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Siphon Hose - Drama

Submitted: Wednesday, May 02, 2007 at 20:02

Jason (macca)

Hi all,

Today I was siphoning some fuel from the main tank of my 2001 Toyota Prado. I was using one of those jiggle type siphon hoses which has the brass cylinder that contains a marble connected to a length of hose. When I removed the siphon hose from the tank, I noticed that the brass end had come off the hose and must now be either in the tank or jammed in the main line to the tank.

My questions I guess are;

1. What grief is the brass end going to cause me if its rolling around in the bottom of my tank and how long should I leave it before I retrieve it

2. How difficult is it to remove the main tank from a Prado so that I can get the brass end out

3. Should I only use my sub tank in the interim

Many thanks
Jason

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AnswerID: 237496   Submitted: Wednesday, May 02, 2007 at 20:14

Member - Olcoolone (SA) replied:

You should be all right it can't get lodged anywhere, the brass is ok and the ball bearing is big enought not to get caught in the fuel pickup or line.

You would have to be very unlucky the have it cause a issue.

By the way...it was your car.... wasn't it! LOL

You could always use a magnet and a piece of string to get the ball bearing...and don't worry is you loose the magnet in the tank, you will just get better fuel ecconomy out of that tank....it will act as a fuel catylist (save you paying $$$ for one).

Regards Richard
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Reply 1 of 8
FollowupID: 498577   Submitted: Wednesday, May 02, 2007 at 21:37

rustytruck posted:

The original post refers to a 'marble' not a ball bearing. The two jiggle syphons I have both have glass marbles and magnets don't work on glass. Still, loose items rolling in one spot constantly have the potential to wear a hole. Whilst brass is softer than steel, it is not the ideal situation to have loose objects in a fuel tank, even if the marble does roll from side to side. There are tools which can be inserted through access holes to grab and remove these items. Check at your favourite auto accessory/parts store.
FollowUp 1 of 1
AnswerID: 237497   Submitted: Wednesday, May 02, 2007 at 20:15

Member - Poppy (QLD) replied:

Gee that would have to brass you off...lol... sorry mate can't help you
Cheers Ray

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Reply 2 of 8
AnswerID: 237503   Submitted: Wednesday, May 02, 2007 at 20:27

Member - Rob S (NSW) replied:

I am not sure what would happen if you left it there. may be it would find a low spot in the tank and sit there happily ever after.
If it was my 4wd I would remove it.
Before removing the tank, i would try draining it ,and remove the fuel gauge sender unit which is large enough to go fishing through preferably with a brass wire as not to cause sparks,
Depends on the accessibility of the sender unit if top mounted would help. A work shop manual would be handy.

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Reply 3 of 8
AnswerID: 237504   Submitted: Wednesday, May 02, 2007 at 20:27

Member - Phil G (SA) replied:

Its not a problem. Theres a flap where the filler enters the tank, which is where it must have got caught.

Fuel is sucked through a large gauze filter which sits on the bottom of the tank, so theres no way it will get blocked.

Cheers
Phil
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AnswerID: 237513   Submitted: Wednesday, May 02, 2007 at 20:33

Jason (macca) replied:

Thanks so much to everyone for their input. I really appreciate you taking the time out to reply.

Your a bunch of champions

Jason
Reply 5 of 8
FollowupID: 498616   Submitted: Thursday, May 03, 2007 at 00:09

Blaze posted:

Biggest lesson here I guess is to clamp the brass end to the hose in future, I use a simple system with a couple of zip ties, only reason I have this is from the same experience. :-)

Main thing that bugged me when I had the fitting left in the tank was hearing it rattle and roll when low on fuel. They can't do any harm.
See how you go but I would probably remove them if you can.
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AnswerID: 237516   Submitted: Wednesday, May 02, 2007 at 20:41

Member - Bill F (VIC) replied:

Hi Jason

Was it a diesel hose in a petrol tank or a petrol hose in a diesel tank or a large or small jiggle hose

Bill F
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Reply 6 of 8
AnswerID: 237517   Submitted: Wednesday, May 02, 2007 at 20:41

hoyks replied:

I'm not sure of the setup in the Prado, but my vehicle has an inspection plate under the carpet in the cargo area that you can remove to gain access to the fuel sender. The fuel sender is held in by a few screws and if you remove that you could get an arm in to fish around and find the bits (Run the tank down to near empty and get a long glove though).

Personally, I would probably just get a new siphon.
Reply 7 of 8
AnswerID: 237692   Submitted: Thursday, May 03, 2007 at 17:18

Hairy replied:

Do you know a plumber?
Some plumbers these days have cameras for sticking down pipes for inspections.
Se if you can borrow one and hook it out with a bit of wire or one of those tools mechanics use for picking up dropped parts (it has 4 little claws that come out the end of a cable type liner). Might be easier than taking your tank out.
Good luck.
Reply 8 of 8
FollowupID: 498790   Submitted: Thursday, May 03, 2007 at 19:22

Member - Phil G (SA) posted:

Not sure that I'd be putting an electric camera down a fuel tank :-((
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FollowupID: 498794   Submitted: Thursday, May 03, 2007 at 19:28

kimprado posted:

Hairy

I would'nt do that. An object relying on an electrical current may trigger a rather large bang if introduced into a vapour filled tank.

Are you feeling suitably castigated?

LOL

Regards

Kim

FollowUp 2 of 3
FollowupID: 498809   Submitted: Thursday, May 03, 2007 at 20:40

Hairy posted:

Gday,
I dont know, but I would have thought if you can put them down a pipe full of methane you could put them in a fuel tank??? They would be sealed, low voltage and earthed???

And what does castigated mean??

Cheers
FollowUp 3 of 3