dlou Posted March 20, 2014 Share Posted March 20, 2014 (edited) I recently had my carb rebuilt and as a condition of the warranty the carb shop required that the gas tank be boiled out. I took it to a radiator shop that they ahd recommended to have it done. When the radiator shop finished boiling it out, they recommended the tank be coated so I gave them the "OK". Big mistake. When I got everything back in the car I started having fuel starvation issues. If I take out the fuel sender and run a hose from the fuel pump down the hole, everything runs great. If I use the regular outlet tube, it stalls when I put the hammer down. I've measured the fuel output of the electric fuel pump and it puts out a healthy stream on my jury-rigged hose but a mere trickle on the regular outlet tube, so clearly it's a blockage in the tube. I've run twisted cable through the tube and it seems pretty free in there so the blockage must be at the pickup area. This is an early Caterham Super Seven S3 with Smiths gauges. I put in a call to Dave Bean but they said they only deal mainly with Series2 cars. I also called CaterhamUSA but the guy said he only had a listing for a 55L tank (I'm pretty sure mine's in the 7-10 gallon range). Is this tank repairable? If not, where can I get a replacement? On a side note, the sender arm froze in position and the tank would read halfway on the fuel gauge no matter what. I manage to wiggle the arm loose but now the gauge reads zero no matter what. Anyone got a good source on the sender? Thanks. Edited March 20, 2014 by dlou Formatting Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rx7locost Posted March 20, 2014 Share Posted March 20, 2014 Is this tank repairable? If not, where can I get a replacement? Talk to the radiator shop that sealed your outlet hose and sender. They were the ones that screwed it up. Is the sealant a translucent red or blue? If so, it may be RedKote or Northern (something). Same stuff, different color, made by the same company. That can be disolved and removed with acetone. If it is an epoxy, then all bets are off. You can always cut away the fitting from the tank. The pickup tube should come out with it. Then re-weld (resolder) a new one in place, rather than trying to replace the entire tank. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xcarguy Posted March 20, 2014 Share Posted March 20, 2014 I recently had my carb rebuilt and as a condition of the warranty the carb shop required that the gas tank be boiled out. I took it to a radiator shop that they ahd recommended to have it done. When the radiator shop finished boiling it out, they recommended the tank be coated so I gave them the "OK". Big mistake. When I got everything back in the car I started having fuel starvation issues. If I take out the fuel sender and run a hose from the fuel pump down the hole, everything runs great. If I use the regular outlet tube, it stalls when I put the hammer down. I've measured the fuel output of the electric fuel pump and it puts out a healthy stream on my jury-rigged hose but a mere trickle on the regular outlet tube, so clearly it's a blockage in the tube. I've run twisted cable through the tube and it seems pretty free in there so the blockage must be at the pickup area. This is an early Caterham Super Seven S3 with Smiths gauges. I put in a call to Dave Bean but they said they only deal mainly with Series2 cars. I also called CaterhamUSA but the guy said he only had a listing for a 55L tank (I'm pretty sure mine's in the 7-10 gallon range). Is this tank repairable? If not, where can I get a replacement? On a side note, the sender arm froze in position and the tank would read halfway on the fuel gauge no matter what. I manage to wiggle the arm loose but now the gauge reads zero no matter what. Anyone got a good source on the sender? Thanks. What ohm range is your sender and what is the tank material (steel, aluminum, plastic, etc.)? Also, Moss Motors might be able to help: http://www.mossmotors.com/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dlou Posted March 20, 2014 Author Share Posted March 20, 2014 Talk to the radiator shop that sealed your outlet hose and sender. They were the ones that screwed it up. When it first came back, it was completely clogged. They unclogged it by blowing compressed air into it. Apparently it was enough to get it idling but not enough to accelerate. At this point I'm done with these guys. I don't like dealing with them and I think it's time to cut my losses with them. Is the sealant a translucent red or blue? If so, it may be RedKote or Northern (something). Same stuff, different color, made by the same company. That can be disolved and removed with acetone. Translucent red. What's the procedure? Drain the gas, dump in 1qt of acetone, slosh for 5 minutes, drain the acetone and refill with gas? What ohm range is your sender and what is the tank material (steel, aluminum, plastic, etc.)? Also, Moss Motors might be able to help: http://www.mossmotors.com/ Not sure the ohm range or how to determine. Tank is steel. Sender is 6-bolt and 3 terminals (only 2 are connected). Gauge is Smiths. I think the chassis might be 1977. I'll check out Moss. