The car has been sitting for 8 years and I have started to remove the fuel tank(pic below). It seems rusty, do you think it will have rusted from the inside as well? Do you think it needs replacement or any special treatment ?
I am planning to renew the following
Fuel pump
stuffer pins
sealings(in the ring sender washer etc)
sender washer

Would appreciate any advise on this situation.

 

Until you take the tank completely out of the car, you can only speculate what it looks like on the inside. Chances are though, it’ll likely need replaced. I’m working on an 03’ S-Type that’s been sitting for almost 8 years and when I took the fuel pump out, the pump pickup sock was completely disintegrated. Fortunately the tank is thick plastic.

 

Tank removed. Will have to replace it. I am worried about the fuel injection system. Do you suggest to remove fuel rail and the fuel injectors and clean them? Any suggestions.




.... Check below.

 

Mmmmmmm I can smell that turpentine goodness from here.

Remove the fuel filter and fuel pressure regulator. Use compressed air to blow out all the fuel lines, just be careful not to get that stuff anywhere near your face.

After you get another tank installed, pump, sending unit, inline fuel filter and of course gas, remove the fuel pump relay and jump pins 87a and 30 together to prime your system. After you hear a lot of gurgling in the tank and then just the hum of the pump, disconnect the jumper and plug in the relay. The car *should* start. It’ll likely run rough for a bit. The ideal situation is to let the engine get up to full operating temperature so the heat will hopefully dislodge any turpentine that’s caught in the injectors. If it runs good enough to drive, drive it kind of hard to help flush out the injectors.

 

I meant to ask, what caused the car to be sitting for so long? Did the tensioners or transmission fail or just a fuel pump?

 

Nope transmission and tensioners are good. The problem was related to the ABS module and the previous owner got a high quote from a jag dealer for this and decided not to fix it and stored the car in a closed container since then.
Thanks for the advice on the tank. Once I make progress I will update the post.

 

The only available tank I have found is NNC5908BJ and its made for leaded fuel(link:https://parts.jaguarlandroverclassic...e=308192396687). The original unleaded tank is not made anymore.

Will the leaded tank be ok with unleaded fuel? I am worried about the leaded tank lining .. will unleaded damage it? Will unleaded rust it?

 

I haven’t heard of that before but, that is a substantial amount of money for that tank in the link. Seeing as you have an early X308, I wonder if you could make a used later model tank work in your car for a lot less money? Maybe someone with more knowledge/experience about the “early vs later” fuel tanks can perhaps help out.

What you could do temporarily is get a 10 or so liter plastic fuel container and wire in a fuel pump inside the can just to get the car running. I’d hate to hear you spent a lot of Euros on a new tank, pump, etc and something bad happened to the engine. You know what I mean?

 

I agree with Addicted, get a used one...
My apologies if this doesn't come through properly...it came up on my search without any background, but said it was from eBay UK. It doesn't show a listing date, but the seller seems to be a scrapper from Derbyshire, so they may have more? For the price (168 BP...sorry no BP key), 10% of that one you listed and shipping, you should be well under half the cost of that new one.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/PETROL-FU...7/402021909521

 

One option is to maybe get a kit to refurbish your tank. I got a kit years ago that had muriatic (?) acid and a type of liquid to line the tank with. It seemed to work out well.

 

I would try this idea first. POR 15 makes a fuel tank sealer kit. I used it on a 1967 VW fuel tank years ago and it worked well. I also used it more recently to restore the kerosene tank on an antique hot blast lantern that I had rescued from my grandpa’s barn. You have to follow the directions exactly. No shortcuts or it won’t work. That’s not an overstatement!

 

Thank you very much all of you for the ideas shared here. I finally decided not to refurbish the old tank. Instead got a new genuine tank assembly including pump/stuffer pins etc. Did not want to risk messing with the fuel system. I have assembled it and installed it already. Before startup cleaned with compressed air combined with petrol + injection cleaner the fuel lines(feed+return) from tank to rails and flushed them well including the rails + injectors. Changed also sparkplugs, oil, filters etc and also turned the engine a couple times after dipping a drop of oil in each cylinder. After filled the tank with some good octane gas and it fired with the first try since a long long time (8-9 years).

 

Great job!
But I gotta ask? What are stuffer pins?
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.
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attached the diagram with the part circled. They connect & seal the fuel lines to the tank. They are located at the connection ports of the fuel tank for the feed and return lines. There is one for feed line and another for the return line. They have orings and the clips that secure the lines to the tank. I actually did not assemble them so do not have experience with the installation of those because the tank i got had already them installed.

 

You got a “new” tank or was it used? If it was new, it must’ve costed you both of your arms and at least one leg.