What did I screw up when I dropped the fuel tank?

Bofa-Deez

Bofa-Deez

TJ Enthusiast
Joined
Jul 19, 2019
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Deauville, LA
05 TJR

Yesterday I dropped the fuel tank to fix the filler valve inside the tank. I was having the well documented problem of fuel splashing out when filling up for a while, then the valve got stuck in the closed position and would keep shutting the pump after only 1/10 of a gallon was pumped, so it would take 30 to 45 seconds to pump one gallon!

Yesterday I pulled the tank and removed the fuel pump to access the valve inside. I pulled the valve and filed down the 3 little tabs just like in the youtube video posted around here a few times and... success! Well, sort of. I filled up the tank and the valve worked perfectly, stopping the pump when full without spitting fuel everywhere, but now it seems to be losing prime when it sits for an hour or so and takes a couple of attempts to start. After it's started, it runs perfectly. I never had this problem before and it always cranked right up in under a second from a cold start. I first assumed it may be some air trapped in the line as I only made one trip of less than a mile yesterday after the fix, but it just did it to me again after a 25 mile drive to work this morning (but it had been sitting for 3 hours before I tried to start it again.

So what did I screw up? I'm assuming from the symptoms that it is losing prime to the fuel rail, and never having even a hint of this symptom until yesterday, I know it is something I did. I was careful as I lowered the tank and didn't really have any problems with getting the fuel hard line connectors loose or with putting them back together again.
 
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Bofa-Deez said:
05 TJR

Yesterday I dropped the fuel tank to fix the filler valve inside the tank. I was having the well documented problem of fuel splashing out when filling up for a while, then the valve got stuck in the closed position and would keep shutting the pump after only 1/10 of a gallon was pumped, so it would take 30 to 45 seconds to pump one gallon!

Yesterday I pulled the tank and removed the fuel pump to access the valve inside. I pulled the valve and filed down the 3 little tabs just like in the youtube video posted around here a few times and... success! Well, sort of. I filled up the tank and the valve worked perfectly, stopping the pump when full without spitting fuel everywhere, but now it seems to be losing prime when it sits for an hour or so and takes a couple of attempts to start. After it's started, it runs perfectly. I never had this problem before and it always cranked right up in under a second from a cold start. I first assumed it may be some air trapped in the line as I only made one trip of less than a mile yesterday after the fix, but it just did it to me again after a 25 mile drive to work this morning (but it had been sitting for 3 hours before I tried to start it again.

So what did I screw up? I'm assuming from the symptoms that it is losing prime to the fuel rail, and never having even a hint of this symptom until yesterday, I know it is something I did. I was careful as I lowered the tank and didn't really have any problems with getting the fuel hard line connectors loose or with putting them back together again.
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Check for a fuel leak on top of the tank. You may not have got the connector for the fuel line fully locked in. Other than something similar, it is likely coincidental that your pump assembly decided that the check valve that holds some prime is not a member of the family and got sent packing.
 
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mrblaine said:
Check for a fuel leak on top of the tank. You may not have got the connector for the fuel line fully locked in. Other than something similar, it is likely coincidental that your pump assembly decided that the check valve that holds some prime is not a member of the family and got sent packing.
Click to expand...

I guess this would be the only scenario where seeing a fuel leak would be the preferred outcome.

Thanks for the info. I'll check when I get home this afternoon. I should have known it couldn't have been this easy. I pulled the tank, fixed the valve and had the tank reinstalled all in about an hour and a half. I didn't think that was too bad for a first timer.
 
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As Blaine said, there's a check valve on the silver fuel filter canister at the top of the pump assembly. When that valve goes (as mine did), you'll get that exact issue. If you wind up having to replace the fuel filter, make sure you buy a quality part. The first time I replaced mine I went cheap and the valve was bad from the start. I vaguely recall seeing others mention they opened up cheaper valves and could blow backwards through them, suggesting the same thing.

Question: How the hell did you get the cage with the plunger off? I was having this same issue, dropped my tank, reached in, found the cage/plunger assembly, and could not for the life of me get it off. I finally gave up, but in the process of dropping the tank had knocked the plunger loose so it's working ok now. But for next time this happens.... how the hell did you get the cage/plunger assembly out of the tank?
 
BlackJeep said:
As Blaine said, there's a check valve on the silver fuel filter canister at the top of the pump assembly. When that valve goes (as mine did), you'll get that exact issue. If you wind up having to replace the fuel filter, make sure you buy a quality part. The first time I replaced mine I went cheap and the valve was bad from the start. I vaguely recall seeing others mention they opened up cheaper valves and could blow backwards through them, suggesting the same thing.

Question: How the hell did you get the cage with the plunger off? I was having this same issue, dropped my tank, reached in, found the cage/plunger assembly, and could not for the life of me get it off. I finally gave up, but in the process of dropping the tank had knocked the plunger loose so it's working ok now. But for next time this happens.... how the hell did you get the cage/plunger assembly out of the tank?
Click to expand...

