Help Trans am wont stay on

**LS1_ws6** · 07-25-2011, 09:29 PM

so i've been taking stuff apart and it time to drop the tank, problem is i can't siphon the gas out. I got a pump to help me out but it seems like the hose cant reach all the way to the gas. i take the hose out and its wet but no gas comes out? is there a special way to do this?

**TransAmX2** · 07-26-2011, 05:31 AM

tough to say without being there, if it's wet but not sucking fuel you may have hit bottom and had it turn and go back above the fuel level. if the hose is curved keep it curving down/twards the drivers side and slowly keep feeding it in, you can blow in the hose every so often to see if it's below fuel level (safer than sucking and should still be obvious with the pressure resistance and the sound of blowing bubbles), then start siphoning once you get there, if it stops push it down further and go again.

I didn't see a problem with cutting the access hole in the hatch to get at the fuel pump, no need to drop the tank, just do a clean job and seal it up nicely after your done, naturally you need to be careful, but there is room to work, the tank isn't pressed against the sheetmetal. I did mine this way and in no way regret it. There is a 6x6 or so access panel under the carpet in my hatch now, no one knows but me, and if I ever need to get access to the fuel pump again it's right there. I can now get my fuel pump out in under 10 minutes, no jacks, no creeper, no fuel in the face, no siphoning fuel, no benchpressing the tank or taking apart the exhaust, just pull back carpet, take off some screws and pull my panel free of the silicone seal I put on it and there is the pump. I don't think it takes away from the value of the car and it's not in a structural support area of the car and as long as you put a cover plate back over it, it's not going to affect anything but access convience. Maybe if my car had 5kmi on it and was a rare collectable model or something crazy like that, but for a daily driver, I can't see it ever hurting the value or performance of a car in any way.

just my 2c

**vette&ws6** · 07-26-2011, 12:01 PM

Your tank should have a check valve at the bottom of the fill hose to prevent people from siphoning gas from your veh. Easiest way would be to take the fuel line off of your fuel rail, slide a hose over the line and into a gasoline container, and jump the relay for the fuel pump. You said the pump still pumps...just has low pressure. Just let the veh do the work for you.

And as far as the access hole goes...Just don't do it. The fuel pump on your car should last another 100,000 miles. Why do you need an access hole to replace something that should almost never need replacing? Even if you were running nitrous or forced induction, you can run an inline booster pump and never have the need to go back in the tank. JUST SAY "NO" TO HACKING YOUR CAR UP! Do it right and you will feel better about it in the end.

To the hacks that have done your fuel pumps on any of your cars this way...you should be ashamed. If anyone buys your car or works on it and discovers what you have done, they won't be impressed.

**Knight** · 07-26-2011, 01:05 PM

Originally Posted by vette&ws6

Your tank should have a check valve at the bottom of the fill hose to prevent people from siphoning gas from your veh. Easiest way would be to take the fuel line off of your fuel rail, slide a hose over the line and into a gasoline container, and jump the relay for the fuel pump. You said the pump still pumps...just has low pressure. Just let the veh do the work for you.

And as far as the access hole goes...Just don't do it. The fuel pump on your car should last another 100,000 miles. Why do you need an access hole to replace something that should almost never need replacing? Even if you were running nitrous or forced induction, you can run an inline booster pump and never have the need to go back in the tank. JUST SAY "NO" TO HACKING YOUR CAR UP! Do it right and you will feel better about it in the end.

To the hacks that have done your fuel pumps on any of your cars this way...you should be ashamed. If anyone buys your car or works on it and discovers what you have done, they won't be impressed.

Not a wise thing to say. If done properly, there is nothing wrong with an access panel for the fuel pump. Can it be hacked in? Sure. Anything can. But it can be done properly, too. All the one's I've seen have been very professional. I would have no problem owning a car with an access to the fuel pump, if it was installed like the ones I've seen. Will the pump last 100k miles? Maybe. Maybe not. Just because it should, doesn't mean it will.

**vette&ws6** · 07-26-2011, 05:10 PM

I knew I would get a rebuttle from my previous post. Sorry if I offended anyone. My personal / professional opinion. If you own a race car and the car has already been all cut up and welded back together, thats a different situation. At the dealer we have always laughed at the people who cut holes in their cars instead of just biting the bullet and doing it right. I have done plenty of F-Body fuel pumps on the floor in my garage, and if you get the car high enough in the rear, it really isn't that hard. Are there easier fuel pumps to replace...Hell yes there are! By the time you are done cutting a nice hole in your trunk, spilling fuel all over the interior of your car, fabricating a door, drilling holes, sealing the door to the body, cleaning the fuel smell from the inside of your car and putting your carpet back down...You could have just done it by the book and been done. No, the fuel pump might not last 100,000 miles, but face it, we aren't talking about a maintenance item here.

Not trying to piss people off. I just like to see people do it right.

Will doing it right take a little longer...Probably, it almost always does.