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Sat May 28, 2005 6:16 pm

Anybody had to do the reseal on their tank? Ive seen the kit at GoWesty but am not sure if it is too big a job and/or something to leave to the professionals...
I would appreciate some advice and guidance...

Sat May 28, 2005 6:47 pm

Do you only smell gas when you fill her up? If so check the rubber lines at the top of the tank. You can take a flashlight and see them on the passenger side of the wheel well. There are 3 small lines (1/4 inch I think ) that dry rot and break at the fittings. When you fill up, gas will run on top of tank.

Sat May 28, 2005 6:48 pm

It might just be the vent tubes and grommets on top of your tank. Check them out first.

Sat May 28, 2005 7:08 pm

earthmuffin wrote: It might just be the vent tubes and grommets on top of your tank. Check them out first.

Just what I was going to say! On every Vanagon, the grommets/ hoses are either bad or recently replaced. :wink:

Tue May 31, 2005 12:25 pm

I recently did this last week and didn't find it to be terribly difficult, just tedious. The most difficult part is removing the old and refitting the new plastic vent line that runs horizontally from the gas tank and over the coolant hoses. It's just not easy to find a way to get your hands where they need to be. Bentley isn't entirely helpful, but it does provide some good diagrams. Here's what I did:

.5) Undue ground from battery.
1) Drain tank. I ran it down low, then undid the hose that runs to the fuel pump and let the last few gallons flow into a gas can. Do same with return line on driver's side.

2) Remove filler neck. Mine was attached differently than what Bentley showed. Three screws attached it at the point where you put the nozzle in, rather than the hose clamp inside the wheel well. Once you get that detached, you just have to work it out of the gasket at the tank.

3) Remove vent lines from the two tanks above the wheel wells. And make a note as to which hose attaches to which nipple, though I'm not sure if that matters.

4) Remove the bigger plastic vent line that runs over the coolant hoses. This is a bitch to get your hands through the wheel wells to the top of the tank where the ends are plugged into the gaskets. Once you can get there, its a bitch to get the leverage to pull them out, and be careful not to let dirt fall into the hole once it's out.

5) Drop the tank.
(a)I used floor jack to support tank. Then unscrewed and removed the support bars, or whatever they're called. Then I lowered the tank just enough to be able to get my hands above it.
(b) Unplug fuel level sender. Located on driver's side.
(c) Lower tank rest of the way and pull it out.

6) Replace rubber hoses. Mine had 8 short lengths of rubber hoses which connected to the tank, longer plastic lines, and the venting tanks. The plastic hoses seemed perfectly fine so I just repaced all the rubber ones. This is where I found my leak-- a severely cracked small rubber hose that connected one of the plastic lines to the bigger plastic vent tube. Use diagonal cutters (the kind that look like pliers) to cut the factory clamps that are currently on the hoses. This can be tough if the dike sisn't big enough, or your hands aren't strong enough, and there's not enough leverage to cut the clamps. I followed Go Westy's advice that these lines are not under pressure and just used zip ties to re-clamt the hoses. It is much easier than screwing regular hose clamps on all those connections. Volks Cafe recommends not using any clamps, but hell, I thought I'd be a little careful.

7) Replace the gaskets. Just be careful to not get dirt in your tank.

8) Now the fun part. Put the tank back in. Basically, just do everyhting in reverse. Again, the hardest part is going to be putting the plastic vent tube, and filler neck vet tube back into the gaskets when the tank is back in. Before I replaced the tank, I routed that tube over the coolant hoses and let it balance there. Then I put the tank back in. Then cursed and swore as I tried to plug the tubes back into the gaskets, with my arms fully extended under the wheel wells. Fun stuff.

In all, roughly 3.5 hours.

Good luck.