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xcarguy Posted March 20, 2014 Share Posted March 20, 2014 Not sure the ohm range or how to determine. This should help. :cheers: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rx7locost Posted March 20, 2014 Share Posted March 20, 2014 Translucent red. What's the procedure? Drain the gas, dump in 1qt of acetone, slosh for 5 minutes, drain the acetone and refill with gas? The acetone is a solvent/thinner for RedKote. So is MEK if I remember correctly. I've not had to clean out the entire tank, but cleaned up the drips and accidents on the concrete floor. Here is my thoughts. Drain the tank and dry it out. Fill the tube with acetone and try to keep it filled. As it dissolves the RedKote on the intake screen (I assume that that is where the problem is) , it will be more and more difficult to keep the tube filled with acetone. I'd alternate between soaking for 5 minute and blowing with ~ 1PSI into the tube. Too much air and you could blow the pickup filter off or apart. Any dissolved Redkote should recoat over the old coating in the bottom of the tank. Let everything dry for at least 24 hours before filling up with fuel. You've really got nothing to loose by trying. Here are the Redkote instructions. Note step#2, remove sender unit and filters...... http://www.damonq.com/techsheets/red-kote.pdf Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndyB Posted March 20, 2014 Share Posted March 20, 2014 Mine is a 76 Caterham with Smiths gauges except for the gas gauge which was replaced with an AC gauge. My tank is 8 Imp gallons or 36+ litres. I keep saying I will get my tank cleaned as my inline glass (Mr Gasket type) filter collects what looks like flakes of black paint, I'll remember not to have it coated. Someone told me there is a fixed filter in the tank, perhaps that has been plugged with the sealant goop. Have you tried Redline Components for a tank, I have found them to be quick and cooperative to e-mails? Mick Lincoln Good luck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
escondidoron Posted March 21, 2014 Share Posted March 21, 2014 I recently had my carb rebuilt and as a condition of the warranty the carb shop required that the gas tank be boiled out. I took it to a radiator shop that they ahd recommended to have it done. When the radiator shop finished boiling it out, they recommended the tank be coated so I gave them the "OK". Big mistake. When I got everything back in the car I started having fuel starvation issues. If I take out the fuel sender and run a hose from the fuel pump down the hole, everything runs great. If I use the regular outlet tube, it stalls when I put the hammer down. I've measured the fuel output of the electric fuel pump and it puts out a healthy stream on my jury-rigged hose but a mere trickle on the regular outlet tube, so clearly it's a blockage in the tube. I've run twisted cable through the tube and it seems pretty free in there so the blockage must be at the pickup area. On my '62 Series 2 car the fuel pickup is simply a tube that runs down to the bottom of the tank. My car had sat unused in a garage for 30+ years when I bought it. The fuel in the tank had turned to varnish. It was possible to clean out the bottom of the tank by letting it soak with acetone for several days. However the pickup tube was completely blocked and not easily removed from the tank. So I tried a homemade small scale version of a roto-rooter attached to my cordless drill. The roto-rooter was made with three strands of 0.030" safety wire that I twisted together with the drill leaving the last couple of inches free to act as scrubbers/cutters when the drill was spinning. Once I got about an inch of the tube cleared I was able to gradually feed the rest down and through the pickup tube, taking care to carefully use my free hand to guide the spinning wires so as to keep them from whipping around: http://farm5.staticflickr.com/4127/4969737823_68019a3fc5_b.jpg http://farm5.staticflickr.com/4085/4970355894_ee0d903b7c_b.jpg http://farm5.staticflickr.com/4084/4969742991_0fa7117f73_b.jpg Once I was able to feed the "pipe cleaner" all the way through the pickup tube I then ran it up and down the entire length of the tube for about 5 minutes. The pickup was free and clear and good as new at that point. Please note that the fuel tank pickup on my old Series 2 is simply a pipe that runs down to within about 1/4" of the bottom of the tank. There is no end fitting or filter on the bottom end of the pickup tube that might not be able to be cleared by the pipe cleaner. So if your pickup tube is a similar configuration this approach may work for you as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dlou Posted March 21, 2014 Author Share Posted March 21, 2014 This should help. :cheers: Thanks, but no. The gauge was reading half tank when the sender arm was frozen. After freeing the arm, the gauge reads zero no matter the position of the arm. It would stand to reason that the gauge is OK but the sender is an open circuit no matter the position of the arm. I can double check tonight, but my bet is that the ohmmeter won't read anything no matter how the sender arm is positioned. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dlou Posted March 21, 2014 Author Share Posted March 21, 2014 The acetone is a solvent/thinner for RedKote. So is MEK if I remember correctly. Here are the Redkote instructions. Note step#2, remove sender unit and filters...... [/url]http://www.damonq.com/techsheets/red-kote.pdf Thanks! I called the radiator shop and indeed confirmed that they used Red-Kote. Time to buy me some acetone. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coffee break Posted March 21, 2014 Share Posted March 21, 2014 Thanks! I called the radiator shop and indeed confirmed that they used Red-Kote. Time to buy me some acetone. Some good gloves also. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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