Well for one reason and another my 1993 MK2f Polo has been sat in the garage for about a year.

I had a check on it for the first time in many months the other night and its sprung a leak from the fuel tank area, I'm not fully sure where the leaks coming from yet as i haven't had time to fully check.

It doesn't seem to be from the bottom of the tank as its still holding some fuel, it looks to be more from the pipe leading into the tank (where you put the fuel nozzle in) i could be wrong as i said didn't have a real look.

I'm just wanting to know how easy replacing the fuel tank would be?

If theres a guide for it about (i had a quick search but didn't see anything.

Is there anything i need to know when doing it do's donts that sort of thing.

And also where to pick a new parts up from? I had a look on the bay and wasn't able to find anything.

The car is a 1994 polo mk2f 1024 cc.

Cheers.

pretty easy to replace the fuel tank fella.

disconnect battery (sparks+fuel = :( )

lift the rear seat base, you'll see a black circular access hatch, unscrew this and disconnect hte sender from the tank (when the tank is off the car, you'll need to unscrew the sender and transfer it to your new tank)

jack rear of car up as high as you can and put on axle stand/ramps

syphon any fuel out of the tank

slide yourself underneath and just forward of the spare wheel well you'll see the petrol tank held in place by 2 straps that run front to back across the underside of the tank.

mole grip the two pipes leading to/from the tank to keep the fuel in the lines then remove the pipes from the tank

there is a bolt/nut (i forget which) holding one end of each strap tight up against the car. undo these (may have to scrape away underseal to get a socket on) and your old tank will drop a few inches. it's then held in place by the filler neck/tube and filler boot.

slip the boot and breather pipe off through the petrol flap to give you a bit of room for manoeuvre then rotate the tank/neck and allow it to drop to the ground. i can't remember for sure but i think it's probably easier to see what you're dong if you remove the rear driver's side wheel as well.

in the immortal words of Haynes: "refit is the reverse of removal" (how do you reverse hitting something with a hammer?)

common place for fuel tanks to rot out is the bottom of the filler tube where it curves round. road dirt/mud collects in the bodywork and harbours water etc.

i'm heading down to keighley/oxenhope/ribble valley this weekend and have a mk2/3 fuel tank which i can deliver for £45 all in if you're interested. see thread here:

http://www.clubpolo.co.uk/forum/index.php?...=198395&hl=

hope that helps

mack

Edited 24 June, 201016 yr by macksimus

nice one, cheers for that man.

I wont get a chance to look at the car till friday afternoon. So i wont know about the replacement tank until then.

When is it your down this end then? I'm in bradford.

If you still havnt sold it by friday and i do need i can drop you a message and let you know.

And again thanks for the guide mate.

pretty easy to replace the fuel tank fella.

disconnect battery (sparks+fuel = :( )

lift the rear seat base, you'll see a black circular access hatch, unscrew this and disconnect hte sender from the tank (when the tank is off the car, you'll need to unscrew the sender and transfer it to your new tank)

jack rear of car up as high as you can and put on axle stand/ramps

syphon any fuel out of the tank

slide yourself underneath and just forward of the spare wheel well you'll see the petrol tank held in place by 2 straps that run front to back across the underside of the tank.

mole grip the two pipes leading to/from the tank to keep the fuel in the lines then remove the pipes from the tank

there is a bolt/nut (i forget which) holding one end of each strap tight up against the car. undo these (may have to scrape away underseal to get a socket on) and your old tank will drop a few inches. it's then held in place by the filler neck/tube and filler boot.

slip the boot and breather pipe off through the petrol flap to give you a bit of room for manoeuvre then rotate the tank/neck and allow it to drop to the ground. i can't remember for sure but i think it's probably easier to see what you're dong if you remove the rear driver's side wheel as well.

in the immortal words of Haynes: "refit is the reverse of removal" (how do you reverse hitting something with a hammer?)

common place for fuel tanks to rot out is the bottom of the filler tude where it curves round. road dirt/mud collects in the bodywork and harbours water etc.

i'm heading down to keighley/oxenhope/ribble valley this weekend and have a mk2/3 fuel tank which i can deliver for £45 all in if you're interested. see thread here:

http://www.clubpolo.co.uk/forum/index.php?...=198395&hl=

hope that helps

mack

we're headed down on friday evening but coming down again on thursday of friday the following week for the Beatherder Festival. my girfriend's folks like in oxenhope so we're down there reasonably regularly.

lettucec know how you get on

mack

my 1991 polo 1L carb has just developed a fuel leak where it drips down from just below the filler cap. I'm assuming the neck has rusted somewhere so i hope to drop the tank out and replace it.

I'm a bit of a noob at this stuff, so is the guide posted above also relevant to my polo? is there anything else i need to consider whilst doing this? are there any other jobs worth doing while the tank is out?

as far as i know, the exhaust has to be removed to allow the tank to drop, and its also a bit tight getting the old tank out and the new tank in.

any more help/advice would be awesome!

my 1991 polo 1L carb has just developed a fuel leak where it drips down from just below the filler cap. I'm assuming the neck has rusted somewhere so i hope to drop the tank out and replace it.

I'm a bit of a noob at this stuff, so is the guide posted above also relevant to my polo? is there anything else i need to consider whilst doing this? are there any other jobs worth doing while the tank is out?

as far as i know, the exhaust has to be removed to allow the tank to drop, and its also a bit tight getting the old tank out and the new tank in.

any more help/advice would be awesome!

yeah, it would be exactly the same for your polo, did mine on my 91 1.0 a couple of months ago. I pressure washed it all out underneath while the tank was out, treated bits of rust and black hammerited the rear suspension. You're supposed to change the fuel filter after changing the tank, which is really easy to do. Also be very careful and gentle getting the fuel sender out of the tank, i wasn't gentle and the dam guage has never been right since, i've had it out a few times to adjust it without success . Only just found a polo at the local breakers which i'm getting one from.

