Cleaning/Repairing a Hilux Fuel Tank...ADVICE NEEDED

[Toyo Truck]

Hey guys,

I have pulled out my fuel tank tonight and realised that my float
is farked??!! Whenever I used to get to 1/4 fuel, my guage would stop!
Turns out the float has a bit missing off it allowing it to flop around inside
the tank, and wedge against the bottom. so out it goes!

So now I gotta replace the float, I have a spare fuel tank somewhere
lying around, it has a pickup and a fuel level thingy in it.
The tank looks exactly like my 22R petrol fuel tank,
but this spare one is a diesel tank.
Will the fuel pickup and level thing be the same in the spare diesel tank?? Will my car run the same with a diesel pickup in a petrol tank?
same with the sender??
Is there any difference between the
2 tanks? IE internal baffling, etc?
Could I just swap it all over in 1 piece and fill it up with petty??

Also, what is the go with the little basket filter thingy on the bottom of
both the pickups?? Do you need to run this thing? Can you get a
replacement of just the basket, without buying the whole pickup??

Cheers,
Bart

[v6hilux]

The diesel tank has extra an port for fuel return.

The petrol has a port for carbon canister return.

You just work it out yourself, as I have never done this swap myself!

The sender should be the same and the strainer you talk about is required to stop the obvious.

You may find some algae in the diesel tank if it has been sitting a long time with a bit of diesel oil in it. This will need to be physically removed and cleaned or you will be getting filter probs.

[Toyo Truck]

That's the other thing I was worried about
dirty diesel contamination.

Both tanks look identical, have the same inlet and outlets from what I
can see. Sender is the same shape/size, has a better looking float on it.
Pickup is very slightly different in the bend of the pipe, but it only differs
by 1" or so in where it picks up.
filler hole is the same, with the smaller vent pipe next to it.
and then they both have a small inlet pipe on the very top at the end,
for the charcoal cannister or the fuel return. this is just a pipe back into
the tank yeah?

I noticed There is this crazy white chalky powder on the pickup and
sender unit...is this normal, or algae goodness?

Cheers,
Bart

[Toyo Truck]

Whats the best way to clean a tank?
And in particular, remove that algae?

I looked in there last night and there are only 2 small openings,
so scrubbing is out of the question.
Can you get a tank professionally cleaned?? How much is that?
What do they use? acid? there is a little bit of surface rust inside the
tank. will this cause any issues??

Also, I noticed that my petto tank, has a small "tray" that surrounds the
pickup strainer, presumably to keep fuel around the pickup.
The diesel tank does not have this "tray" and just sucks fuel from where-
ever it can get it, there is NO BAFFLING in the diesel tank.

If I ran this non-baffled tank in a petrol 22R, would it run OK??

Cheers,
Bart

[Toyo Truck]

Anyone??

C'mon Toyota Gurus!
Help a brother out!

Cheers,
Bart

[v6hilux]

C'mon Toyota Gurus!

BartMan, We are all in holiday mode!

Sorry, I never cleaned out an old rusty diesel tank. I prefer LPG in my Lux.

Someone will tell you something I'm sure from the usual practice of scrapping rusty tanks.

As I have seen with locomotive diesel tanks, they cut a hole in them for access, then when finished, they are welded closed again and painted on the outside.

I know with the old beer kegs, they used to have a special tube with high pressure nozzle to blast the solidified dregs out.

[4be]

might just be easier and safer to get another petrol sender, as i am not to sure about it either.

[killalux]

in a hilux you should just be able to swap the fuel level sender over, they will be the same petrol to diesel. you shouldn't need to change the pickup side of things at all.
i wouldn't change the whole tank, don't wanna risk any diesel algae gettin in the fuel.

[Toyo Truck]

Hey guys!

Thanks for the replys,

I wouls swap the whole sender over, it looks the same, but when I
connect it to the fuel sender wiring, there is no movement on the guage.
The old float unit itself works OK, the float is just knackered. BUT
I cant see how to remove the float off the old diesel one, and replace
it onto my petrol one?? small little brass collet thingo.

So that algae is really bad yeah?
I just was thinking the other tank has NO dents in it
whereas the original one is a bit bent on the bottom,
maybe causing further inaccurate float levels on low?

How can you get dents out of a tank bottom?? could I just
put a pole or something through from the top and whack it down?

Cheers boys,
Bart

[TOYTRUK]

hey bart,i have an efi tank in a 4runner i cannibalised.if you want to come pull it out you can have the tank . i am near homebush .pm me if u are interested.no promises on the condition of its internal condition,has some stale unleaded in it and the caps been off for 3 months.

[Toyo Truck]

Hey mate,

You are in homebush hey? I got some mates who live out that way,
I'm often out that way. Next time we go out wheelin' I'll give you a
call if ya want, PM me your number buddy.

Thanks for the offer dude, but my mate has a surf too, and I just
checked the fuel tanks, they are quite a bit different to the
diesel/petto tanks from the older model luxies.

Just for everyone elses reference the differences are...
FUEL SENDER
The fuel sender has a different plug.
So the Gen 1 4-runner has its plug (white plastic oblong connector),
Gen 2 4-runner EFI have different plugs (grey plastic round connector)
and the LN106 and RN106 (single cab) tanks have the same plug.
(white plastic 2-pin spade connector " -| ").

MOUNTING
The mounting is different to the chassis due to the rear link setup being in the way. But Gen 1 4-runners and Gen 2 luxies have the same chassis
mounts (the look 99% identical).
NOTE:- All 4-runner tanks, be they old or new, have an indent in the top
of the front of the tank for the rear seats to fit.

SHAPE
So the single cabs have the biggest fuel tank due to their being no
indent in the top of the tank. Not sure if dual cabs have the same tank
as single cabs, I will check this soon though.

PICS
I have phone pics of the 4-runner EFI tank, the old gen1 4-runner tank,
my 22R RN106 lux tank, and a LN106 diesel tank, I'll post em up as
soon as I can.

Cheers,
Bart

PS.. Any ideas on CLEANING my current tank? thinners? metho?
Soapy water? Can I take it to car lovers and give it some "love"??

[Toyo Truck]

Guys??

I must not be the ONLY poor bugger who has had to clean up his
fuel tank after 20 odd years of offroad abuse.
Seriously though guys, you should take that tank out for a look.
Mine has alot of crap built up around the bottom baffles, and oil floating
on top of the fuel...LOL

Unless someone on here knows how to remove a fuel float (the foam part)
from the end of the sender, I will probably end up buying a new float,
just to be sure.

I just wanna clean my tank out as best I can.
Surely there is a mob somewhere that cleans tanks? Anyone know one?

Cheers,
Bart

[Toyo Truck]

Crap. I just rang Peps Auto, Auto 1, Repco, Supercheap and Autobarn
not one of the bastards sells fuel floats, or ANY part of it...not even a
replacement float!

So it looks like I have to get reamed by good old Mr. Toyota Spare Parts!!
(Cause even if I get another float from a wrecker, I have NO IDEA how to
get the damn thing off!)
This will be interesting....

Cheers,
Bart