Sun Sep 14, 2014 1:29 pm

My first fill up after buying my 83 ended up dumping what looked like 2 quarts of gas on the ground. it just ran out from the all over the bottom of the tank and continued to run out as I drove around. I was seriously sad about spilling that much gas as it only takes a tiny amount to pollute hundreds of gallons of water! And I was freaking about owning a bus for about 2 hours before watching it go up in flames! After prayers and many miles I made it home. 2800 plus miles only filling up 10 gallons at a time!
Anyway I found that one of the plastic fittings on the front, top of the tank had cracked right in half. Sad thing is the PO had warned me about the issue and had bought the Go Westy kit & never installed it. I now want to do the tank vapor system rebuild, but do i really want to just hope that those plastic fittings won't break again next time?! I'm going to try to find brass fittings somewhere. While i'm working on the fuel system I'm going to replace the lines to the injectors at the engine and put Van Cafe's aluminum rails in too.
Anybody know if the vent system being open like it is could somehow be causing a rich running issue I'm having? I got black plugs and I know the mileage is way down too, like maybe 11 to 14 highway.
B

Sun Sep 14, 2014 2:08 pm

Check this thread:
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=550400

Replacement plastic Ts are only $5: http://www.busdepot.com/251201157a

Be very careful replacing the sender Oring. The plastic sender can get chewed up by the tank and not seat properly if you don't do it right. Details in the thread.

Sun Sep 14, 2014 3:39 pm

Professionals? Most mechanics who work on cars, including several
here, will butcher this job. Unless you have a person who has had
years of experience on just vanagon, in your neck of the woods, do the job yourself!
This way even if you mess things up, you can fix it.
This job is actually real easy if you know the tricks.... like a lot of vanagon
repair jobs.

brownbetty wrote: Anybody had to do the reseal on their tank? Ive seen the kit at GoWesty but am not sure if it is too big a job and/or something to leave to the professionals...
I would appreciate some advice and guidance...

Sun Sep 14, 2014 3:47 pm

We do 3 or more a week here at the shop. We replace everything, I use new German tanks, Gowesty reseal kits, and valve seals in the expansion tanks. It's a big 3 hour job on a hoist to do it right. We then pressurize the whole system with nitrogen smoke before I fill it with fuel.
Don't cut corners and it'll treat you well at least as long as the original did. I think the ethanol saturated fuel rots the original rubber faster than the replacement.
Jeff.

Sun Sep 14, 2014 6:51 pm

Did the fuel lines/pump/filter preemptive replacement this summer using this van-cafe kit: http://www.van-cafe.com/home/van/page_499_499/fuel-line-replacement-kit.html

Also dropped and cleaned the fuel tank installing VC's upgraded reseal kit. Includes the crossover pipe with aluminum instead of plastic parts: http://www.van-cafe.com/home/van/page_493_506/fuel-tank-reseal-kit-a.html This job btw was done at a local shop by licensed mechanics (who work on vanagons!) a few years ago and the new tank started leaking when full soon after :-(

If you're in there already, a new fuel level sender and seal makes sense too. When pulling the fuel level sender, carefully note its position before loosening it so the replacement is oriented directly. I replaced the working fuel pump (now a spare) with a new one as well as all the other bits in the interest of long haul reliability. If you're dropping the tank, replacing everything associated is prudent, and not that expensive in terms of parts. If rust is an issue, make sure you thoroughly treat the area above the tank and the top of the tank before completely lifting in place. The tank seams press up directly against the frame rails, so pay extra attention to these areas while the tank is lowered. Removing the two front tires makes the job a bit easier as you'll have to reach in over the frame section right behind the shock towers to push the vent fittings into the tank during re-assembly. Do this before you fully raise the tank back into position to leave some room for your hands.

If you're doing the tank with the van up on jack stands, you can use a few extra stands to support the tank partially raised into final position during reassembly as you address the top vent fittings.

Mon May 04, 2015 5:02 am

I've finally started my tank repair.
I found this nice write up for tank removal at:
http://gerry.vanagon.com/files/technical/how-to/vanagon-gastank-removal.txt
I opted for Van Cafe's aluminum stuff too. Their kit is stocked with the correct seals and lines too. denwood's on the money too. If you read the write up that poor fellow was in there repeatedly! while you're huffing the gas, get it all done right the first time. I found a vdo sender unit that is an exact swap too. Ramps have been really nice, they make bus high enough to get those bars out (I had to dig mine in the gravel a bit tho) I have engine fuel lines to replace too. I'm also putting in those billet fuel rails Van Cafe sells to eliminate the 31 year ago plastic oem vw jobs. No engine fires. I'll post pic soon.
Right now, i'm rying to decide if the vapor lines to the top of the expansion tanks and back to the charcoal need replaced? They look pretty good and most of my grommets and seals looked OK anyway... Bentley has a pressure test to try...ugh.

