My XJS has been sitting under cover for about 11 months since I last started it. I am currently in the re-commisioning stage to get it repaired and back on the road. I checked the smell of the fuel tank for any hint of gasoline deterioration and it smells quite normal but I would like to drain it out and replace with new fuel anyway. This fuel tank is in the rear boot. Is there a low point drain that can be opened for draining or do I have to run the fuel pump to get it out?

 

Did you by chance add any fuel stabilizer before parking it?
That doesn't seem like a super long time and it if still smells fine, I bet it would be okay to fire up.

Can you siphon the fuel out of the fill?

 

I didn't use a stabilizer because I thought that it wouldn't be out of commission that long. It does smell like normal gasoline so maybe it would be a waste of time.draining it. I have always used premium fuel in it but in this country they mix in 10% alcohol fuel additive, which over time can trash out fuel parts. I might just get a cheap fuel transfer pump and vacuum it out. Thanks for your input. ..........Mike.

 

Posted twice for some reason.

 

How full is the tank? There is a drain and its straightforward, but the opening is pretty small. So if you have lots of gas it will take a while. The main tank is above the rear axle inside the trunk. There is a little tank called the surge tank below it in the bottom of the trunk. This is where the fuel pump pulls fuel from. Underneath the surge tank there is a rubber or plastic plug, 1" or 1.5" in diameter I think in the floor. Remove that. There is a valve in the bottom of the surge tank, you can open it with a wrench. When opened fuel will drain from the valve through the now open hole in the floor and into the suitable container that I hope you put under the car. The surge tank is fed by gravity from the main tank, so it will all come out here eventually. But if there's 20 gallons in the main tank then its going to take a while. Took at least an hour to get five gallons out of mine.

If you have an H&E convertible then things are different. Their gas tanks are weird. Is that what you have? Or do you have a coupe?

 

My car is the coupe but I've always tried to to keep it nearly full or at least keep it running on the upper half of the tank before refilling. However, I've never been able to make the fuel gauge read full when I top it up. At present I'm am pretty sure that it is about 3/4 full so it will take a while to empty out. So the info you have given me here is exactly what I was looking for. I really appreciate it! When I'm done with the clean out process I think I'll refill it with non alcohol fuel with an octane additive booster of the proper amount.