Rust In Petrol

[g4zur]

Hi All
Gareth returns for more help.
Car stopped during tick over, Was warming engine up following oil and filter change, Just wouldn't start, didn't even try to fire. The fuel filter I had fitted was brown. I removed filter fitted a new one, full of rust. still wouldn't try to fire up.
Took out plugs, Noticed No1 plug dry. 2 3 and four wet with petrol as I would expect. On further investigation found after stripping carb that rust had blocked Carb No1. Will order a full Carb service kit.

Question 1.
I have waxstats fitted. Do I order direct replacement or older jets with as advertised brackets to suit older type main jets?

Question 2.
I will buy a new tank as I think that's the root of the problem, is it difficult to replace the fuel tank, I am a keen amateur but not a mechanic.

The car was not running too well just prior to oil change. especially on warm tickover.

All replies gratefully received, Thank you.

Best regards as always
Gareth.

G.P.Albrighton

[nick]

<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Century Gothic, Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"><i>Originally posted by g4zur</i>

Hi All
Gareth returns for more help.
Car stopped during tick over, Was warming engine up following oil and filter change, Just wouldn't start, didn't even try to fire. The fuel filter I had fitted was brown. I removed filter fitted a new one, full of rust. still wouldn't try to fire up.
Took out plugs, Noticed No1 plug dry. 2 3 and four wet with petrol as I would expect. On further investigation found after stripping carb that rust had blocked Carb No1. Will order a full Carb service kit.

Question 1.
I have waxstats fitted. Do I order direct replacement or older jets with as advertised brackets to suit older type main jets?

Question 2.
I will buy a new tank as I think that's the root of the problem, is it difficult to replace the fuel tank, I am a keen amateur but not a mechanic.

The car was not running too well just prior to oil change. especially on warm tickover.

All replies gratefully received, Thank you.

Best regards as always
Gareth.

G.P.Albrighton
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></font id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">

Question 2
You may not need a new tank if there are no holes in the bottom. But you do need to remove it, flush it, and possibly line it so it doesn't rust again. The removal is straight forward but time consuming. Just follow the steps in the manual. There are no short cuts to doing this job that I know of.

[img][IMG]http://i615.photobucket.com/albums/tt234/nickmi/TR7%201975/Yellow.jpg[/img]
nick
'79 TR7 DHC
'76 TR7 FHC

[Beans]

If you are going to rebuild the carburettors it is always good to renew the jets as they do wear due to the spring loaded needles.
This is pretty easy to spot (and measure)
In that case it makes sense to change to "solid" jets.
But also check the needless, because they also do wear, and they are cheap.

<center>
<font color="blue"><i>1976 TR7 FHC (needs some TLC ...)
1980 TR7 DHC (my first car, a.k.a. Kermette)
1981 TR7 FHC (Sprint engined a.k.a. 't Kreng
</font id="blue"><b>[url="http://www.tr7beans.blogspot.com/"]<u><b><font size="3"><font color="red">My full Weblog</font id="red"></font id="size3"></b></u>[/url]</b></i></center>

[Workshop Help]

Back to the real issue at hand, the contaminated fuel tank. The first step in this saga is to drain the tank by removing the sending unit, prior to removing the tank from the car. As the back of the car will be elevated, a good size puddle of gasoline/water/nasty crud will be just to the front of the sending unit hole. This will need to be removed with a small hand pump and a bunch of towels.

Next, if at all possible, with a flashlight, peer inside the hole to check for rust flakes inside the tank. Then, tap around on the lower outside of the tank to check for rusted thru spots. If the answer is, YES! to either of these little tests, the tank will need to be removed.

However, if the tank is solid without rust thru spots and the inside of the tank is pretty clean, you may opt to gamble on this fuel tank draining and refill with fresh clean gasoline. You will, of course, purchase several clear plastic fuel filters and install two of them. One will be installed on the line coming directly from the sending unit and the other between the pump and the carburetors.

Finally, get in the habit of near constantly observing the filters for the presence of dirt. Your leftover spare filters won't take up too much space in the glovebox along with the screwdriver and pliers to change it out.

But, if you're not the gambling sort, go ahead, R&R the gas tank and have it professionally cleaned or replaced with a new one.

Mildred Hargis

[Hasbeen]

If the tank is sound, clean it out as Mildred suggests, then give it the POR 15 internal treatment. This will completely coat the inside of the tank, solidifying any rust, & preventing any new rust for quite some time.

My tank was holed. Rusted through from the inside. I repaired the rust area, & did the POR 15 treatment. This lasted 12 years until the sender fitting started leaking, after fitting a new gauge sender.

