Ok, I decided to clean out my fuel tank. Completely. The reasons for this have been explained elsewhere, but basically after getting some bad fuel, and then having to live with hesitation and fuel cut outs, I decided it was time. This procedure works for an 93 model Australian delivered NA 2+2. You will have to modify it for a 2+0, but all 2+2's should be ok. Safety equipment * Glasses * Fire Entinguisher * Rubber gloves x3 * Pedestal Fan * Hand cleaner Tools * Phillips head screwdriver * 8mm open-ended and ring spanner * Multimeter * Torch * Cutting blade * Shorting strap with Alligator clips * Bull nosed pliers Fuel Stuff * Jerry can(s) * Siphon hose(s) * Funnel(s) * Ice Cream container(s) Cleaning equipment * Vacuum cleaner * Hand brush and scoop * Clean rags Replacement parts * O ring seal (optional) * M5x5mm bolts x6 (optional) * M5 spring washers x6 (optional) * M5 Flat washers x6 (optional) * EFI fuel hose x 1 metre (optional) Other * Another car (optional) * Jumper leads (optional) Time required I started on a Saturday, hadn't quite completed by nightfall, and spend another hour the next day to finish it. Using the procedure here, you should be able to finish it all the same day. Preparation Drive the car around without refueling to get the fuel level near empty. The nearer to empty the better off you are going to be. Get all of the required equipment together. If you can, get at least 10 litres of fuel (98 RON) and keep for filling up afterwards. Put the car in a well ventilated area away from all sources of ignition (ie naked flames). Procedure Disconnect your battery. If you don't do this, you may flatten it, and then you will have to use your other car to help jump start the zed. This is what happened to me. Open your boot, pull the carpet towards the front of the car, and remove the spare tyre. Use the vacuum cleaner to clean out the boot and spare tyre well. You should do this to prevent rubbish from dropping into your fuel tank. Position the pedestal stand to provide airflow over the top of the tank. Turn the fan on and leave on for the complete procedure. Advise other family and household members that you are going to open a fuel tank, and they should not bring any naked flames (cigarettes, cigarette lights etc) within 10 metres of your car. Take note of the arrow on the cover. It points to the left of the car. Use the phillips head screwdriver to remove the four screws holding the cover down in the spare tyre well. Put screws in a safe place. Use the vacuum cleaner and brush\scoop to clean up the tank top. Be careful not to snag any of the wires. Turn your car off and remove the key. If you have already disconnected the battery, that's good. Disconnect the pump power plug by holding the latch under the plug and gently pulling the two halves apart. It should come apart easily if you have unlatched it correctly. Put the fire extinguisher in an easily accessible place, within 5 metres of the car. Advise other nearby people that you are about to open your fuel tank. Use the ring spanner and phillips head screwdriver to loosen each of the six bolts. Inspect each of the bolts for wear on the thread. Five of my bolts had excessive thread wear, and so I decided to replace each of them. I went to Bunnings and got some M5 Alloy Allen head bolts. They have a 10mm thread, but there was nothing shorter. I also had to get the spring washers and flat washers. Put the bolts in a safe place. Put the safety glasses on. Use the Phillips head screwdriver to loosen the first of the clamps holding the fuel hoses. Use the bull nosed pliers to release the pressure on the other pipe, and pull the clamp towards you. There are two hoses: one is for supply to the fuel filter, the other is a return line. Use the bull nose pliers to remove the fuel lines from the hard lines (pipes on the tank top). Keep a rag handy to mop up fuel as it comes out of the fuel hoses. Put the clamps in a safe place. Inspect the fuel hoses. If it is in need of replacement, you will have to replace them before the car can be used again. I did not need to do this. Put the rubber gloves on. Carefully lift the fuel pump assembly out of the fuel tank, being careful not to bend the fuel-level indicator mechanism. Take note of the angles you use to pull the pump out as you will have to do this in reverse. You will probably have to reach in and pull the 'sock' away from the tank. The process is something like this: Lift straight, grab sock and bend, then turn pump sideways to completely free the fuel-level indicator rod and float. Turn pump upside down and empty fuel out of the pump and into a container. Grab the O Ring and inspect for damage. Replace as necessary. Put in a safe place. Place the fuel pump onto rags, being careful not to let the float