YJ Gas Tank Questions!

Use a new gasket with no sealant. That's all I know.

Earle

There may be, but I did not find one. Much like the "1 gallon flush" cups found in toilets, I expected to find one or more.

Possibly, but I don't see how they got it out of the tank. My CJ tank has pretty small holes.

Agreed.

... 3) What kind of sealant do I use to re-install the unit into the tank? It had a flexible plastic gasket, I kept it, it looked ok.

RTV Gasket maker o.k?

Not in her YJ. Big square hole. Pump and sender plate bolt in from the top to the HDPE tank with 8 or ten small bolts. There is a plastc gasket thing in between. Looks like its was liquid at one time, but it's solid and flexible and intact. I suspect some RTV gasket maker applied to both sides should be ok, I just wanted to hear it from someone else.

Right now the Jeep is running, I'm waiting for it to run out of gas so I can see what the guage reads. The tank is on the ground.

I suspect, what you said about the plastic baffle may be right. I'm thinking it is interfering with the float. I may have to resort to just bending the float wire more to keep it away from the baffle and just go with whatever reading it gives us.

Replacement tank.

Fuel sender wasn't put in right and it hangs on the baffle inside.

Just a guess...

Mike

Jeepers wrote:

No, RTV won't take raw gas.

It should be an O ring, sounds like yours got flattened.

I would get a new one.

Or a gasket maker that is gas proof, but then taking it off later could be an issue.

Mike

No, not a replacement tank. But the float must be hanging on the baffle. It's been running for an hour, now, and still the guage has not moved.

Thanks, I appreciate it anyway.

Crap.

A Google revealed this:

I'm gonna follow this guy with the float.

My guess now. Since the gasket is not OEM & I found part of the OEM gasket in the tank, I think the pump and float assembly is a replacement. And not the exact replacement at that. The float wire hits the baffle side. I can see inside the tank through the filler while shining a MiniMag into the vent neck. I can see that the wire hits. So I bent it. But I couldn't get it bent in a way that changed the interference. So I used a pair of those power scissors (that cut pennies) to cut away the side of the baffle until I got no interference and a proper empty reading.

The OEM piece was obviously rubber. I'll pick up a new one in town tomorrow.

I think he had the same problem I did, he did manage to bend it to work. I hope that I didn't mess up the baffle too bad. :^/

Yeah, it's rubber and no sealer is required. Be careful not to over tighten the bolts. Those gaskets will split and leak if over tightened.

There also is 2 flavors of units, one for the 20 gallon and one for the

2. Mike

Jeepers wrote:

Good point, and if you want your fuel gauge to work "right" and not register full when there is anything over 15 gallons, then you will install the 20 gallon unit. This seemed like a pricey alternative to me when I did the 15 to 20 gallon upgrade, so I still have the 15 gallon unit.

Earle

I those rare instances when I will find myself going past one of those "Last Gas for 200 miles" signs (west Texas) I won't care how full my tank is, I'll simply top it off and carry a Jerry can. I'm really, really interested in how EMPTY my tank is. I'd rather know how close to empty I am than how close to full, If I had to pick. :^)

I believe the white bowl is there to help keep debris out of the fuel going into the fuel pump. If there is any dirt or heavy debris in your fuel, it's likely that it won't pass the white bowl barriar to even get close to the fuel pump. Nick

Thanks. I ended up trimming the top edge of the bowl down so the float wire won't hit any more. I cut a 1.25" deep and 4" long strip off the top of one side.

It was real fun too. I would peer into the filler neck of the tank while shining a maglight into the vent neck. One eye, no depth perception. But I could just see the wire hitting the cup. The fumes burn my eye. Doh.

Trial & error showed me that what was happening was that my wife would drive til a quarter tank and fill up immediatley. I, on the other hand would drive til the guage showed a quarter tank and run out of gas. Difference was when the guage showed a quarter tank, it had anywhere between a 1/4 tank and none, because the float stopped going down when it hit the cup.

So after trimming the cup and bending the wire it now goes all the way down and no longer binds.

Knowledge of empty outweighs knowledge of full.

I always tag my gauge when the needle stops moving and watch how many more miles I can get before I am empty. I carry a full gas can. I have gone from 0 miles to 75 miles left on different vehicles.

I figure purposely running out of gas, then shutting it down fast and putting more in before the pump spins up again better not hurt it, if it does, then I needed a new pump soon anyway and better I find out close to home.

Same goes for a carb engine, I do prime those though to save on battery drain, it is a long suck for a mechanical pump.

Mike

Works for me. But the wife is another story.

The maglight is too big, hard to see around. A match works better!! Tookie - 88YJ,"Money Hungry"

Bic.

I considered a cylume at one point.