Getting the D Model Ready to Remove the Rusty Fuel Tank…
Mar 23rd, 2008 by Denis
Remember the rusty tank…
As you remember… our friend stopped because he had a rusty gas tank.
The way that the D Model’s fuel tank is constructed and the way that
it is set up to draw fuel to the engine is good in theory, but in a
rusty situation it sort of works against itself.
At the end of the fuel pick up line, located inside and at the bottom of
the gas tank, there is a filter that is made up of a series of flat
washers with the fuel pick up line running through the center.
These washers work as a fairly good pre-filter before the fuel leaves
the tank, but in the event of a large amount of rust in the tank they are
sort of a problem waiting to happen.
What I mean is, that they will let fuel go through initially, but rust
slowly accumulates on the outside of these discs or washers and as
the rust and gunk is drawn to the washers, (especially as the car is
moving down the highway and the demand for fuel is greater) they
slowly but surely choke the fuel supply off, and you are left
wondering…
What happened?
Well, that puppy has to come out, be cleaned and treated properly
and put back into the car safely. Plus, there are a few things that we
can inspect and take care of while the tank is out to give us piece of
mind and make our car a happier vehicle.
Remember that I said safely…
Well, that is very important when working on any car, but it’s especially important when working on a vehicle such as a Citroen with a hydraulic suspension system, which when it is depressurized, is but an inch or two off the ground.
This is how we want to proceed with this project…
First you want to round up the tools you are going to need:
1. A good quality roll around floor jack.
2. A good set of jack stands and five 2?x6?x18? pieces of wood.
3. Set of combination wrenches.
4. Socket set, should have a 6 pointsocket of 12mm and of 21mm.
5. Get some screw drivers, some posi-drive screw drivers.
6. Set of pliers and some cutters.
7. Something soft for your knees to kneel on.
8. A couple of 5 gallon fuel cans. A large oil draining pan.
9. Some type of siphoning system or hand pump.
At this point you want to get the car into a garage with a
concrete floor, or at least onto a paved surface that is flat and
fairly level.
Disconnect the negative battery terminal.
(This next part can be tricky, so read it over if you need to, or if
you are doing it for the first time.)
First you want to open the right rear door of the car. Next you want
to open trunk lid. Find a towel and wrap it around the sharpe edge
that is next to the bottom rear edge of the fender.
If the car is a U.S. spec car and has side marker lights on the rear
fender and not just reflectors, then you want to reach under the
fender and disconnect the wires to the marker light.
At the back end of the fender you will notice a bolt with a 19mm
head on it. Either using the lug nut wrench that came with the car,
or a 19mm socket, carefully without slipping and scuffing up your
nice paint job remove the bolt.
Now, placing your right hand under the bottom edge of the fender
and your left hand at the top trunk edge or trunk edge of the fender
carefully and slowly pull the fender up and back until it comes off
the two pins that are located at the C pillar.
Now it makes sense…
The reason why I asked you to open the rear door and the trunk lid was so these items would not get chipped up when the fender started to come loose. Likewise for the sharp edge on the bumper. These are small things, but they keep your car from getting nicked up.
Next remove the right rear hubcap, and using a 19mm lug wrench
or a socket, slightly loosen, but do not remove the lug nuts.
One way or another, you will need to get a jack with one of
the pieces of wood between the jack and the underside of the
car.
If the car is too low to get anything under it, you will need two
jacks. Put one of the jacks under the square tubing jacking point
that you see on the rocker part of the body just behind the front
tire.
Be careful with those jacks…
If you use this point be very careful and try to get your jack as
close to the rocker or body as you can. Lift the car just high
enough so that you can get the second jack with the wood
under the body.
You want to have this jack located half way back positioned by
the standard jacking point. (It looks like a rivet that sticks out
halfway back along the cars rocker panel).
Make sure the piece of wood is flat against the bottom of the
car and not under the muffler. Center the jack under it and lift
the side of the car up.
When the car is high enough for one of the lower adjustments
of your jack stands, place one of the pieces of wood under the
car, and center a jack stand under it.
Put the first one at the front corner near that front tube jacking
point I spoke of. The other jack stand and wood piece you will
want to put at the back corner close to the back edge of the
rear door. (If you look under the car at this point you should see
a 4”x4” square of reinforced metal) this is where you want to put
that back jack stand.
Repeat the same process on the other side of the car, and
make sure that things don’t shift on you, and the car stays
square on the stands.
Take time to be safe…
For safety sake put some old tires or something substantial like
wood as a safety additionally under the car.
I can’t emphasize how important this is, because with no
springs, this car has no mercy should it slip off of its jack
stands.
Over the years I have known personally of 5 people who have
been crushed under their vehicles, who did foolish repairs,
lifting these cars up on their hydraulics to do oil changes, only
to have the cars come down and crush them.
Don’t be stupid. Play it safe and give these 3000 pound
vehicles the respect they deserve.
Next time we get down to business!
(except as noted below)
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Hey Denis, got any photo’s of your car? I think a visual might help me understand it better, although you do a great job explaining yourself — I am just a visual kinda gal.
Keep up the great work.