Hey guys, I have a little bit of a crisis atm, I decided to try and put some fuel system cleaner into my fuel tank today after work. I got to the petrol station and thought I add the cleaner through the filler neck thinking thats how you are meant to add it to the fuel tank. After shoving the cleaner bottle into my filler neck, I noticed it got a little stuck, after some pulling of the bottle I managed to get it out of the hole but I immediately noticed the flap inside the neck had detached and was inside the filler neck. I tried to get to it with my fingers and before I knew it it flew down into the filler neck and I'm freaking out atm the moment. How bad is this for the car in general? I don't think it flew into the tank itself and I think I might be able to get to it with a magnetic pickup tool but I don't think I can reattach it without taking the filer neck out. And my petrol cap seems to be sealing the neck up and so its not leaking fuel. I also filled the tank all the way up which is why the fuel is coming out of the neck. Any suggestions/tips on what I need or should to do from here on?
Can't see it causing any major problems, there's also a little flap valve at the bottom. 2+0 or 2+2? Incidentally I just finished stripping the back end of a 2+0 this afternoon, shouldn't be too difficult to remove the filler neck if needed, though I already had all of the suspension arms and rear subframe removed when I removed this all the way. Even if it got into the tank it can't do anything, can't block the fuel pickup or anything. Might rattle on empty
I think you'll find the little flap is to stop syphoning, and to stop any large debris. No biggie. The fuel pump has a debris filter sock over it so any particles are not sucked up.
Thanks shane i feel so stupid atm, appr3ciate the advice i will try and fix it one day but yeh dropping the fuel tank is a big job for me right now.
You shouldn't need to drop the tank to get the filler neck off, it bolts to the side with half a dozen M6 bolts. Also (if 2+0) you can easily open the tank up from the top and retrieve it if it has made it's way inside.
Won't cause any problems Adam. It happened in my old NA as well. The flap is too big to be sucked up by the fuel pump. It will just spend the rest of its life sitting at the bottom of your tank.
I once did the same thing with fuel injection cleaner. Stuck it in not realising that the flap would catch it . I guess I was lucky and pushed a piece of coat hanger against the flap to release the bottle instead of trying to force it out. If you can get to where the flap is maybe a magnetic pick up stick might lift it out.
Thanks mate, ill different try and see if i can get to it with a magnetic pickup tool and go from there. If that fails ill just have to take the filler neck off one day and see if i can get it out that way and hopefully reattach it back into its proper place again. Thank you guys for all your advice and suggestions as you have all put my mind at ease and i dont feel so stupid for what i did.
Also make sure to never leave any of those additives sitting on the paint of your car they'll start stripping it as well as any paint stripper if you don't clean up spillage. Best of luck with the magnetic pick up.
The easiest way to retrieve the flap is to remove the fuel pump assembly. Then you can use a magnetic pickup tool to get it. Access to the bottom of the tank is very limited via the filler tube & you will find the magnet will attach itself to the closest piece of ferrous metal, especially if you have a high quality magnetic pick up stick. This is only a guess, I think the flap is there to minimise fuel spillage whilst driving in the event the fuel cap is not secured properly. Aircraft have a similar setup in their tanks for this reason.
Wouldnt stress about it. Not going to cause any problems, i would suspect many zeds out there have their flaps deep down inside...