I grabbed the hose on the outside of the tank and held it firmly as I grabbed the cage on the inside and used a steady downward pressure until it popped off undamaged.

Before that, I tried to pry the ears with a small screwdriver, but with only room for one hand, I abandoned that idea long before I started to say dirty words.
 
BlackJeep said:
Question: How the hell did you get the cage with the plunger off? I was having this same issue, dropped my tank, reached in, found the cage/plunger assembly, and could not for the life of me get it off. I finally gave up, but in the process of dropping the tank had knocked the plunger loose so it's working ok now. But for next time this happens.... how the hell did you get the cage/plunger assembly out of the tank?
Click to expand...

I went to a junkyard last year and there was a wrangler frame there With the fuel tank. I was going to pull the cage off and buy it. I could t get it off either. I stick my phone in there to get a pic of it and this is what I found. It did t look like the ones I’ve seen in videos where people do the little filing fix. This thing was like it was molded into the whole neck as one piece. I don’t remember the year for sure, but I think it was a 2002.

D399F825-2913-48D1-A502-09FC3BD708E4.jpeg
 
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BlackJeep said:
As Blaine said, there's a check valve on the silver fuel filter canister at the top of the pump assembly. When that valve goes (as mine did), you'll get that exact issue. If you wind up having to replace the fuel filter, make sure you buy a quality part. The first time I replaced mine I went cheap and the valve was bad from the start. I vaguely recall seeing others mention they opened up cheaper valves and could blow backwards through them, suggesting the same thing.

Question: How the hell did you get the cage with the plunger off? I was having this same issue, dropped my tank, reached in, found the cage/plunger assembly, and could not for the life of me get it off. I finally gave up, but in the process of dropping the tank had knocked the plunger loose so it's working ok now. But for next time this happens.... how the hell did you get the cage/plunger assembly out of the tank?
Click to expand...
The 05-06 don't have the check valve/regulator on top. It is inside the tank.
To get the cage off the filler neck, just grab holt, rotate the end straight back and it will pop off.
 
MountaineerTom said:
I went to a junkyard last year and there was a wrangler frame there With the fuel tank. I was going to pull the cage off and buy it. I could t get it off either. I stick my phone in there to get a pic of it and this is what I found. It did t look like the ones I’ve seen in videos where people do the little filing fix. This thing was like it was molded into the whole neck as one piece. I don’t remember the year for sure, but I think it was a 2002.

View attachment 122376
Click to expand...
2002 is not known for these issues.
 
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MountaineerTom said:
I went to a junkyard last year and there was a wrangler frame there With the fuel tank. I was going to pull the cage off and buy it. I could t get it off either. I stick my phone in there to get a pic of it and this is what I found. It did t look like the ones I’ve seen in videos where people do the little filing fix. This thing was like it was molded into the whole neck as one piece. I don’t remember the year for sure, but I think it was a 2002.

View attachment 122376
Click to expand...

@mrblaine is correct. Mine looked exactly like the white plastic piece in the YouTube video where the guy used a dremmel to sand down the tabs. I got it off almost like Blaine said
 
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Bofa-Deez said:
@mrblaine is correct. Mine looked exactly like the white plastic piece in the YouTube video where the guy used a dremmel to sand down the tabs. I got it off almost like Blaine said
Click to expand...

My ‘06 pukes fuel every now and then. Fixing the cage is on my list of things to do in the future.
 
mrblaine said:
2002 is not known for these issues.
Click to expand...

Do you know what year they changed from the ones like the pic above to the white removable cages?

I may have asked you this before in another thread, I can’t remember.
 
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Bofa-Deez said:
Sounds right to me. Doubt anyone will prove you wrong.

I didn't really have a problem with it puking fuel, but when it got frozen shut so I had issues fueling it up, that's when the tank got dropped, and worked apparently.
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Mine was stuck in the puking position LOL. Fixed it up when I dropped the tank to replace the fuel pump not too long ago. Hope you find your issue!
 
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Mine is a '05 and it has just started occasionally puking as well. Ugh. Yet another thing to get fixed.

I did some reading on this when the problem started happening and I recall thinking it was just 05/06 TJs only as well ...
 
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mrblaine said:
The 05-06 don't have the check valve/regulator on top. It is inside the tank.
To get the cage off the filler neck, just grab holt, rotate the end straight back and it will pop off.
Click to expand...

When you say rotate straight back, does that mean towards what would be the rear of the Jeep if the tank was installed?

Just taking notes for whenever I do this fix.
 
I've found that if I just slow down the fuel pump for the last couple of gallons that it no longer spills. I'm sure that will eventually not work any more.
 
Mike the Silver TJ said:
I've found that if I just slow down the fuel pump for the last couple of gallons that it no longer spills. I'm sure that will eventually not work any more.
Click to expand...

That's exactly what I was doing. I would listen for the difference in sound and slow the pump down, then the damn thing apparently worked itself loose and got stuck in the closed position and the pump would shut itself off every .1 gallon. When you have 15 gallons to pump, you could be there a while

 
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