Draining fuel tank

[Phillip]

I need to replace the filler pipe on my '96 STS, but I just filled the fuel tank the other day. The fuel will have to be drained from the tank before the filler pipe is disconnected. I reviewed the archives and found lots of good information about the job, but one question still remains. How to get the fuel out of the tank. Someone suggested a simple pump, but I have had no success getting a hose into the tank through the filler. I have disconnected the fuel filter but I can't get any fuel out this way either.

Any suggestions would certainly be appreciated?

[JimD]

It might be a bit tedious, but you could attach a hose on the tank line at the filter and run the hose into a suitable container. Then sit in the driver's seat and turn the ignition switch ON then back to OFF repeatedly. The pump will run for two seconds every time you turn the key to ON.

Let us know how long it takes to pump out 18 gallons that way.

[BodybyFisher]

I was not under the impression that the gas had to be drained for this job as long as the fuel is below the filler.. I would drive the car till I had a quarter of a tank and do the job.. I do not believe its necessary to drop the tank either... Are you reading this in the manual?

[Phillip]

1.5 hours.

I tried that approach. Each cycle of the pump moves 3 oz of gas. Each cycle takes about 7 seconds (2 on, 5 off as per the shop manual) Therefore to pump 18 usgallons would take just over 90 minutes. Further it would require 774 cycles on the ignition.

I suppose I could do it this way, but I was hoping for something a little bit easier on the car.

The 1.5 hours really doesn't sound too bad.

Body by fisher is right of course. You don't need to lower the tank to remove the filler. Unfortunately my tank is topped right up. I only need to have it down about 1/2 tank or less since the gas will pool at the front of the tank when it is jacked up in the rear.

As for draining the tank, I was hoping to get it fixed before going on a trip this week, but I may just have to take the other car.

[JimD]

1.5 hours.

I tried that approach. Each cycle of the pump moves 3 oz of gas. Each cycle takes about 7 seconds (2 on, 5 off as per the shop manual) Therefore to pump 18 usgallons would take just over 90 minutes. Further it would require 774 cycles on the ignition.

I suppose I could do it this way, but I was hoping for something a little bit easier on the car.

The 1.5 hours really doesn't sound too bad.

Not going to hurt the car. Battery might be sagging, however.

[Ranger]

There should be a way to bypass the shut off after 2 seconds. Maybe jumpering the relay? That would alow you to run the pump to pump it down.

[JimD]

Need someone with a '96 Seville Service Manual to get the pump schematic. Might be able to do it just by jumpering the oil pressure switch.

[Regis]

Seems to me the easiest way would be to get some clear flexible fuel tubing from a hardware store, file the outer front edge of the tubing so it slides in smoothly. Slide it in (turning it if need be) and attach the other end to a syphon. The insertion of the tubing would go a lot smoother if you could get someone to hold the flap door (on the filler neck) open with a long small flat head screw driver.

[BigCat83]

I changed the pipe on my '97 Eldo without draining the tank and on a FULL tank as well. The fill pipe enters the tank near the top. A note: I discovered my leaking fill pipe when I filled the tank.

[SteveJ]

I changed out a fuel tank on an '89 Corsica my son had by using the test conector to the fuel tank which was coming out of the wiring harness behind the battery. Apply 12 volts to it and the pump turns on.

You are streching my memory here but I beleive the connector on my '95 is right by the throttle body (4.9 engine) and is green in color. Look for a connector which has nothing plugged into it. Some place or other they have a direct line to the pump for test purposes.

Maybe we can tweek somebody's memory as to where that connector might be on the 4.6.

[thu]

I dunno about the the 96, but in my 1993 Deville, there's a plug in the engine compartment that you can connect to +12V. That causes the fuel pump relay to energize. It will run the pump indefinitely.

I had to do this once to drop the tank. I disconnected the quick-disconnect in the fuel injection line aft of the engine. It was easy. I just put a hose into a jerry tank and waited a few minutes. It pumped all the fuel out except for a few cups.

[Phillip]

Thanks for the tip. I am going to search my manual to see if I can "hot wire" the fuel pump. In the meantime, I found a replacement pipe at a salvage yard in Nova Scotia. They say the pipe is off a '93 and it had just been replaced before the car was wrecked, so it is in very good condition. For $75, I am going to give it a try, since the new one was quoted as $445 from the local dealer!!!

By the way, they need the VIN to determine which pipe I needed. According to the dealer, there are two models for the '96 STS. One was "KS" but I forget the other one. I checked the shop manual and KS is in the VIN for to identify the SLS, but the dealer insisted that my car is a "KS" model. Does anyone know what this means?

Thanks.

[Phillip]

Thanks for the help everyone. Just to wrap this up, I found a way to drain the tank. As per the suggestions from Thu and Steve, I found a way to use the fuel pump. I simply removed the pump relay and put a jumper across the switch terminals. It just took a few minutes to pump enough gas out of the tank.

Also, I got the $75 fill pipe from the junk yard and it was in almost new condition. If anyone has to do this job however, I would suggest you remove the rear wheel and the plastic splash sheild from the wheel well. I was able to pull the pipe down into the wheel well and out the bottom. This was not a cake walk, but with some patience it will go alright.

Thanks again,

Phillip

[JimD]

Thanks for the feedback; future readers will benefit.