what's this container?

[jake1953]

There is a plastic container under the n/s/f/ wheel arch in the top right corner. there are two pipes coming from the bottom of this heading over the chassis towards the centre of the vehicle. It's dark now and can't follow the pipes(missus won't let me spend more time on it tonight)and I can't see anything in haynes manual.
I'll loose sleep tonight if Idon't find out what it's for. I've only had the van(my first) for 4 weeks but why ahve I become obsessed with it already?
Can anyone help

[Ian Hulley]

Petrol tank expansion tank ... there's one on't t'other side too (hopefully)

Ian

[irishkeet]

https://club8090.co.uk/wiki/Fu ... ther_tanks" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

irishkeet

[jake1953]

Thanks for the info. I wondered why it was empty. Isn't life simple when surrounded by knowledgeable people

[Ian Hulley]

In theory they help ballance out and breathe the 2 halves of the saddle shaped tank ... in practice the hoses perish leaking fool's gold and the tanks hold salty crap against your seatbelt mountings

Ian

[kevtherev]

In theory they help ballance out and breathe the 2 halves of the saddle shaped tank ... in practice the hoses perish leaking fool's gold and the tanks hold salty crap against your seatbelt mountings

Ian

then the water gets in to the tank, gums up the filter and corrodes the accelerator pump spring in the carb

[irishkeet]

A job on my (long) list is to remove these at some stage as per the links below

http://www.brick-yard.co.uk/forum/topic35985.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

https://club8090.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.p ... sion+tanks" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

irishkeet

[ghost123uk]

Mine are OK at present and whenever I use a jet wash I make sure I jet well in that area to clear any water holding crud.

Having said that, if I had a problem in that area, I would try removing them.
The Drivers side hump can breathe through the vented filler cap and I would put a (petrol pipe material) breather to a high point on the passenger side part of the tank.

Note = this modification may invalidate your warranty

[irishkeet]

Hi

This is the info i kindly got from Griff71 on the brickyard for removing the tanks
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All i did was remove and bypass the drivers side with a secured length of fuel pipe. (you have 2 outlets on each side of fuel tank so 4 in total, 1 into the expansion tank and 1 returning from expansion tank into fuel tank.) The expansion tanks were a environmentally friendly thought by VW, basically rather than your fuel tank breathing straight into the atmosphere it went into the expansion tank and back into the fuel tank. Also an aid that should you corner hard with a full tank of fuel it would not spill out. Hence why you must block them off but still allow to breath. My 71 bug from standard just has a hole at the top if the filler neck(come back to this). I basically bypassed one side and on the passenger side i have a fuel return for a Subaru conversion and a small filter (mini oil breather filter.........halfords) this has not caused any problems for me and i have never lost fuel or smelt fumes. I am a smoker so trust me i would want to do something about it if i could. If you regularly fill your tank and corner like your bus is on rails and find you are losing fuel then i would consider a small hole at the top of your filler neck. T3s may have one i havent checked in which case if you do not need a return go ahead and bypass both sides. If i wasnt running a return line i would possibly do the latter anyway. I hope this helps and covers what you wanted to know, i am not a T3 guru but carry out all mods and work myself and this was carried out in April 08 and no problems as yet and the bus has done 16,000 miles since and i occasionally do drive it very hard, so no worries there then. By the way i had to cut them out and replace some metal behind them as it appears they are complete rust traps. Better off in the bin in my opinion.
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when I drop the tank to see what state its in Ill remove the expansion tanks
irishkeet

[clartsonly]

at least you didn't try and fill it with washer fluid.

I dont think mine are in use as I have a hole in the top of the fuel tank.

[irishkeet]

at least you didn't try and fill it with washer fluid.

I dont think mine are in use as I have a hole in the top of the fuel tank.

hi
fuel tank or filler hose?

cheers
irishkeet

[Hypnovan]

"I'll loose sleep tonight if Idon't find out what it's for. I've only had the van(my first) for 4 weeks but why ahve I become obsessed with it already?
Can anyone help?"

The only solution we've found to losing sleep about our van is to lose some sleep while in it! Either that or sell it before you spend more than it's worth by keeping it in a decent condition.

HV

[clartsonly]

eh.. it has been explained already it is the fuel tank expansion tank.

mine hole is in the top of the fuel tank, where the clutch pipe goes over if I fill it to the top, it smells and drips of petrol for about 50 miles. I had to replace a section of the clutch pipe when it split and have seen the festering damage myself.