to drop or not to drop

hola!

I have a 92 XJ that I have had sitting for 5-7 years and its time to get it going again. My question is this, should i drop the gas tank and clean it out or add new fuel and give it a shot? it did not have much gas when it was parked and if i can get it going, I will do all the other pieces (fluids,new rubber, etc.). I did a search but nothing really came up on it.

all the best

CDM

Hard to say. I've had cars that I've got going that had sat for years. One I'm thinking of I drained the gas tank, it had a plug in the tank for this. Gas was like varnish. This car had sat for 3-4 years. Once drained I let it air out then add a gas treatment and 2 gallons of premium (this car only was rated for premium) in the tank.
Once the motor was swapped it fired right up. I was younger and didn't think it wouldn't now I'd test the pump at least.

On a jeep and being 20 years old I'm not sure. I'd only really drop the tank if i suspect it's rusted or other crud. If you think it's contaminated buy a new tank that's the cleanest quickest way to get it running.
Inspect the rubber gas hose and see how it looks, probably a good idea to replace it anyway but depending where you live it might not be too rotted.

I'd be tempted to give it a gallon or two and see if it fires up but... the proper way is probably to drop the tank because if it has crud it will come back to bite you.

Bigger question may be what was wrong with it 7 years ago.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

See if the old pump will empty the tank...

CDM said:

hola!

I have a 92 XJ that I have had sitting for 5-7 years and its time to get it going again. My question is this, should i drop the gas tank and clean it out or add new fuel and give it a shot?

Click to expand...

Do you have any idea how much gas is in the tank? I would pump out whatever gas is in there before adding. I wouldn't bother with cleaning it unless you think there's crud in there (as Green Mesa mentioned), but I would replace the fuel filter after running it for a few days.

Thanks all. it ran great before i parked it all those years ago.I recall not much being in the tank at that point. I think i will drop a tube in and see if there is anything to pump out and then add a couple of gallons of fresh gas and see what happens!

CDM

Siphon the old crap out. Dump in 5 gallons of new (will dilute whatever residual is in there). Fire it up.

Just did the above with my 79 Camaro that has been sitting for a few years. Fired right up.

Why did you park it?

After sitting for 5 years or more I would drop the tank and clean it outo especially since it is so easy on the XJ.

i just replaced my gas tank last weekend. and i was expecting it to be a nightmare. once i found out i could use clothesline hooks as jbolts i just cut the straps and swapped it right out. took maybe an hour.

If you're expecting any trouble at all with the fuel system (and with the fuel system having set mostly empty for years, you should be), then why are you asking the question? Get to it.

Most likely you'll find a lot of rust in the tank. This is why it's a bad idea to let your tank sit empty for long periods.

drain it. been sitting for too long. tank's probably shot too

Might as well siphon it out at least, see what the fuel looks like. Might be annoying to drop the tank and get the gunk out, but that will be 10x easier than getting it out of the engine.

Having done this a couple of times I would recommend that if you can get the gas out you probably should. If you get it running without dropping the tank I would definitely add a bottle of Redline fuel system cleaner at double strength with fresh gas. It does a great job of dissolving funk.

If you do have to drop the tank I would add a bottle (per Mfg.s instructions) of the Redline to your first fill-up. The stuff kicks butt!

Also: I would pull the plugs and add a couple tablespoons of MMO (Marvel Mystery Oil) to each cylinder 24 - 48 hours before you try to start the engine. When time comes to fire it up add another tablespoon (no more than that) to each cylinder and replace the plugs.

It is a good idea to disconnect the coil and crank the engine for awhile to get at least some oil circulating before you actually fire it up.

Don't be surprised if your fuel pressure regulator sprays gas all over the place; I'm batting .500 on this one. Good luck.