How to drain Gas from '85 911 tank?

[RickM]

Was told on another forum that I could simply unbolt a large hex fitting from the bottom of the tank. Opinions or recommendations? Thanks!

Rick
1985 911

[marcesq]

That might be a bit of of an understatement. I believe the hex head is 22mm. Good luck finding that size . . . so find a bolt with a 22mm head and jam 2 nuts on the end and use that. As a matter of fact, the bolts holding the rear shocks on at the bottom are 22mm so maybe you can get one at your local 911 fix place.

If it were me, I would remove the belly pan and drain by removing the now old and decreped piece of rubber hose that connects the fuel tank to the fuel pump. It probably needs to be replaced anyway.

Grab the line close to the tank with a pair of vice grips with duct tape wrapped around the jaws and remove the hose from the fuel pump.

Good luck.

[RickM]

Thanks Marc,

I'll explore those options tommorow. If the hose is crapped out I'll replace. Time will kill those rubber components....not the 40k miles.

Regards,

Rick

[john walker's workshop]

attach a hose to the left fuel rail and activate the fuel pump.

[marcesq]

Now why didn't I think of that when I was changing out my fuel pump.

[alfizzo]

make sure you have two pans to switch out. when i drained my tank i filled a 15 gallon drum. i has two pans under the car when one got full i switch and dump the outher in the 15 gallon drum.

[RoninLB]

I did a clean fuel drop on a CIS..removed fuel level sender..siphoned the whole tank except for about a pint that dropped when removing the tank screen/lower fitting........Ron

[Joeaksa]

Originally posted by john walker's workshop
attach a hose to the left fuel rail and activate the fuel pump.

John,

Trying to do the same thing mentioned here, on a 85 car but with a 3.6 964 engine in the back. The idea of pumping it out is a lot better than pulling the tank or going in through the fuel sender to drain the fuel out.

Any hints on how to do it? Believe with the 3.6 that the fuel pump will not actuate until it senses the engine is running?

Thx,

Joe A

[greglepore]

I think on either a 3.2 or a 3.6 you need engine crank for the fuel pump to run-but you can jumper a wire to the fuel pump.

The "two nuts on a bolt" works, but once its open, watch out-its a flood.

[vash]

rick, all good advice. but i did it like this. i went to the hardware store and bought a kerosene hand pump. it cost maybe $6. it is plastic and has the red bulb that you pump. i attached a few feet of nylon tubing onto the intake side and jammed it into the fill hole. 20 minutes of bulb mashing moved 15 gallons of gas.

[Joeaksa]

Greg,

What is the "two nuts on a bolt" method?

Joe

[anthony]

To minimize mess I'd siphon out as much as possible first. At the auto parts store they sell these siphons which consist of a tube connected to a thing to squeeze which primes it and gets it flowing. It's really easy to use and not messy.

[vash]

joe. you need to find a bold with a hex head that will fit the big ole hex/allen of the plug. i had a new one from pelican so i just walked around the hardware store fitting them. then find two nuts that thread onto the bolt. snug them against each other and walla! homemade huge allen wrench.

oh i used this siphon. $4.29 at ACE hardware

[Joeaksa]

Sounds like the siphon method is best. Really do not look forwards to ever pulling the large plug on the gas tank. Letting the fuel pump push it out would be nice but I have one of the siphon's in the garage, will just pull the fuel sender out and do it that way.

Thx,

Joe A

[RoninLB]

Originally posted by Joeaksa

, will just pull the fuel sender out and do it that way.

there is an up-grade rubber gasket available instead of the paper one. It'll lower your gauge reading a slight amount.

[speeder]

I dunno, you guys are making this way too complicated IMO. I just used a standard spark plug socket, put the *male hex* end into the plug, ran a 3/8 extension through it and unscrewed the plug. I only had ~5 gallons in it, so a large radiator drain pan caught it just fine, (the kind w/ a spout), then I poured in into another car very carefully. Use a pencil or something to hold the little flap open in the recieving car's filler pipe.

[dickster]

i've used old hose pipe into the filler neck and just suck hard, then let it siphon out - just watch you don't get a mouth full.

[MotoSook]

I will never remove the tank drain again, unless I drain the tank with the fuel pump first. For SC's I have a hose on an old filter fitting that I screw into place to by-pass the fuel compenonts. JW's recommendation for using the left fuel rail connector is good for the 3.2.

[RickM]

Wow, my first post is alive again.

I followed JW's advise and all worked perfectly.

Here's what John said:

"rick, to activate the fuel pump, use a jumper wire to give battery power to the fuse. it's the 3rd fuse on the 10 fuse block. you'll hear it come on. the fuel rails clamp the injectors to the intake manifold on both sides of the engine. there's a cap nut on the end of the left one that's easy to access. be careful not to loose the ball bearing under it. just slip a 4 foot hose over the threads and use a hose clamp. then proceed to fill your 5 gal gas can. jw"

[Joeaksa]

Rick,

Good info on a problem is always needed! I was going to post a question but felt that there had to be something on this in the past so did a search and came up with your old thread. Glad I did and will try it out today!

Thanks everyone,

JoeA