assembly bend. Make sure it is not taking any weight by rotating the pump until it is balanced. Use rags to support it if necessary. Use the siphon hose to siphon any remaining fuel out of the tank and into an approved fuel container (or any other container you have handy. Just remember that if the conainer is not rated to handle fuel, the fuel will leak through the container walls. Go and have a coffee or lunch whilst the fuel siphons out. I only had a small diameter (6mm) tube, so this took about half an hour. Just make sure somebody is watching the car whilst the fuel is being siphoned. Once you have siphoned as much as you can, put the gloves back on and use the rags to clean out the tank. Warning: The edges of the fuel tank are sharp! If possible, wear a long sleeve shirt, and take care to not cut yourself as you swish the rags around inside the tank. I put an ice cream container in the boot and squeezed the rags into it. Be careful with the gloves. If like me you are going to use standard kitchen gloves, you will need at least three pairs as the petrol eats the rubber. Continue getting the fuel out until the tank is completely empty and clean. This can take quite a while. At this point, you could go and check the pump, including fuel hose, low fuel resistance value, full fuel resistance value and other electrical connections. My resistances were within tolerance. Replace O Ring to tank top. Carefully put the pump back into place, ensuring the pipes are facing the same way as originally (i.e. towards the front of the car). Put clamps onto pipes, then pull hose back onto pipes. Do up clamps. Put the six screws back into tank top. I had to replace each of these. Reconnect the pump connector. Take all fuel away and put into fuel rated containers. I decided that I would use the fuel for lawn mowers and whipper snippers, and that it was of dubious quality, so was not fit to be put back in. Ensure there are no fuel vapours lingering around. Once ok, reconnect battery. Put at least 10 litres of fuel into the tank as per normal (with the standard filler hole). Start car. It may take three or more goes. Put spare back. Put carpet back. Troubleshooting: My car would not start. At first I tried 5 litres of fuel, and that wasn't enough. I ended up putting 25 litres in before I got it to start, but that wasn't my only problem, so you shouldn't need to put that much back in yet. The car sounded like there was no fuel, but my battery was also sounding flat. This was understandable as I had not disconnected the battery, and the interior and boot lights were on the whole time. I had to jump start the car with one of my others. But that still wasn't good enough. There was no fuel getting to the engine, and I couldn't hear the fuel pump priming. Turn the car off, and remove the key. Now the next thing I had to do was to get the spare back out and take the four screws off to get access to the tank top again. The pump was connected, that's the first thing to check. Next, I went to the engine bay, right hand side, and checked the fuse closest to the engine which is for the fuel pump. This is a 30 Amp fuse. I checked it with my meter. Mine was ok. I then went back to the boot, and using my cutting blade (Stanley knife or similar), I removed about 1 cm of insulation from the white wire on the car side of the wiring to the pump connector. You only have to remove enough insulation to get to the wire. There is no need to remove the insulation from all around, just one side will do. Then, use the shorting strap with the alligator clips to short the white wire to a nut or bolt at the rear of the car. Make sure it is well connected to the body of the car. This is bypassing the Fuel Pump Control Unit (FPCU). Turn the car on. You should hear the fuel pump priming. If not, you have another problem. This worked for me. Try and start the car. It took me three goes. After about a minute, I disconnected the jumper leads, then turned the car off. Then I started it again to ensure it would still start (remember my battery had gone flat). I then took off the shorting strap and waited another minute to ensure the car didn't die from fuel starvation. Then I turned the car off and then on again. It was still ok. To finish up, I used black electrical tape to insulate the white cable where I had bared the wire, put the cabling back the way it started, then bolted everything back up. Then of course take the car for a short drive to ensure fuel delivery is still ok. References: http://www.pexcom.com.au/z32cms/e107_plugins/content/content.php?content.369 Thanks go to: ZX299 MoulaZX K-zed (And anyone else I may have missed)
nice write up vader! Especially like the safety tips! (which is a must when working with fuel!!) *thumbs up* vote tech section!
