The glorious smell of petrol

[MidLifeCrisis]

OK - so on a recent trip out we smelled the heady aroma of petrol on our (new to us) 1984 van.
I'm guessing that the culprit is a breather hose to the expansion tanks as the smell was pretty strong up front and more so with a window down and head stuck outside but have set about today to remove/replace all the fuel lines I can get my hands on as per the Wiki advice.
But have a few questions;

1) the breather hoses from the expansion tanks to the fuel tank - can these be replaced without dropping the tank? Wiki seems to suggest yes, but it looks pretty tight in there - anyone got any advice, hints, tips?

2) on the fuel return line (just forward of the bulkhead) there is a little widget that I think is a restrictor (according to Haynes) - the restrictor attaches to the solid return line via a short length of hose - can/should I replace this? I ask because its in a bugger of a location, and it seems to be attached with odd clips that dont look to be easily removed? again, any advice, tips tricks (short of growing longer, thinner arms)

3) I removed the pancake and the air filter box while I was poking around in the engine bay - the inside of the pancake and especially the joints (i.e. to the filter box and to the crankcase ventilation hose) seems to be sticky with a fluid that smells petrol/oil-y - is this normal? Almost like the carb is splashing petrol up into the pancake??? Make any sense to anyone?

Thanks in advance for any help.

[kevtherev]

1) the breather hoses from the expansion tanks to the fuel tank - can these be replaced without dropping the tank

yes

2) on the fuel return line (just forward of the bulkhead) there is a little widget that I think is a restrictor (according to Haynes) - the restrictor attaches to the solid return line via a short length of hose - can/should I replace this?

is it broke?

3) I removed the pancake and the air filter box while I was poking around in the engine bay - the inside of the pancake and especially the joints (i.e. to the filter box and to the crankcase ventilation hose) seems to be sticky with a fluid that smells petrol/oil-y - is this normal?

yes

[Ian Hulley]

The breather hoses are a git to do, just as swapping the tank without it being on a 4 post lift and having stick-like deformed arms is a barsteward.

There's a one-way valve in the return fuel line, leave alone unless it's dripping .

Crankcase vapours pass through the breather tower where they are supposed to condense with the oil dripping back into the crankcase. You may find a milky/oily mess in the beret and air intake duct ... perfectly normal, especially in cold weather.

Ian

[MidLifeCrisis]

Thanks chaps - I'll see how far I get with the breather hoses - can see a day of contorting and swearing ahead.

[Ian Hulley]

Thanks chaps - I'll see how far I get with the breather hoses - can see a day of contorting and swearing ahead.

Enjoy

Ian

[ronsrecord]

Get some bandages in for the cuts and scrapes!

[MidLifeCrisis]

I'm quite looking forward to it now!

[jake1953]

Get some bandages in for the cuts and scrapes!

Perfectly described. Glad to know I'm not alone.

Yes it can be done with the help of a few muttered sweary words.

[Cruz]

If you drop the tank it's also wise to check things that are hidden by it like the handbrake cable and metal clutch and brake pipes

[AdrianC]

Yes it can be done with the help of a few muttered sweary words.

Just did ours the other day - it's not fun, and would have been a LOT easier for the nice German who replaced the fuel tank to do at the time, but... about an hour or so, with the van on the ground. It could have been much quicker if I knew then what I know now...

Fortunately, I only had to do the flexi bits to the plastic hard lines, from the nipples - the nipples themselves and inner breathers were all OK. So - two each side on the tank, and two each side on the expansion tanks.

The front one on the tank, and the expansion tank ones are all a doddle. Easy to see what you're doing.

The rear one on the tank, though... You can JUST get a finger onto the end, by sticking your hand in and reaching backwards. I found using the "wrong" hand easier - so left hand for the right side, and vice-versa. On the right hand side, it's made much worse by the filler pipe. So - get to really know where the stub you're aiming for is. Get your hand in there, and wiggle about until you can get it first time every time. Then cut your bit of tube to length. Don't fit the plastic pipe to it yet. Now - the secret that I learnt the hard way. You can push and wiggle and curse as much as you like. You can chamfer a bit off the inside of the tube. It will NOT go on easily. UNTIL... you put a dob of washing-up liquid onto the inside end of the pipe. Just a trace. Once that was done, it went on first time...

Ours no longer smells on fill-up, and no more dripping when it's full.

On the LH side, though, our expansion tank had a broken nipple - still hanging on, but barely. Obviously somebody in the past had noticed this, because they'd gobbed the nipple full of mastic... <rolls eyes> I just ignored the tank entirely, and put a single bit of tube in a U between the plastics. Seems to make no difference on filling.