Evening Everyone,

My '85 GT has been sitting stationary for months on end with a half tank of fuel and no preservative....so I'd like to empty the whole tank and fill up with a fresh tank of unleaded as I just completed a tune-up and other maintenance.

I thought I had found an article in the Ogre's Cave on dropping the fuel tank, but I can't find it anymore...

Anyone have any advice for the easiest way to drain the bad fuel out of my tank?

Thanks!

Remove the fuel line from the engine and hotwire the fuel pump and drain it into a gas can..btw if it's only been a few months you will most likely be ok with what's in there

Edit: I just did a quick search and found this thread https://www.fiero.nl/forum/Forum2/HTML/115153.html
4th post down has the info on how to easily hot wire the pump

[This message has been edited by 86 toy (edited 05-16-2012).]

Thanks! I'll give it a shot Friday evening after work.

I don't want to put a number on the months my '85 has been stagnant so we'll just say many months

you can smell bad fuel,just open the fill cap & smell it.My car had set for a couple years I was going to drain the tank.but after smell test I just drove the car & ran it out.
..If unsure compare it to the gas in another car.just smell it, a gallon will go bad much faster than 4 or 5 gallons
gas seems to hold up much better than it did 15 years ago.

..There is a definite noticible smell to bad gas..

quote Originally posted by Biggs3000: Anyone have any advice for the easiest way to drain the bad fuel out of my tank? Thanks!

Easiest? Screwdriver and a hammer.

Of course that kind makes the tank usless afterwards.

I beleive on the ALDL connector in the center console behind the cig lighter plate there are 2 contacts you can jumper that will power the fuel pump. Then it's just a matter of unhooking the fuel line from the throttlebody and extending it to some gas cans while the fuel pump empties the tank. If you do a search, I've seen pictures on here showing which connectors to jumper (I just don't have the pic handy to post). Be careful though, as it won't completely empty the tank and if it's left to run to long, you might over heat the pump and burn it up. So keep a eye on the fuel coming out and if it starts to dwindle off, stop before you burn the pump up.

From the linked post above:

quote Originally posted by phonedawgz: Apply +12v to the Fuel pump terminal of the ALDL and see if the fuel pump runs. It's not quite 100% but its pretty close. If the fuel pump still doesn't run plan on dropping the tank. You should be able to get a replacement at the local parts store.

[This message has been edited by Khw (edited 05-16-2012).]

You can also unplug the relay & jump power to the B connector.
~ Paul
aka "Tha Driver"

Custom Fiberglass Parts

I went through this a couple of weeks ago, after trying to siphon the fuel by removing the fuel filter, lifting the car up on the lift and trying to start the syphon with a hand vacuum pump and with turning the key to run the pump for a few seconds I tried to jumper the computer terminals and then jumper the wires at the relay. Nothing worked, however the half a tank of fuel still smelled good, even though it was at least 4 years old, so I ended up adding fuel to fill the tank along with a bottle of fuel injector cleaner some fuel stabilizer and a new fuel filter. Then I buttoned everything back up and it wouldn't start because the fuel pump wasn't running. It turned out that somehow I had blown the fuel pump fuse when jumpering the computer connections - you could hear the relay click but the fuel pump wouldn't run. So if jumper doesn't work, check the fuse. However, I also agree with the gut who said if the fuel smells good it may be okay. Since my tank was completely full by the time I found the blown fuse (and since the fuel smelled like gas instead of paint thinner) I just drove it and I haven't had any problems. I ran through that tank of fuel and refilled it and it runs great!

If its non ethanol gas it might be good for a year, at a half tank I'd just add fresh to fill it, maybe add Seafoam. Ethanol spoils alot faster, E10 is almost everywhere now.

When I had to drain the tank, to make it lighter for changing the fuel pump, I removed the fuel filter (was going to put in a new one anyway), put a pan under the line that goes to the filter, and applied 12v to ALDL pin G. Fortunately, the old fuel pump still ran good enough to do the job.

quote Originally posted by Biggs3000: Evening Everyone, My '85 GT has been sitting stationary for months on end with a half tank of fuel and no preservative....so I'd like to empty the whole tank and fill up with a fresh tank of unleaded as I just completed a tune-up and other maintenance.

Are you just bored and looking for something to do?

One of my Fieros sat for six years. The gas smelled rank. I added several gallons of fresh gas, "looped" the fuel line to itself and circulated the gas through the old fuel filter (by using a jumper at the ALDL) for several minutes, then changed the filter and reconnected the fuel line properly. No problems with the old gas in the tank at all.

Thanks again everyone for the replies!

Gas tank didn't have a favorable aroma, plus I still have to replace the fuel filter so I may just mimic TopNotch and hit two-birds (assuming my fuel pump is still good....).

Prices are higher, but they just don't process gas like they use to