Im aware that old VW's take leaded fuel but is it literally 'leaded' i thought it was a lead based adiitive. Any way the previous owner of my dub has put big chunks of roofing lead in my petrol tank and i cant get em out. Good or bad?? just wondering if im up for a new tank.
cheers
luke
volumex ·
How have you tried to get them out?
Probably a good idea to get them out, not because of the chemical effects but because if you are unlucky enough for one of the chunks to hit the inlet tubes it could cause problems. Slim chance, but Murphys law states it will happen on a cold wet Sunday night 1000 miles from the nearest help.
colonel mustard ·
It could rust out the tank.. In theory...
Be best to yank it out and give it a clean up and clean out. Fun times.
Phil74Camper ·
The previous owner must have thought that the pieces of lead would dissolve into the fuel - like a Berocca or something. Not going to work! Drain the fuel and remove the tank. That way you can upend it and shake out the pieces, or al least grab them with long neck pliers.
Lead was never added to petrol as a raw metal. The chemical compund tetra ethyl lead (CH3 Ch2)4 Pb was, usually around 1 part TEL with about 1,250 parts petrol. It was originally added for its anti-knock properties - to prevent pre-ignition and allow running higher compression ratios without pre-ignition.
omg never heard of this before!
i try to take them out if not find another tank
baja burley ·
i thought it would be some lead based hydrocarbon...
i have taken the tank out and given it a descent shake, and only a few bits came out... so i guess i'll have to employ the longnose pliers
anyway, good to see its no massive drama.
cheers guys
luke
Joel ·
god damn ppl do some whacked things
Luke if the tanks out of the car and empty take the fuel gauge sender out and turn it upside down and they should fall out the hole
baja burley ·
they are too big for the filler hole so yer will give it a go.. is there a specific technique to taken these out?
Joel ·
yours is an SBug right?
the senders just rotate anticlockwise abit to disengage the lugs that hold them in place
i find multi grips work well in the cutouts around the edges
then the trick part is getting the float arms up out of the hole
they tend to get caught up in the internal baffles
donn ·
Some things I read on here (not just this thread) make me wonder if it's just a gee up, but then I always have been a bit of a doubting Thomas (just how is "sinic" realy spelt) So why dont you try one of those long retractable claw thingies, they are like a long flexable arm with 3 small claws on one end and a spring loaded button on the other end, push the button in and the claws come out the other end and open up, get it onto the item you want to retreve, let the button go and the claws retract and close onto the item, I have one and find it's great for retreaving things from awkward places.
68AutoBug ·
I wouldn't worry about it...
a bit of lead would help...
but I'm sure that lead doesn;t break down in petrol..
LEE
baja burley ·
yeah im not worried about the chemical side of things so much now. just what volumex said about it blocking the fuel lines (long shot but could happen).
ive got one of them grabby things and didnt think of that but will give it a go. cheers!
Phil74Camper ·
Lead metal might dissolve in acid, or maybe in Coca Cola? But it won't dissolve in petrol any more than steel will. It would sit in the tank forever and do absolutely nothing to the petrol - it wouldn't 'help' at all. You might as well throw coins into the petrol tank.
DirkHedde ·
wouldnt the bottom of the tank rust out because of this?
pod ·
donn wrote:Some things I read on here (not just this thread) make me wonder if it's just a gee up, but then I always have been a bit of a doubting Thomas (just how is "sinic" realy spelt) So why dont you try one of those long retractable claw thingies, they are like a long flexable arm with 3 small claws on one end and a spring loaded button on the other end, push the button in and the claws come out the other end and open up, get it onto the item you want to retreve, let the button go and the claws retract and close onto the item, I have one and find it's great for retreaving things from awkward places.
its spelt cynic,yer forums are good for some of the wackiest of things 😂🤪
Gracey ·
DirkHedde wrote:wouldnt the bottom of the tank rust out because of this?
No, lead doesn't rust, under certain circumstances lead will corode but I doubt it would do anything inside a fuel tank.
donn ·
Lead is not compatable with some metals ie, you shouldn't put lead flashings onto a colorbond roof as it sets up an electrolasis effect with the coating that is applied to the base material (steel) and corrosion gets going pretty damned fast, I don't think DirkHedde was saying the lead would rust though it can as rust is simply steel corrosion and lead will corrode, goes to a sort of white powder, can't see it forming any sort of electrolasis with the steel in the tank though.
baja burley ·
Went in the with the 'claw' yesterday and pulled out a good 40 or 50 inch square chunks. God damn the creator of this shamozzle...