or the worst-case scenario give up the ghost while we are driving down the road. I have been witnessing to number of these over the years.

There are some tell tail signs to alert us to their wearing out. Most of them do not happen until they are quite loose in the ball joint knuckle. Adverse wear on a tyre is one indicator. This looks like a tracking problem; what sets it apart from tracking is that the tyre looks more worn one side than the other. Another is an occasional slight wobble on the steering when gently braking. Unless you are very tuned in with your vehicle you will not notice it.

Once the bad news is in that your transport failed the MOT it is not that difficult a job to do. But I know there are a couple of 'buts' to take into account, even so, they do not add that much drama to the job.

Once the wheel nuts are loosened jack the vehicle up and place an axle stand under to support it just in case the jack fails. It does happen. Take the wheel off and turn the steering so the steering arm is fully extended this will allow fuller access to the ball joint. The first thing to do is loosen the tack rod end locking nut on the steering arm. These can be difficult to loosen, it is a good idea to soak it in freeing oil. You will have to use a C spanner on this nut so be careful as these spanners have a nasty habit of slipping off. 

Shocking ball joint loose

Now-a-days most ball joints are held in place with a Ni-lock nut the thread above the nut is most likely badly rusted. This is where an impact wrench is handy as this bit of kit will have the nut undone in no time. Again, soak in freeing oil. What happens is the nylon of the nut locks solid on the rusty thread which then brakes the taper hold allowing the whole thing to spin in place. Now the fun begins. If this happens you will need the jack to push the ball joint back into place. This will mean that you almost lift the van off the axle stand to recreate the hold it had. This is one of the only ways of doing it. Now you need a blow torch or nut heater so the nylon can be melted, and the nut expanded. While it is red hot it is possible to put a socket on it to complete the nuts removal. You will need to work quickly as the heat dissipates from the nylon allowing it to reform locking the nut again. Alternatively, you can if you have one use a nut splitter.

If the nut comes off as it should the ball joint now needs to be separated from the hub arm. There are a couple of ways of doing this, use a ball joint separation tool or jar it lose with a heavy hammer, this method is not for the faint heated.  It is my favoured way but then I have had a lot of practice honing it down to a fine art. If you decide to go this route, I suggest binding the handle where it meets the head of the hammer with plastic tape the type electricians use. You will need to wrap it around quite a few times. The reasoning behind this is if you miss, which you will, the hub arm will strike the hammers handle, the tape stops bits being taken out of the handle lessening the chances of the head being broken off. You will need to hit the arm with some force to get it to loosen and in most cases several hits will be required to get it to shift.

Please note: do not use the method described above unless you are confident to do so. Getting it wrong may damage the van and yourself. You have been warned.

wheel nut rotation of tightening

Once off, it is a good idea to count the number of turns it takes to remove the track rod end from the steering rack.

With the new track rod end in hand thread, it on to the arm the number of turns it took to take it off. By doing this it should return the tracking to what it was before you removed the old one. Lessening the need to get the tracking adjusted straight away.

Put the ball joint thread through the hub arm and tighten the nut to (37). Re tighten the steering rack nut to the back of the ball joint, it is a good idea to put a bit of copper grease on the thread to make it easier to undo next time. Put the wheel on, thread the bolts on and nip tight, drop the jack and tighten the wheel nut up to (140) in a diagonal rotation. This makes sure that each bolt is evenly tightened.

Please note that the numbers in the brackets (00) are torque wrench settings in Newton meters.