Where to buy new / refurbished / used fuel tank?

#1

Hey guys,

My car is an '87 and the fuel tank has been through hell and back. Its now dumping fuel (from the top side of the tank, I think) on the track and needs to go. I was told someone around this forum sells tanks and was hoping someone could point me in the right direction. I don’t care if its new, refurbished, or used (in good shape). I’m mostly interested in keeping cost down (I’m an E30 owner, afterall, lol).

Secondly, my understanding is that I can go with early OR late tanks. Is there any negatives to going with the later tank? Anything else I need to do to make it work?

Thanks a lot,

Anthony

#2

Remember the Grassroots Magazine E30. The article that talked about their fuel issues talked about finding and installing a new fuel tank. That article had references on where to find tanks. If you can’t find the article, give them a call and talk to Scott Lear.

As I recall they found a new tank for $150.

Alternately, talk to Jim Levie about how to bring an old rusty tank back from the dead by acid washing and coating.

#3

I, like GRM, ordered a NEW tank from eBaY. I’m sure there aren’t too many people selling new tanks.

#4

The last time I checked, a new late model tank ran around $150, but a new early production tank (like the one in your 87) ran closer to $300. A leak from the top of the tank can be from a rust hole, or a failure of the seal or a hose on the fuel level sensor/pump flange. If the leak is from a rust hole, you need a replacement tank. A leak where the filler line attaches to the tank is also a possibility. A bit of investigation should provide a clue as to where the problem lies.

It is possible to retrofit the later model tank into your 87. The gas gauge will read wrong unless you also swap in a later model cluster and you’ll have to move fuel filter. The early production fuel system has an in-tank lift pump and an external high pressure pump. The later production tank uses only an in-tank high pressure pump.

#5

I bought my new tank on ebay from theradiatorconnection for my 1988 is. It’s the same place the GRM tank came from. Nice guys. Good tank. Decent price. The only issue I have and I don’t know if it’s related or not but I had no problems with running my old tank to near empty. With the new tank I can’t run below half a tank now without it starving in right hand turns.

#6

On an 88 or later car this could be a problem with the siphon in the tank. The early tank had a cross-over tube between the tank halves, but the later tank uses the returning fuel to siphon fuel from the left to the right side. Perhaps a not so obvious cause would be a weak pump that isn’t able to maintain a high flow.

#7

Temporary thread hi-jack…Is there a way to check/fix the siphon?

#8

There’s no way to get to the siphon, so if it not functional you’ll have to replace the tank. I suppose you could test the siphon by filling just the left side via the level sensor port and running the fuel pump to see if fuel is pushed over to the right side of the tank.

Keep in mind that operation of the siphon depends on having normal flow from the high pressure pump. The siphon is powered by the return fuel flow from the FPR. A weak pump, clogged filter, or anything else that reduces flow will impact operation of the siphon.

#9

I had the same problem due to a rust hole in the top of the tank.
I bought a new fuel tank from Rock Auto…$181.79

http://www.rockauto.com

#10

sounds like a great price! I just ordered one, too! Was the quality ok? Was it bare metal, or painted?

Thanks for the recommendation!

#11

sounds like a great price! I just ordered one, too! Was the quality ok? Was it bare metal, or painted?

Thanks for the recommendation!

#12

oops, double post

#13

Z3SpdDmn wrote:

[quote]sounds like a great price! I just ordered one, too! Was the quality ok? Was it bare metal, or painted?

Thanks for the recommendation![/quote]

You definitely want to have this done @ DTR, Anthony, or at least use Kevin’s lift.

I did this job in my driveway back before MidOhio - not real fun.

Let me know if you need a hand.

#14

There was no way I was doing it in my garage :wink:

Thanks!

#15

Tank showed up today! Man, that was fast! Haven’t opened the box yet, though…

#16

Well - I too referenced the GRM article and just ordered a tank for my '90 from theradiatorconnection on E-bay.

Since Rsott59 and GRM both had fuel starvation issues with this tank I wonder if I have just solved my rusty tank problem but created another - fuel starvation in right hand turns…

If I read JLevie’s posts correctly, the fuel rail return line must dump back into the left side of the tank - thus keeping the left and right sides in balance. Not sure how this “siphon” from left to right would work inside the tank - it seems that you still have a giant driveshaft hump in the middle of the tank. I don’t see how fuel gets from left to right once the level drops below the floor of the hump - except for hard left turns - which would slosh fuel from the left sump to the right sump…

Maybe if I split the fuel rail return and made it dump into both the left and right tank sumps? Is there a vent outlet on the right side that can be used?

Jim

#17

There is a siphon assembly inside of the tank. The returning fuel powers the siphon, which lifts fuel over the drive shaft hump. If you look in the tank you’ll see bits of the siphon.

#18

OK - I’ll have both plugs out of my old BMW and new E-bay tanks - so I can take a good look inside and see if they are identical.

Based on the problems that people have had with the new E-bay tanks, I wonder if they somehow “forgot” to include the siphon feature in the new tanks???

Has anyone bought one of the Radiator Connection new tanks and NOT had a fuel delivery problem in long right hand turns with less than 1/2 tank?

If the siphon is in the new tank, and is powered by the return fuel flow, then my idea of splitting the return into a left & right feed would probably make the siphon weak - and make the problem worse…

There have also been posts about new pumps solving the right hand turn problem, but I’m almost certain that GRM put a brand new pump into their new ebay tank and still had fuel delivery problems…

Jim

#19

My new radiator connection.com tank arrived today - I think I will start a new thread on the install - keep it easy to find for a search.

Will start install tomorrow hopefully. I’ll try to take lots of pics and document my mis-adventures

Jim

#20

sorry - double post