tannji Posted August 25, 2007 Share Posted August 25, 2007 Well, I have the car up on jack stands finally, and I am about to drop the fuel tank for flushing and inspection. When the car was still on the road the fuel gauge wasn't working and I ordered a sending unit from MSA. I was originally going to pick it up while I was in San Diego, but didn't.... and ended up forgetting about the part when I put the 240Z in storage. No real shocker, but they weren't willing to send it after all this time. They have it on record as charged to my card, and on the hold shelf for me to pick up. They apparently do not have any way to track inventory once it is on the hold shelf... they assume I picked it up because it isn't on the hold shelf any longer. I asked if they follow up on old hold parts with a call or letter, and the guy said they probably did = ) My phone and e-mail haven't changed since then, and they certainly didn't. My fault for forgetting about it for sure, but I was a little put off by the attitude... he didn't care, and wasn't apologetic or concerned. If I want one, its another $45.00 + shipping. Oh well... lesson learned.. again lol. If anyone has one sitting around, I would be interested = ). Any specific recommended treatment for the tank while I have it dropped? I was sort of planning on visually inspecting the effluent and the interior appearance, and if nothing was particularly bad, flushing with alcohol and re-installing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darrel Posted August 26, 2007 Share Posted August 26, 2007 If it was a will call then they should have had a signature when it was picked up. If they didn't then you should still have a part owed to you. Go up the ladder at msa. If they don't have procedures in place for parts on the hold shelf maybe this will help change that policy. What kind of time frame are you talking about? from ordering to the time you were in ca to when you remembered. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tannji Posted August 26, 2007 Author Share Posted August 26, 2007 If it was a will call then they should have had a signature when it was picked up. If they didn't then you should still have a part owed to you. Go up the ladder at msa. If they don't have procedures in place for parts on the hold shelf maybe this will help change that policy. What kind of time frame are you talking about? from ordering to the time you were in ca to when you remembered. Hmmm.... well, picked the car up in June of 2003, called them yesterday. Not that I shouldn't be able to say "show the signature or get me the part", but its been over 4 years. My fault for storing the the Z and forgetting. Its not like it is earthshaking that I lost $50 or so, but I was a little put off by his attitude. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jdarkme Posted August 27, 2007 Share Posted August 27, 2007 I've got a new one (and the o-ring) that I bought a couple of months ago, ended up not using it. Just pm me if you want it. And about the tank, if there's no visible rust or crud inside of it, just flushing it is fine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tannji Posted August 27, 2007 Author Share Posted August 27, 2007 I saw what I would call slightly more than flash rust. I may be modding this tank in the near future, so I will not seal it at this point, but I have muriatic and phosphoric acid on hand, so I will go ahead and treat it and re-flush it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tannji Posted August 28, 2007 Author Share Posted August 28, 2007 Well, I decided to take another, better look in the tank tonight, and since I am going to go ahead and replace the sender, I opened up that bulkhead. I saw what appeared to be a film bubbling up from the tank walls, like my alcohol bath had loosened something. WTF?! Looked pretty good the other day through the filler neck... Turns out the genius that wired some stuff on the car must have attempted to seal the tank as well. He apparently poured it in, shook it a couple times, no more... and called it done. You can see the edge of the sealer skin, and the drips and splashes where some managed to spread in spite of his best effort to keep it in a couple of puddles. I am going to pull it out with a hook, and then aggressively use the muriatic and phosphorus... I shudder to think what must be behind the baffle, out of my sight. Anyone have any idea if either of the acids will completely dissolve an older tank liner/sealer? I will post again in a bit, I will even attempt some photos through the filler neck and sender bulkhead... = ) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tannji Posted August 28, 2007 Author Share Posted August 28, 2007 So... A conservative strength Muriatic Acid bath did nothing to the messy sealant in the tank. Did manage some good shots of my mess tho... Sorry about the size... still learning the options on my new hosting site... So, back to the acid bath. I reckon 3x stronger on the muriatic acid might creep under the edges of the sealant. I am having second thoughts on using a rubberizing sealer though. It looks to be difficult to get the coat even, and how do you get it on all parts of the baffle? short of playing rugbee with the tank I don't know. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tannji Posted September 2, 2007 Author Share Posted September 2, 2007 Anyone ever taken their tank to a Professional for the hot tank acid dip? So far I have hit this with a weak muriatic bath, acetone bath, stronger muriatic, 1 gallon of stripper, 1 gallon of muriatic, 1 quart of phosphoric acid, with flushing in between, and the last 2 flushes at the car wash! I am running out of containers for the effluent, and my patience is waning. I have all the rubber sealant out except for remnants in the seam around the circumference of the tank, and around the various fittings. Two of the vapor or return lines were completely sealed by the rubber treatment, and I have no idea how the intake line to the pump wasn't as well. Perhaps when this fellow figured out he was screwing up his lines he quit in the middle of the treatment? I am going to hit it again tomorrow with some more stripper and acid, and then call it done. I cant see myself putting more rubber in there... it is very difficult to get out of the fittings, and i can't see a practical way to keep it out of the lines without leaving a weak point where the lining could start failing. Has anyone just used phosphoric to kill the rust and left it at that? Or is there another treatment to seal the tank that isn't as troublesome as the rubberized sealer? Galvanization perhaps? I think the rust comes from water in the tank... couldn't this be addressed by an occasional draining and gas treatment? I would have taken more pics, but I did not want to expose my lens and its coating to the vapors coming out the tank.... it was pretty bad. Some of the rubber fell out in one inch thick chunks! I honestly think I would rather cut the tank open than do this again, lol. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest TeamNissan Posted September 2, 2007 Share Posted September 2, 2007 If you look through my project page there is a shot of the like 2lbs in rust that came out of my tank lol. I cut it up as well, need to upload pics of that. I cut mine right on the other side of the baffle. It was really bad at 1st, STANK, I used a concintrated degreaser and a brush lol, then power washed. Mostly everything was cleaned up that way. I feel your pain though its really sucks. I'm welding sheet steal right over too and using just half the tank, don't even care anymore. If you do though just clean it up really well and order the por tank sealing kit, I'm just being cheap. Good luck Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tannji Posted September 12, 2007 Author Share Posted September 12, 2007 Well, finished tank looks ok.... I am refurbing the gas tank straps right now. I wire wheeled the straps, wiped down the liners, and gave both a coating of aerosol undercoating. Looks pretty good actually, and it might keep them from rusting again. Finished tank: I think the next tank I run into that has sealer will go to a professional... but I now have a pretty fair idea on restoring them otherwise... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zmaster Posted April 30, 2008 Share Posted April 30, 2008 I've got a new one (and the o-ring) that I bought a couple of months ago, ended up not using it. Just pm me if you want it. And about the tank, if there's no visible rust or crud inside of it, just flushing it is fine. where did you find a new sending unit??? I am currently looking or a new one, and called all of the auto part store in my area....a last resort is the dealership, and I know where that is going to go. they always charge an arm and a leg and then some for new parts. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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