Hello everyone, as the title says I have a few gas tank questions but first a quick intro;
My father owns a 1989 red jaguar xjs 5.3l v12 convertible. It's a nice car, as I'm sure you know. 64k original miles. He's owned it since 2001. He bought it at a used car dealership and it clearly had little maint. Done to it. Up until now I've never been interested in the car but I'm 24 now and a technician by trade (toyota) so we've been digging into the car now. The car has never really ran "right". Erratic idle, sputters at times, hard starts, etc. He's always wanted to clean the fuel system and we're getting to it now, injectors are out being cleaned, new fuel lines under the hood, etc
Upon taking the surge (little) tank out we found a good deal of rust.
Upon taking the sending unit out of the tank we could see rust so now it's time to take the tank out. We removed the lines, and black metal panel. The filler neck is stuck on so we're working on removing that. Any tips? What else comes off? Any straps or bolts we arnt seeing?
Also after some searching I found someone put a plastic tank in there's and made it work. We would love to do that! Anyone know if it can be done of my dad's specific model?? Any tips,sughestions, etc from people who have been in out situation?? After researching we arnt the biggest fans of cleaning and reseal in due to the baffles inside and we read a few horror stories. Also a resales tank from jagbits is 1200 or so. Again we would rather a plastic tank so suggestions very welcomed! Is that surge tank really needed? What's it's purpose? Would like to eliminate it... we are from NH if anyone is local let me know.
Thanks in advance everyone!
I'm new to the site and I will be on here often and asking lots of questions to get this thing running like new again!

 

Welcome to the forum. Everyone will help, that's for sure.

You have to keep the surge tank as the main tank is flat and wide and the injection pump will run dry on long bends when the main tank gets below 1/4 full, other wise.

Use an oil filter strap wrench on the inlet filler spout (having undone everything inside and out fixing the spout to the rubber hose to the tank). Look carefully inside as there is a small fixing preventing the spout rotating.

Top RH side of the tank there are three small hose to undo and these lead to a tiny bleed pipe to equalise tank pressure, make sure this pipe is unblocked and whatever pressure controlling device is there is working. You may have the USA spec version where there is a carbon cannister in the LHS front wing behind the headlight nacelle. If so, the thin pipe ends up there and this system needs to work as designed. Something in it will almost certainly be jammed.

Blow out the fuel lines to and from the engine, once disconnected, and check the pipe from the main tank to the sump tank is free from partial blockages.

A custom tank is always doable, but pull the original and look at it. A 1/4 inch layer of radiator solder over the bottom of the outside will be a decent repair if the bottom is prepared to bare metal. It is the bottom of the tank that fails. Install as many new hoses as possible too of the highest quality you can, as fuel smells in the boot are a curse otherwise. Finally sit the tank on a 3/16 or so layer of neoprene and chuck the original stuff you find there.

Something to be going on with!

Greg

 

Hello 89RedXJS and welcome.

I am not one of the experts so I'll let them steer you through this.

By any chance, is that your red XJS sitting at Precision Auto today? I stopped by there to check on getting an inspection done and parked right next to it.

Cheers,

Bill

 

When the Fuel Pump went on my 1995 XJS 4.0L I had to remove the Petrol Tank and found it full of rust.

Which as I am sure you know by now, is a PIA of a job!

So I sent it away to be professionally Cleaned £100!

I was not at all pleased with the results and so I didn't pay them, for as is usually the case, if you want a job done properly, then its best to do it yourself.

In order to Clean the Fuel Tank, I bought 10 gallons of Vinegar and just kept turning the Tank to different positions for a Week and it came up a treat!

But you need to use Apple Cider Vinegar, for the best results.

 

Awesome. Thanks so much for the help everyone! My father was able to get the tank out this afternoon. He said the outside of the tank had a bit of surface rust on the bottom but nothing bad at all. The inside of the tank is rusty but not as bad as others we've seen on the Internet. He really doesn't want to do this job again haha now he's looking into options. Jag bits has a used refurbished and sealed tank for $1250 plus a core charge I'm sure. And sending this one back will be expensive so that's a lot of money. His could be cleaned and sealed but we're not sold on the results. Lots of unhappy people with doing that to these gas tanks. I can see it being good on a simple motorcycle gas tank but not on something with baffles and all that stuff. Ideally I'm sure making a plastic tank work is the best price option and then never have to worry about it again but he doesn't want to have to worry about running below 1/4 tank. So tough choices.
And no that's not his jag. His is in pieces in his garage at the moment haha nice to see a fellow NH resident though!

 

i know all the guys have seen this, but 20yrs and no rust,in the complete fuel system!

how many times on customers cars have i had to clean the fuel injectors,or replace them because of rust ,dirt , dead birds , and wood crap?? LOL.

plastic fuel tank,ETC.

