how to siphon fuel?

[SonicCougar99]

Sorry for the bump, but I need help on this subject. I have a little less than half a tank of gas, and I need to replace my fuel pump. I want to get as much gas out of the tank as possible before I pull the pump so I don't lose a bunch of gas all over the ground. I obviously can't use the pump to pump it out, since its bad. Please help, I'm stranded 200 miles away from home and I need to get my Jeep back running again!!

 

[goodburbon]

I'm assuming you have a 99 due to your sig. Best bet is a floor jack under it and some sort of load spreader to keep you from poking a hole in the tank (like a board), with only a half a tank it is heavy but managable. You can drop it a little bit, unplug the pump and hoses, then roll it out and drain it into other containers to make reinstallation easier.

 

[Jeepcreep]

Hi,
I found it was possible to empty the tank by removing the return fuel line at the gas tank and then using a 500 ml suction gun and some tubing I was able to syphon all the fuel out. I managed to drop the tank, change the pump and put it all back in about 5 1/2 hours. For the hanger bolts use plenty of PB blaster or such and work the nut backwards and forwards a bit at a time, if you try and unwind it all in one go something will break. HTH

 

[SonicCougar99]

Actually its an 89, sorry. The 99 is for my 99 Mercury Cougar that I have as my secondary playtoy.

 

[kastein]

What I did - bent a carriage bolt. However, not as strong as you could get... if you can cancel the stealership order, get two of J324 0023 (MOPAR part number) - here is one seller, very reasonable price:
http://funjeepsparts.com/webstore/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=12_128&products_id=8639 $1.92 - I think this may even be cheaper than a carriage bolt at home depot!

I am pretty sure the bolts are 3/8-UNC (3/8-16) so you can then go to Home Depot and get two stainless steel nylock nuts (nylocks or loktite ABSOLUTELY REQUIRED for a gas tank hangar) and two stainless steel washers. Make sure your hangar straps are not rusted at the middle and make sure you put the rubber sheaths back on them else they will wear a hole in the new tank + skidplate.

Speaking of which, you can leave the skidplate off probably... all it does is hold a bunch of gunk and promote rust, as well as hiding dents by popping back out. You'll probably want a good offroading skidplate anyways.

EDIT: getting the fuel pump connector undone can be interesting. You have to push a tiny little red latch tab, slide the red latch out, then pry up on the latch it holds down (yes, that is a tab latching a latch in to keep a latch down) and gradually wiggle the connector apart. Mine had 12 years worth of road dirt in it and took me a while to disconnect.

EDIT EDIT: wow, the original poster has long since solved his problem. Ah well, at least anyone who searches will find the info now... SonicCougar, good luck getting that fuel pump out. The plastic retaining ring and top-loading pump + gasket in those is a royal pain, I'd strongly suggest buying a new locking ring from Quadratec, it's part number 5200 5389 (MOPAR, QT's is 51306.120) and costs ten bucks. Then you can just chop the old one instead of trying to unscrew it from the gasket it's stuck to. RockAuto has a tool that can be used to tighten the new one easily.

 

[SonicCougar99]

Thats the problem, I need this car back running by tonight!! I'm 200 miles away from home and I'm scheduled to work tomorrow.

 

[kastein]

Go to the nearest junkyard (wherever it is) and rig something up real quick. You can get a gas tank AND pump for 50 bucks at most junkyards, just stick it in the trunk or something I guess... run hoses. If you can get a tank and pump you actually could probably replace the whole thing by tonight.