made a PITA mistake with fuel tank sender.

[Theiceman]

I made a pain in the ass mistake .. tried cleaning sender as suggested . didn't make much difference. I did notice the fuel line which I imagine clips on at the bottom had come off. I clipped it back on . Felt like I had to spring compress the sender to get it in ...

Long story short is I did not get the seal to the tank on properly and after filling up last nigh this morning a I went out to a new hole in my asphalt driveway and the inside of the car reeking like gas ..... to make things worse I noticed when I went to back it out of the driveway the coolant light came on .. checked it and it was completely empty ... . checked the transmission and the top is soaked ...

so lots of fun coming.. but here is the real issue ...

I cant drive the car around with a leaking coolant flange to get the gas low enough so I can go replace the sender seal . If I let it sit to replace the coolant flange gas is going to continue to leak out .

is there a convenient way to drain some gas from the tank so I can fix the gas leak at the sender seal , and then after that I can air out the car while fixing the coolant flange ..

I know this sucks. Murpheys law at work.

oh btw is the sender supposed to "compress" as if on a spring as I install it or did I screw that up too ?

Thanks

[HereInOhio]

The sender does compress. Its two parts, the top with the seal gasket on has rods on it that slide in the bottom portion. This is assuming its the same as an '06 passat which I think they are (I had a pain installing that one a week or two ago, didnt seem like it would compress enough. Older Audi pumps compress that way as well.

As far as draining the gas the easies is probably to just take the lines off the pump and hook a hose going into a gas can. It may be under ~50 lbs of pressure so you may want to clamp it or get the adapter from Napa in the recent thread "lpfp line repair" linked below. Then direct wire it to the battery to power it. Be careful not to spark the leads when connecting (connect lpfp side first and battery last.) Also give the pump a break every so often.

http://www.audizine.com/forum/showth...ed-some-advice

[p0isin]

If you disconnect the fuel line that goes to the fuel filter inlet it may drain (albeit slowly). Not 100% sure though.

[Theiceman]

thanks guys there is a couple of options.

I seem to remember the line not draining to the fuel filter when I did it but not sure either. I think the pump actually stops the gas from draining. the direct powered fuel pump seems like a good idea , maybe I will go with that while I wait for my flange parts and new seal to show up.

if you see a small mushroom cloud rise from south western Ontario you will know it did not go as planned.


Thanks guys.

[HereInOhio]

I call dibs on your cam and lifters if we see a mushroom cloud!!