Edit: Replace 'long sleeved shirt' with 'horse-fisting gloves' (obtainable from your nearest veterinary supply company). Also suggest disconnecting ALL sources of power before even contemplating cracking the fuel tank inspection hatch. But all in all, a great write-up. Unfamiliar with the 2+2, but how much more difficult is it to drop the tank off the car? A stray shard of latex gloves in the pump/lines may cause an intermittent blockage possibly?
I am aware I wasn't using the right gloves, that why I made particular mention of the problems I was having. Three pairs cost me $3, or I could buy the chemical ones for $10. I figured that three pairs would do the job, and well it's only petrol. If you have even been into a zed fuel tank, you will know that something bigger than the head of a pin would have a lot of trouble getting into the fuel pump, let alone past the fuel filter. The stray shreds of latex would not be an issue - and the petrol would eat it away pretty quickly.
why don't you just disconnect the fuel line at the fuel filter in the engine bay then connect up your consult and "turn on" the fuel pump and let nissan empty your tank for you when the fuel is getting empty you'll start getting bubbles come through the hose (that you have pointed into a bucket) because the pump is sucking up a combo of fuel and air that's when you turn it off, and then fill up ur fuel tank with new fresh fuel
I don't think that is going to empty or clean your tank. Yes, I take your point - it's a much faster way to get it down to a minimal level (removing the need to siphon it), but you will still have to use rags to finish the job.
Not much more effort to remove fuel tank from 2+2, would be much easier to get thoroughly clean out of the car.
You have to live over East and be "one of the chosen ones" lol haha jks. Im sure they'll add it. Looks like a good write up.
so, here's my plan: Make a siphon hose and siphon to the extent that 5 gallons out of your tank inside the empty can. While completing this task, make use of submersed element of the hose for a vacume cleaner hoping sucking up specific things and dropping them within the can. I anticipate utilizing an old kind of my wifes hose (like in LLegs ) like a possible filter unless someone contains a better idea. Great if I can suck all the muck out. If not, then here is the crux of my problem. Just how do you flush it out if the fuel tank is empty with crud in the bottom? The fuel line is such as 1/4 inch the opening to your fuel cap is something like maybe 2 inches wide? The tanks depth can be something like 18 inches? (wild guess) How on the globe would you read through a tiny hole that way and pick up things in that area? When I were a proctologist I may have nice tools for that but I'm not! My backhoe carries a gas tank cleanout which is something similar to a 1 inch hole I could start and flush everything out with water (I later make a garden sprayer with diesel and "pressure wash" the tank by helping cover their diesel before filling back up) This tractor generally seems to in addition have a cleanout however it too...appears to be only about 1/4 inch. How does one guys get it done with all the tank still installed?
Spiritomb, Your modern proctologist doesn't fiddle around in the dark, they use an inspection camera on the end of a cable to guide what the pickup tools are grabbing. Reading through this and considering the volitile gasses that would still be in the tank (even after draining) I wouldn't want to generate a spark from the inspection camera. But there is probably a proctologist inspired safe method that could be used to target the sludge areas with a solvent and then suck it out with an inline hose pump.
I don't see what's wrong with parking it on your least favorite neighbours lawn, undo the drain and inspection and go to town on it with a pressure washer...
It appears that the 2.0 has yet another advantage over the 2+2. The factory installation of two drain plugs in the fuel tank. Part numbers: Drain plugs: 01125-00062 Sealing Washers: 17232-79900