 

Ronbros
Your system is the one I saw on the internet!! I love that setup. Do you just keep it over 1/4 tank at all times so no fuel starvation?? Please tell me more about the system we would love a system like that but just worried about fuel starvation/ gas Guage not working properly/ etc. Please tell us how you hooked it up, wiring for sending unit, fuel lines etc. Sorry for all the questions but very curious

 

below is a link ( on this site ) to how I replaced my tank two weeks ago , picture heavy
https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/x...cement-142961/

you could also remake the whole car out of plastic to prevent any further rust.........lol

BB

 

Thank you everyone for the info and recommendations. After more research and contemplation, we have decided to have the tank cleaned and sealed. We found a shop in Pennsylvania who cuts the tanks open and sandblasts them and seals them. He said he's worked on a couple jag tanks before so that made us a little more comfortable.
And this car is a fair weather car only. Up here in NH once it gets to October my father parks it in the garage and doesn't take it out until april/may. There is no rust on this car other than what's in the tank. Otherwise tank and everything else is clean and solid. We recently replaced the power steering hoses that connect to the cooler in the front and they came off no problem. Unlike I've heard other people says they are almost always frozen. Or there gas tanks are rotted on the bottom. Also no rust anywhere on the bottom of the tank.
Thanks again!

 

Please share with us the name of the company who is repairing your tank. I'm sure there are others here who would find the information useful.

Also, please let us know if you are happy with the work once it has been completed.

Thank you!

Mark

 

I would avoid Tank Sealant like the Plague!

Once it has been taken apart and Sandblasted, that would be as far as I would go.

If that sealant got into the system, it could cause havoc.

I'd love to know if anyone else agrees?

 

.

89redxjs, my system runs very well, cant see in photo, but it has thr OEM surge/slosh tank in behind the battery.
fuel by gravity runs down into the top of small tank(#8 Aeroquip stainless line), any air bubbles from fuel slosh rise in a line at the top of the surge tank back into the main tank.

the fuel pump draws from a line that goes to the bottom of the surge tank, no air there(unless your upside down), into filter then all aluminum 1/2" lines, up to custom fuel rails,5/8" inside diameter, feeds all 12 injectors(Honda), then to a anodized aluminum feul regulator, back to main tank,3/8" aluminm line.
i just did not want to have a problem or weak link in the system,EVER again.

the fuel level sensor is a universal unit from Summit racing(they have diefferent ohm readings , measure the old sensor install,(may have to adjust hight) but works just fine(when gage reads empty still has around 30miles before run out(ask how i know).

my system is completely adjustable according to my needs or wants, i can lean it or richen A/F ratios, with a touch of a button in 2% changes!

agreed may not be for everyone, but works for me!

 

a little fore thought ,any Ethenol % fuel will sooner or later soften the sealer in any tank and may find its way into the system!

 

The tank sealant is not the path I wanted to go down. I really wanted to put a plastic tank in and make it work. I picked out all the parts and showed them to to father and he didn't like it since nothing will fit in the stock location and be hidden by the plate. He wants this car to at least look 100% stock and he wants all of his trunk space. So I sent out a couple emails about custom aluminum tanks to fit in the stock Location but that just didn't work for us. So he found this shop and he feels comfortable having it done this way even though I showed him the Bad about the sealants on jag tanks on this forum. It'll be stock and it's warrantied for life.
My dad shipped the tank out today and I will post pics and information about the process and how things came out and then I will update once we get the car running. I'm hoping for my dad's sake things go smooth and it all works out for him.

 

While the 'Tank' may be Warranted for life, what if the Sealant causes a problem with the Engine, who pays for that?

 

Damifino

maybe your not supposed to keep the car for a long time, like 20yrs or more?

 

BTW, I have a solid fuel tank I pulled from an 89 xjs parts car.... I am in Charleston, WV and willing to complete the sandblasting and sell to a needy member.

Ken
89 xjs

 

Aloha everyone...how timely. Where's the main drain? I have a '93 XJS convertabile that has sat for 5 yrs with occasional starts. When I first started it it ran great then...sput-sput-sput. I may sell the car but want to get it running. First, is there a Drain plug on the gas tank? I've practically torn the whole trunk apart but can't find the drain. My service disc shows one, on the coupe. I want to drain the tank, clear the hoses, replace main filter and see what happens. Anyone?

 

Orangeblossom, with the surge tank filter and the main fuel filter no big chunks will get through. If the rust in the tank didn't get through since 89 to now, we're not to worried about the sealant getting to the engine. But this wasn't the path I wanted to go. Untimatley it's my father's car and he calls the shots I just work on it with him.
Klarion- idk if the 93 is like my dad's 89 but on his we just connected a long hose from the surge tank outlet and put it into a fuel jug and then opened the vent to the fuel tank (90 elbow and connects to surge tank) by opening and blocking this off we found that it stops and starts fuel flow out of the surge. Once we got no more gas coming out of the surge line, we pulled the surge and then the gas tank. The tank was pretty much empty. This worked great for us. Upon inspecting the surge on the bench it seems as maybe there was a drain for it and there looks to be a hole that's plugged that was right under it. Maybe by pulling the plug and then that drain, it will drain out. Not sure as we didn't do it that way. Good luck!

 

Not sure what the 'surge tank' is.