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Nigel Ralph
Unregistered guest
Posted From: 203.87.53.7
Posted on Tuesday, 13 July, 2004 - 08:48 pm:   Edit PostDelete PostView Post/Check IP

What is the best way to clean a fuel tank? The ongoing saga with SRH 18294 has many years to run.

I thought that a 30 year old car that shows every indication of not haveing been cared for very well could do with a tank clean. I waited until I was low on fuel and unscrewed the bung. I flushed about 5 litres of petrol through innumerable times and quite a bit of black solid came out. After about 10 flushes I used clean petrol to flush again but still little bits of rubbish kept coming through.

Your advice would be appreciated.
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David Gore
Moderator
Username: david_gore

Post Number: 267
Registered: 4-2003
Posted on Wednesday, 14 July, 2004 - 08:09 am:   Edit PostDelete PostView Post/Check IP

Hi Nigel,

The black gunk is probably the remains of the flexible rubber hose that connects the external fuel filler to the tank and which is a scheduled replacement item but invariably never is done especially on older cars - out of sight, out of mind.

I would just keep recycling the cleaning petrol after filtering the gunk out until no further matter comes out then flush the tank with clean petrol several times, replace the filler/vent hoses and job finished.

Sorry, forgot to advise you must remove the flexible hoses from the tank before cleaning otherwise each addition of petrol will flush more gunk from the hoses into the tank.

(Message edited by david_gore on July 14, 2004)
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William H. Trovinger II
Grand Master
Username: bill_trovinger

Post Number: 121
Registered: 8-2003
Posted on Wednesday, 14 July, 2004 - 01:48 pm:   Edit PostDelete PostView Post/Check IP

Nigel;

I do not know your area but here in the states we have shops that you can take the tank to and they will steam clean it. After which it can be coated for protection. Just a thought.

Regards,
Bill
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Nigel Ralph
Unregistered guest
Posted From: 203.87.53.57
Posted on Wednesday, 14 July, 2004 - 08:57 pm:   Edit PostDelete PostView Post/Check IP

Thanks David. Sounds logical. I just couldn't understand why more flakes of black stuff kept appearing on what I thought would be the last flush.

Hi William. Sorry. I'm in good old Oz and a little bit out of the way. Thanks anyway. When I get the car into a condition to travel 1400km I shall try and look up something similar in Brisbane if there are any.
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Jim Bettison
Unregistered guest
Posted From: 203.166.57.11
Posted on Wednesday, 14 July, 2004 - 10:03 pm:   Edit PostDelete PostView Post/Check IP

Nigel, David and Bill;

A bit of (perhaps) relevant info. Back some years ago Chrysler Australia Ltd underook to assemble Hillman vehicles for the local (Australian) market. Part of the process involved painting the interior of the fuel tank with a black paint that was "totally" immune to the fuel ...
Fast forward some 30+ years. The same Hillmans are now beloved of a new generation for whom the cars are a desired platform for a home-built performance car.
But - Trouble! The fuel system clogs up with small paint flakes - and I do mean clogs!!!
Between original build and today the fuel mixture sold at the pumps has changed substantially ...
Seem familiar?
The kids are now fitting new fuel systems.
Jim Bettison
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Nigel Ralph
Unregistered guest
Posted From: 203.87.65.16
Posted on Thursday, 15 July, 2004 - 09:45 pm:   Edit PostDelete PostView Post/Check IP

Hi David, I have been exploring but am having difficulty in figuring out how to get at the filler connecting hose to replace it. Any clues? Also do I need to get the replacement from RR or can I get it from ENZED or other machinery hose specialists?
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David Gore
Moderator
Username: david_gore

Post Number: 269
Registered: 4-2003
Posted on Friday, 16 July, 2004 - 11:07 am:   Edit PostDelete PostView Post/Check IP

Hi Ralph,

Hose availability will depend on suppliers in your area however I would head for your nearest mining/industrial supplier who should be able to point you in the right direction if they cannot help you.

