vandalized fuel system how bad is it?

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DusterDamsel

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My 73 Space Duster was vandalized the other night and a substance ( hand cleaner and borax smeared on the inside of the fuel fill tube gas cap was taken. I don't know what I need to do to clean it I plan to remove the fill tube to clean it out but I dont know if there is any in the fuel tank it doesnt appear to have residue going down the tube. Any help with this I would appreciate.
 
Do not start the car..
Drop the tank and toss the gas because it is now bad..
Flush tank with water for a while.. and flush the filler neck or w.e you call it for a while and get it good and clean.. then put everything back in.
 
Forgot to mention, make sure your gas tank is really dry before you put it back in and put gasoline in the tank. What kind of car do you have? Someone might have a gas cap for you on here. It is better to lose time and thirty bucks in gas, than it is to lose an engine as well as the other option.
 
It is a 73 Plymouth Duster with a 318 auto. I took some of the mixture its about the consistency of playdough.. and poured gas on it. it doesnt appear to dissolve or anything? anyways is it hard to get the tank out I am alone with tools and a floor jack. outside. I am capable but am I going to be able to do this by myself?
 
Yes you can do it yourself. Worst case you have to replace the tank if any got in it and you can get it out. If you have to replace your tank, order one with baffles in it.
 
Drop the tank and drain it.

Don't put water in the tank!!! The water will be harder to get out than anything that's already in there, and since it doesn't mix with the fuel there's absolutely no point.

You shouldn't need to do anything other than drain the tank, unless there's a big blob of that stuff down in the tank.

Once you've drained the fuel and pulled the sending unit, just make sure that all traces of fuel are out of the tank. That will be a lot easier with the sender out. Then I'd leave the tank out for a bit so any remaining fuel evaporates off. Again, unless there's some big blob of junk in there, any residue left from the small amount of evaporating fuel will be so diluted with new fuel it won't be an issue. Once the tank is dry, re-install it and fill it up completely before you run it. Dilution is the solution to pollution. :D
 
Thankyou I love my car it was my husbands (deceased) baby, and it needs alot of work, right now its my daily driver, I have three more rolling wrecks. I had a rebuilt tranny put into the duster and now just got a 92 dakota 318 auto that needs a tranny . Go figure I really am not fond of wrenching much rather landscape or do finishwork woodwork but what the hey I cant afford to pay mechanic wages. and I have tools. once again thank you,

Baffles why? so it doesn't slosh around. weight? handling?also
I am gonna post some pics as soon as i figure out how.

Sow Many Seeds dd
 
Yeah I wasn't gonna put water in the tank I figured I can use air blow it out.. Makes sense to me..? will it work ? Also the fuel gauge had just quit working a week ago. replace the sending unit is it for the gauge? I guess I should redo the lines for the airshocks someone told me that each side should have its own valve right now they both go to one valve stem ?
 
I wonder why someone would do that to a car? Borax or comet cleaner, seems very cruel. I agree its gotta come out. Man what a PITA.
 
Any airshocks that I have ever seen share a common filler and therefore have the same pressure in both shocks. The real answer, is to get rid of the airshocks. They are a sleazy way of compensating for worn out springs. They end up supporting the cars weight on the shock mounts instead of the spring hangars where it was engineered to be supported, and can lead to other problems. If you have the funds and the time, while you are under there fixing the gas tank pull the springs and have them re arched, and perhaps another leaf added at your local spring shop. Also, FYI, the gasket for the sending unit is still available at your Chrysler dealer for a few dollars.

Good luck!
 
Air should work just fine to get the last bit of fuel out, any small remainders should evaporate off anyway.

If the gauge kit working its more than likely the sending unit, but it could just be a bad ground on the sender. Or it could be that the sending unit float doesn't float anymore. At any rate, sounds like it might be a good time to replace or repair the sender anyway.

Don't know anything about air shocks other than they're supposed to be horrible and damaging to the shock mounts, especially if run with a lot of pressure.
 
omahamoparguy said:
I wonder why someone would do that to a car? Borax or comet cleaner, seems very cruel. I agree its gotta come out. Man what a PITA.
Click to expand...

I agree with the others, you have to make sure it's clean. You don't want contamination getting to the carb or worse. Sorry for this happening to you, I hope it was a random act and once repaired, you'll be good to go. I'd help, but being 3k miles away pretty much eliminates that. Good luck, and I hope you get everything straight.
 
Yeah my kid says my picker is broke i dated this guy little unstable hes been arrested for malicious mischief, he was just trying to hurt me and I gotta say he did.. Not... this was a test and I did not go to jail. I did not break although I did cry, I ll let the county deal with him and I hope they help him. I am dealing with the nuts and bolts and I am not going to try and figure out why he did this, I ll give him the benefit of doubt and say hes gotta have a chemical imbalance and is unable to control himself.
On to the car I am a widow on a fixed income and I have no real $ to put into her.. I am going to get her back on the road and try and repair replace the must haves one at a time slow and steady, I need to put a tranny in the dakota so I can park the Duster, then I hope to make her a Mother - Son project. He knows less than I but is very able, I always bleed when wrenching, rapping knuckles, something.. Ok i am procrastinating I gotta get back outside and get this done.
 
Sorry to read about your husband....no advice that has not been given but a question....what the hell is wrong with people? Recently there was a fellow that had his distributor, you had some a**hat dump some sort of crap in your fuel system.....wish I was not on the other side of the state, I would gladly help you out with the labor....
 
You can go to the auto parts store or a hardware, buy a small hand pump with hose and some 5 gallon buckets. You can shove the hose down the filler neck and pump the fuel out of the tank into the buckets. Form there you can determine if the you are going to pull the tank or just the filler neck. Personally, I would pull both. By pumping the tank out you can see some of what is in the bottom of the tank by what lurks in the bottom of those buckets. At least the tank will be much easier to manage by yourself when its empty.
Also, the fuel gauge not working may be a simple ground issue. If there is voltage going to the tank via the wire passing through the trunk, it still requires the sending unit/fuel tank to be grounded in order to function. Run a wire from the tank or sending unit to the frame or body and turn the key on. It might be just that simple.
 
thanks I dont run alot of air in the shocks I m cleaning out the car next ill clean the underneath am I correct in assuming that the fill tube comes off at the tank is it a idk what to call it a locking nut ring,? loosen it with a screwdriver and hammer?
should I knock the crud off the straps etc spray some wd40 I m gonna run out of daylight Ill let it sit and drop the tank in the morning.
 
Idk how much fuel is in the tank not much but I am not sucking on a siphon hose it isnt heavy just awkward. Ill check out the ground ill replace the sending unit if its available, The local parts store has some awesome guys there that have helped me out with info tricks etc. They are getting used to seeing me every few days, I like to learn new things and have a lot of questions,

life is a journey and I am at my best on the road,,
 
Related question - what do you do with the gas when you drain it?
 
There's a siphon pump "kit" that's very popular...........

Looks like this, and all the parts stores usually have 'em

siphon_pump.jpg
 
67Dart273 said:
There's a siphon pump "kit" that's very popular...........

Looks like this, and all the parts stores usually have 'em

siphon_pump.jpg
Click to expand...
That is exactly the hand pump with hose I was thinking of...Used it to pump out the fuel tank for a sending unit swap. Works well...
 
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