One tip. You will see the nuts for the tank strap studs in the front bulkhead of the boot. The studs will be sticking out of them. Fit lock nuts to the studs, to stop them turning when you try to undo the strap nuts under the car. This prevents damage to the straps, if you wish to reuse them.

The same should be done for the front studs, which come through the bulkhead behind the seats. This requires removal of the trim from behind the seat, but is worth the Hassle.

Oh, & remember, this is fun.

Hasbeen

[FI Spyder]

My tank issue was complicated by the fact it had been sealed before and it was the sealer that was flaking off, blocking the fuel pump. The hardest part was getting the old sealer out. You don't have that problem but anything other than a remove and seal or remove and replace is just moving the problem down the calendar. Since my FI tank is no longer available I only had one choice. POR-15 done properly is a four part solution. A detergent to clean out varnish, a stripper to clean out rust (I used roofing nails with the stripper to clean out old sealer and it also did an excellent job on the little bit of rust in the tank). Metalready leaves an etched zinc coated surface. Sealer is the magic stuff that seals the tank. Not cheap but it will never rust again, a new tank will (unless you seal it). Link to my process below. You can tidy up everything removed. Good winter project (if it's not too cold were you live but I did mine in the spring).

http://s119.photobucket.com/user/Spit999/slideshow/TR7/Sealing%20Gas%20Tank



- - -TR7 Spider - - - 1978 Spitfire- - - - 1976 Spitfire - - 1988 Tercel 4X4 - Kali on Integra - 1991 Integra - Yellow TCT

[kstrutt1]

The clear plastic filters are not that good, fit one meant for a fuel injected car such as a mondeo you can get one one for around 12 pounds on ebay, they are far better at filtering debris out.

[Workshop Help]

Granted the metal filters are more effective. But, unless you have developed X-Ray vision like some of our resident Supermen around here, and I won't name names but you know who you are, it will not be possible to 'see' the debris build up inside. With the clear plastic filters, as in two in series, the contamination buildup is easy to see as it happens.

I would rather see the problem developing rather than be surprised when the engine sputters to a stop on that proverbial cold rainy night on the other side of the county.

Mildred Hargis

[g4zur]

Once again many thanks for all replies.
Could someone please advise how I remove the waxstat jets. I have fully unscrewed the jet adjuster but jet assembly will not lower/remove. Do you have to unscrew the upper nut, If sow how, can't get a spanner to fit on it properly, Or is it as on other topics I am doing something wrong.
No diagram of waxstats in Haynes manual.
Many thanks as always.
Regards.
Gareth.

G.P.Albrighton

[kstrutt1]

If I remember correctly you unclip the choke linkage, disconnect the fuel pipe from the float bowl and they just pull out.

[g4zur]

Kstrutt1
Many many thanks. I wasn't aware there was a choke linkage. Excuse my ignorance.
Regards
Gareth.

G.P.Albrighton

[g4zur]

Hi All Update.
New none waxstat jets ordered with required brackets plus gasket kit.
Also gone all the way.
Monday morning I will order a new tank, Fuel gauge sender unit,
Tank brackets and fuel pipe. Doing this because I intend to take my TR7 along with me to my grave and I am only a young 58 years LOL.
Best regards and many thanks to all.
Gareth.

G.P.Albrighton

[FI Spyder]

While a friend figures a new tank will give him many years of rust free driving, I would seal it first while it was still out anyways. I figure the POR-15 is the best stuff (as they make magic stuff), there is a problem. It must be drained to cure properly. The sender hole is not the lowest part of the tank so you would have to weld in a bung so it could be properly drained. This had been previously done on my tank when it was previously sealed (it's actually situated in upper front corner of tank but is low point when upside down). See my link in previous post.

Failing this you can keep tank filled with gas (which I do anyways) because the less air in the tank the less condensation you will have.



- - -TR7 Spider - - - 1978 Spitfire- - - - 1976 Spitfire - - 1988 Tercel 4X4 - Kali on Integra - 1991 Integra - Yellow TCT

[Hasbeen]

Have you ordered new rear bump stops.

My tank remove & refit instructions start with "remove the near side bump stop", & that actually means destroy the bump stop.

Hasbeen

[FI Spyder]

I just removed the whole rear suspension, not that hard to do and you can do all the stuff you need to do while it's out (like cleaning it up). Can't imagine getting the tank back up with anything in the way. It was a bit of a Chinese jigsaw puzzle as it was getting the filler hose part of the tank up and in. Not a real big deal but took a little fiddling. Then when your finished everything will look like this.





- - -TR7 Spider - - - 1978 Spitfire- - - - 1976 Spitfire - - 1988 Tercel 4X4 - Kali on Integra - 1991 Integra - Yellow TCT