So be gentle with that, and get the seal for this lined up straight, otherwise with a full tank you get the wiff of fuel around corners.

Hope that helps,

Mat

yeah, it would be exactly the same for your polo, did mine on my 91 1.0 a couple of months ago. I pressure washed it all out underneath while the tank was out, treated bits of rust and black hammerited the rear suspension. You're supposed to change the fuel filter after changing the tank, which is really easy to do. Also be very careful and gentle getting the fuel sender out of the tank, i wasn't gentle and the dam guage has never been right since, i've had it out a few times to adjust it without success . Only just found a polo at the local breakers which i'm getting one from.

So be gentle with that, and get the seal for this lined up straight, otherwise with a full tank you get the wiff of fuel around corners.

Hope that helps,

Mat

cheers dude!

mole grip the two pipes leading to/from the tank to keep the fuel in the lines then remove the pipes from the tank

which pipes are these, and how do you remove them from the tank? is it possible to do this once the tank straps have been removed and the tank has dropped?

Also, i dont have a mole grip- what would be a good substitute?

i found this pic, it appears to be the right one.

unfortunately the haynes manual i got with the car is for a mk1 polo, and doesnt even mention the fuel tank

mole grip the two pipes leading to/from the tank to keep the fuel in the lines then remove the pipes from the tank

which pipes are these, and how do you remove them from the tank? is it possible to do this once the tank straps have been removed and the tank has dropped?

Also, i dont have a mole grip- what would be a good substitute?

under the rear seat base, there is a black metal plate held down with two screws, under this there are two black pipes, these are the out and in for the injection system. These are the ones, just loosen the clamps and they should slide straight off with relative ease. You can clamp them if you want; i didn't when i did mine and it started perfectly with the new tank in, you just get a little bit of petrol seep out when there off. You could push a large screw or something into them as soon as you pull them off if you are really fussed.

Under the same metal plate theres also the cables and connector for the guage, this just pulls off. Then theres a clear plastic tube, this is an air vent tube thingy and runs through the inside of the wing to the filler neck. This needs disconnecting at both ends. It depends what temperature you're in but when it's warm this pipe is soft and slides on and off the little ridge on the pipe easier. What i did was poor some boiling water on end of the pipe after the clamp was realised, it will then pull off with little work. Do the same for putting both ends back on, but dip them in a mug of hot water.

thanks a lot mate, you've been more than helpful!

sorry - came back to this thread a bit late, but just to add that golf tees can be used to plug fuel lines. best use for them IMHO

i have a new injection tank for sale of its injected

sorry - came back to this thread a bit late, but just to add that golf tees can be used to plug fuel lines. best use for them IMHO

cheers, great idea

i have a new injection tank for sale of its injected

non injected

i've just noticed the tank is only held in by one strap- it seems pretty solid and i cant find anywhere selling the straps. will it be ok to continue with one strap?

Mine was only held on with the one strap, holds fine.

In fact was a ball ache to get off with it sitting in so snug!

Also the fuel injection tank does fit, i believe the one i got off Macksimus was for a fuel injection model, the only differnce is at the side of the tank there are 2 extra pipes, just use some extra piping to loop the two outlets together and clip them in place.

Been running mine for a few weeks now with no issues at all.

So glad i changed my tank now, it was just a little hole but when i dropped it off the full feeder pipe corroded away and the remaining fuel i had made a nice mess on the road!

There is only one strap by the way.

RopAyy: you have a mk2f which is fuel injected as standard so the injected tank would fit and work

The mk2 and 2F have slightly different tanks, 2f uses a electric lift pump for getting fuel out of the tank and the 2 has inlet & outlet low down at the front of the tank, by the sound of things rob you have a mk2 tank and not a 2f one (the sender hole is the same size in both)

Nedski what model is yours?

missing out an important thing here!

The polo fuel tank cannot be removed with out removing the O/S rear axle bracket! - which means the axle has to be loosened and on both sides, the O/S bracket removed (3 x 15mm socket bolts) and pulled out the way to get the fuel neck out from inside the arch.

did this job by myself with a broken leg last friday and it took about 2hrs (i am slower now lol) but i have done this swap in under 40minutes before

just the drivers side will do , the other bush allows enough play to move it

yer but its so much easier to have the axle out of the way then to fight against it as you try to pull the neck out from the gap

ahhh my mistake, then it was the mk2 tank i had a fit with the extra outlets.

Glad i managed the replacement without dropping the axle at all, jacked the car up removed all clips from the pipes unbolted the tank and with a little wiggle and movement got the tank out.

getting it back in was a little pain, hardest part for me was connecting up the pipes on the feeder pipe as i couldnt reach!

Oh and the whole having to remove my entire rear audio build to get to the service hatch under the 'rear seats.'

In hindsight moving the axle might have made the struggle a whole lot easier!

lol yer i always move the axle as the task is justified by the effort involved without.

another tip for people 1990-1994 Injection - i always buy a length of of new rubber fuel hose for the neck. the bit which goes through the body of the car is a right bugger to do (item 6 in diagram) - yet if you buy a meter of it from a hose company for about £2 u can feed it through and cut the extra length off (from the inside) when the tank is all fitted back up.

Edited 8 September, 201016 yr by youngprodigys