Mon May 04, 2015 5:07 am

Get a nice powerful flashlight and look into the area above the gas tank where all the lines are and also look at your filler tube. If you take off the passenger front wheel you can get a better look. See what's going on, look for stains and cracks in the seals. As Yogi Berra said " you can learn a lot by looking"

John

Mon May 04, 2015 7:19 am

Get a set of ramps cheap ones from harbor freight , I like having a creeper made sliding around under the camper easy. get a floor jack and a piece of 12x12 plywood something to protect he tank and spread the load.

drain the tank before you remove it.
listed above are directions I wont bore you...

on the ramps you have plenty of room to work and get the tank clear. its an easy job two people can do it very fast. there is nothing hard about it. pay attention to details.

I would also do the hard line kit if your going to pull out the tank it will allow you to get to the line in the fire wall and you will have every line in the bus replaced. I used the go westy kit if you do get their pliers you must have them to secure the clamps. The clamps they use make life easy.

your first time maybe 4 hours depending on how quickly you want to work.. just give yourself the day and take your time. nothing about it is hard at all.

Mon May 04, 2015 9:05 am

I just did this in march!
The crossover over tube I got with my gowesty kit pinched
on reinstall! I had to get 3/4 inch hose make it longer so it
Would reroute around previous tight space.
I marked my vent lines so I'd be able to tell what went where.
Take pix and take ur time. It's EZ and tedious.
All my hoses and grommets were trash.
Thing to remember is to order the expansion tank grommets
as they didn't come with my kit. I found out the hard way.
New tank sender too and u'll probably have to shave off a little
bit of the plastic tabs. EZ. Also make sure ur new o ring
For the sender is coated in graphite and not pinched when
Installing .
No leaks and sender is working.
81 westy aircooled.

Mon May 04, 2015 9:28 am

david2676 wrote: Get a set of ramps cheap ones from harbor freight...

don't do this one if you plan on being underneath the van.

Mon May 04, 2015 9:40 am

Just did this last week for the second time (different vans). I took the time to wire brush the surface rust and repaint the top of the tank (happend to have orange rust paint). They usually rust through from the top (surprisingly) so that should save me dropping the tank before the grommets and vent lines need replacing again. one vent line was rotted off, resulting in 1/2" of water, mud and spiders in the tank. Glad I dropped it and cleaned it out! Used an old fuel pump and a long hose to suck the scunge out.

One tip I'd add to the step-by-step is to brush all the crud away from the grommets and the fuel filler seal before you pull the fittings out and stuff some rags in the holes when you do pull them out to prevent crud from entering as you drop the tank.

Mon May 04, 2015 2:31 pm

I just did my tank this weekend and really didn't have too many problems.
It wasn't ideal either!
If you do the complete reseal and heartily recommend it as my vent hoses literally came apart in my fingers and the roll-over float valve seals came apart inside the tank...

Brush off the top off the tank and blow it off if you have an air compressor handy. A transmission jack definitely makes a one man job easier.
I would buy new float valves and replace the cross-over fittings-original plastic still good, but they are 30 yr. old plastic which are very brittle.
I used the van- cafe kit and it was a good kit.. The aluminum fittings are an improvement and a problem at the same time. The vent line to the overflow tanks on the original plastic come off these at an upward angle. On the new aluminum they are 90° to the top of the valve so the vent line has a harder time going upwards to the overflow tank. It's doable, but not as easy as the original.

If your going to do the seal on the level float valve I would buy a new level sensor-what's the point of having to drop the tank again?
Do the level sensor first as this can be a real PITA as found out by others here in this thread:

http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=513681&highlight=tank+reseal
if your tank is original you will not have this problem as it has the upward bend of the tags they are talking about.

Good luck!