Fuell Tank Expansion tanks

Post by **west E** » 19 May 2007, 16:18

Hi All,

I have a 2ltr A/C van. I'm in the middle of taking out the fuel tank and have noticed that on both expansion tanks the seal for the pipes going into them are perished completely, one is actually inside the expansion tank!! Anyone know if you can still get the seals??
If i cannot get new seals can i use the fuel tank without the expansion tanks on either side?

cheers

ian

Post by **Rozzo** » 19 May 2007, 17:46

hope someone answers this as i'm thinking of taking my "expansion" tanks off too. can't see the point in em really fer an extra 40 miles of driving?

Post by **toomanytoys** » 19 May 2007, 17:52

The tanks are there for a purpose.. VW (and its accountants) wouldnt have fitted them if they were not required...
Seals were still available from VW and JK.. need to replace the hoses too..

Dont understand the "extra 40 miles of driving"....... the tanks dont hold fuel they are breather/vapor tanks...

Post by **west E** » 19 May 2007, 18:00

I thought jk vw only did the seals for the fuel tank not the expansion tanks.

gonna check while i'm online.

cheers

ian

Post by **Rozzo** » 20 May 2007, 06:44

pull the pipe off one when the bus is full up to the neck and you'll see if they hold fuel

fuel is stored in cold underground tanks, when you fill the van right up in warm weather it starts to expand and fills the "expansion" tanks. they hold around 3/4 gal. each which equates to around 40 miles of driving. i suppose they're kinda essential but they're also a pain in the butt cos of all the crud they trap against the bodywork.

Post by **T3teedub** » 20 May 2007, 07:27

rozzolink wrote:hope someone answers this as i'm thinking of taking my "expansion" tanks off too. can't see the point in em really fer an extra 40 miles of driving?

Sounds like a good plan. My van runs on gas and I only ever keep around two gallons of the hard stuff in the tank. Plenty of room in there for expansion.

Post by **toomanytoys** » 20 May 2007, 09:29

So where do you think the "expanded" fuel will go if you remove them?

and if the tank isnt vented properly, it will pop it open... pee expensive fuel all over the place...

Post by **west E** » 20 May 2007, 19:20

can't find the seals for the expansion tanks. thought this might do it. Get the seal that are used for the fuel tank, drill the holes to match in the expansion tanks and use some fuel line reducer and connect to the tank. Any one think this will work?

cheers

ian

Post by **oorwullie** » 21 May 2007, 09:28

am i missing something here or is it only uk vans have these "seals"?

all the tanks i've seen here (left and right) are connected to breather tubes with 8mm petrol pipe onto short pipes which are part of the expansion tank moulding.

and i've never ever seen petrol in the tanks.fuel vapour is invisible.

owlets · Post by **owlets** » 21 May 2007, 09:47

Having just replaced my tank I can confirm the seals are still available. They are on the top of the tank and the expansion tanks connect to the main tank through them. The tank I've just replaced leaked like a sieve, but on my old petrol Westy, the expansion tank pipes where perished and when I brimmed the tank they used to leak........so you would be mind numbingly stupid to remove them, they are there for a reason

Website · Post by **dbroada** » 21 May 2007, 09:58

One of their purposes is to let the trapped air out of the top of the tank. It is shaped like a on its back B and without any venting in the top it would be impossible to fill.

Post by **SteveW** » 21 May 2007, 10:24

On the top of the expansion tanks there is a seal part number N 901 005 01 Gasket that the Float valve goes in to. part number 251 201 311 B

The pipes from the fuel tank do push on to the mouldings on the bottom of the expansion tank (2 per side) If you need a PDF drawing of this PM me your email.

Post by **oorwullie** » 21 May 2007, 10:48

ah, so we're talking about the wee rubber rings on the petrol tank then?

Post by **west E** » 21 May 2007, 19:14

no i'm talkin about the expansion tanks themselves. The connecting rods seals on both my tanks have perished away to zilch. I have found a supplier of grommets, i'm just gonna run the fuel lines into them.

ta

ian

Post by **oorwullie** » 21 May 2007, 21:12

west E wrote:no i'm talkin about the expansion tanks themselves. The connecting rods seals on both my tanks have perished away to zilch. I have found a supplier of grommets, i'm just gonna run the fuel lines into them.

ta

ian

i'm afraid you've lost me. does yours look like this?

[IMG:480:640]http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y141/o ... CN1187.jpg[/img]

( without the cowshit obviously.)