Unfortunately due to my personal circumstances; I no longer have access to a car to photograph the relevant areas to show you and the manual pages are too big to be linked here. You have to remove the floor carpets in the boot and the side trim sections and the entire filler assembly is accessible.

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Richard Treacy
Grand Master
Username: richard_treacy

Post Number: 237
Registered: 4-2003
Posted on Friday, 16 July, 2004 - 07:13 pm:   Edit PostDelete PostView Post/Check IP

Here is your filler arrangement.
application/pdf
B06 filler2.pdf (86.9 k)
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Nigel Ralph
Unregistered guest
Posted From: 203.87.65.146
Posted on Friday, 16 July, 2004 - 09:36 pm:   Edit PostDelete PostView Post/Check IP

Many thanks for your assistance. Larry's CD arrived today but locating the desired page is a bit difficult. I daresay I will figure it out as time goes by. Thanks Richard for you attachment. I am still at the stage of trying to figure out how to get all the carpet out of the way. It reminds me of the problems I had in getting the door trim off. The in-boot filler release wire is posing a problem in getting the side carpet out of the way.

I am beginning to think that a Rolls Royce is simply a more expensive 'mind stretcher' in the style of the old rubix cube. Should keep me busy for years!
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Richard Treacy
Grand Master
Username: richard_treacy

Post Number: 238
Registered: 4-2003
Posted on Saturday, 17 July, 2004 - 12:13 am:   Edit PostDelete PostView Post/Check IP

It is in section B06 under "carburettor" in TSD6580 spares manual, and section K2 of TSD4200 workshop manual. Use the bookmarks to navigate if it's the same CD I have.

By the way, for the backup fuel flap cable, it is best simply to cut the ring in two and slide it off the cable. Use a key ring of the same diameter afterwards. No one will notice, and next time it is even easier to remove.
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Larry
Unregistered guest
Posted From: 68.195.74.199
Posted on Saturday, 17 July, 2004 - 02:41 pm:   Edit PostDelete PostView Post/Check IP

The TSD-4200 manual set is for the Shadow II. We are talking about a Shadow I, the workshop manual set being TSD-2476. The section letters should be the same, though and the CD is bookmarked.

Larry
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Nigel Ralph
Unregistered guest
Posted From: 203.87.64.172
Posted on Saturday, 17 July, 2004 - 06:40 pm:   Edit PostDelete PostView Post/Check IP

Thanks Richard. Your solution was far too obvious for me.

Larry, I have spent several hours going through the volumes and making a hard copy of the contentsof each section and the page number on my computer. I have enjoyed it as I have had a glance at every page and have marked down some areas to work on that I hadn't yet considered. Are you now advising me that I simply had to read some blurb to find this has already been done? Oh well. Its been a good experience and it really is great to have the information at hand whenever I need it.
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Richard Treacy
Grand Master
Username: richard_treacy

Post Number: 242
Registered: 4-2003
Posted on Saturday, 17 July, 2004 - 09:56 pm:   Edit PostDelete PostView Post/Check IP

Correct, the manual in question is TSD 2476. My mistake.
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William H. Trovinger II
Grand Master
Username: bill_trovinger

Post Number: 125
Registered: 8-2003
Posted on Sunday, 18 July, 2004 - 03:28 am:   Edit PostDelete PostView Post/Check IP

Here is a suggestion rather printing all the pages and using up about a half of a tree. I took an old IBM ThinkPad we had laying around hooked up a CD-ROM to it and downloaded the entire set of manuals to the hard drive. I then put the ThinkPad in the garage on my workbench and mounted an old 17” monitor on the wall next to it. By using the hard drive the CDs stay undamaged and available on my other computer in the house. These old dinkpads can be bought for 25 bucks or so granted no battery but just using them it in the garage you do not need battery power.

Just a thought.

Bill