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once again... just when i think i've got all the little problems (apart from the dicky handling) sorted................ looks like my fuel filler pipe might be rusting through. there's telltale smelly oily patches on the driveway under where the filler cap is when i park the car, and the economy seems to be a bit rubbish for how gently i've been driving, despite no other running problems

its too freaking wet to go checking it properly right now, but signs aint good. (all the speed bumps i have to go over on the way to work cant do it much good either). whats the general cost and hassle of getting this too bloody common problem sorted?

This is a really annoying common problem with the MK3 and the cause of it is due to a bad manufacturing process, when the car was made. You will have to get a new fuel tank, as the filler neck is part of it. These are around £80-90 from GSF for a new one.

BTW - Speed bumps won't do it any harm, as I doubt very much that you will manage to get the filler neck to come in contact with the ground, and if you did, your sills wouldnt look too good either.

maybe the time i had it all loaded up, the exhaust wasnt the only thing complaining...... it looks a little battered and rusty at the lowest bodywork points under there too
(either that or its the aftermath of my first half assed attempts at jacking it up waybackwhen.............. most likely............ hell i probably dented/scuffed the pipe quite a bit).

so... the solution is a whole new tank.......... f**k..... right... ok... this car's getting to be a bit of a money pit! but i doubt i could sell it in this state any more to anyone who takes a serious look at it. Plus I seem to have "used" something in the region of 2 gallons in the last couple days, and i haven't covered more than about 25 miles...

£90 for the part.......... what about fitting? i mean i'm thinking you've got to drain the old one (or run the car til it's dry, put in enough to get to the garage and then idle it til it conks), take out the lift pump and level sender for the guage, disconnect it all and remove, then refitting is the reverse of removal do i trust myself to do such a job? do i hell as like!!!

(would i finally get a working locking cap out of it?)

Tahrey, try http://www.buypartsby.co.uk . I've not used them myself, but they're showing the tank at £67.14 including vat and delivery. Put the twenty quid you save towards paying a garage to do the job for you. it's not worth the risk of death trying to DIY!

thanks man, will definately give it a look

today whilst intending to take a good look underneath at the state of play, i managed to jack the car up in such a way today that (yet again) it toppled off one axle stand whilst i was raising the other side to put in the second... needed to borrow another jack to un-wedge my own... so i think doing it myself is 100% off the cards! just have to see if the garage will agree to use a tank i've sourced myself... they were willing enough to put the gearbox on, as that's a bit specialist, but have previously drawn the line at a self-supplied cambelt.

indicators, wheels, and maybe an induction kit is about all i'm up to handling

what i could see of the pipe - especially after i pulled my finger out and got the family jet-washer on the inside of the wheel arches and (gently) on the underbody looks pretty knackered. plus even before i cleaned it there was definate petrol-soaking outside of it on the bottom section and all over the wrong side (i.e. outside) of the tank. didnt get any leaking when i poured some in from the spare can though, oddly. must need to "slosh"?

in fact it all looks a bit grotty and rusty down there, wonder what kind of job slathering a fresh layer of wax-oil all over would be after cleaning it up...

Blimey, how did you get it to fall off an axle stand? You did have it on a good flat surface, didn't you? Could have been a nasty situation if it'd come down whilst you were under it taking a look...

As for the garage, if your normal one are too uptight to let you supply the parts, find another one.. you're still paying them for the labour, and they're still losing business if they refuse to do it, their loss..

It's easier to drain a tank than that, btw... early polos have nothing in the filler pipe to stop you sticking a tube down there and syphoning it all out. Quicker, easier, and you don't have to waste all your petrol..

GroovyCarrot wrote:Blimey, how did you get it to fall off an axle stand?

Unbeleivably, this is something that happens to me a lot. Me and gravity, we don't get on too well... we have this, like, "understanding" that it won't kill me if i agree to stay attached to the earth, but beyond that everything's fair game.

You did have it on a good flat surface, didn't you?

I *thought* I did. A quick improvised spirit-levelling later (involving a water balloon) showed that a *different* bit of the driveway was closer to level, though you'd never guess to look at it.

Not that i could see all that much while i was under there. I mean, I could tell it was rusty and covered with petrol and all, but not where the leak is from. When I got the clutch done, the garage did their usual thing of tightening the wheel bolts to about 3 times the required and reccommended torque - including the rear wheel, whose tyre they replaced i actually roped mum in to help me with it, me hanging all my weight on one end of the wheelbrace and her pushing upwards hard as possible on the other. Nothing. Wheel stays on, gets in way of inspection, so if I'm taking it somewhere to loosen them, i may as well have them cast a professional eye on the pipework.
(yes, i'm just praying that if i get a puncture, its on the left rear - the only one they havent touched)

(( not that, after a quick manual browse, the tank removal/fitting looks too hard - just need those essential things i lack, a decent floor jack to hold it in place, and a torque wrench for the retainer band. All the rest is popping pipe connections on and off, and screwdrivering ))

Could have been a nasty situation if it'd come down whilst you were under it taking a look...

Oh aye, thats why i make triply sure it's secure before venturing under. I was half-expecting it to fall... because it almost always does. Must be something in my method. I'm finding flat-as-possible places, jacking at the right points, putting the stands in the right places, hamming the handbrake full on and leaving it in gear... Still, down it comes. Which is why i was about as far as i could be from it, arms stretched out to turn the jack handle, when it started to move, and jumped away sharpish. (i was on the front lawn too, so it would only have broken my wrists really - nothing else low enough)
Almost killed me the first time though, about 18 months ago!

As for the garage, if your normal one are too uptight to let you supply the parts, find another one..

LOL The one that a friend of mine relies on is 50 yards up the road from mine! There's like 3 houses in between em... pretty easy to switch alliegence!

It's easier to drain a tank than that, btw... early polos have nothing in the filler pipe to stop you sticking a tube down there and syphoning it all out. Quicker, easier, and you don't have to waste all your petrol..

Hmmmmm!!!!!

FREE PETROL!!!

I'm carrying a hosepipe and keeping an eye out for old VWs from now on Cant beat the fresh crisp taste of 95RON...

(just my luck, i'll find the only diesel mk2/mk3 in the country)

Trust me, once you get the taste of petrol in your mouth, you'll wish you'd paid a pound a litre for it instead

I think I may invest in a syphoning pump though, for all of the couple of pennies it'd cost.. syphoning by mouth is one of the most revolting experiences I've ever been through..

Btw, an awful lot of older cars don't have anti syphoning measures in their filler pipes.. the hard part would be finding a car that doesn't have a locked fuel cap. Not that I'd condone such behaviour, of course

GroovyCarrot wrote:Trust me, once you get the taste of petrol in your mouth, you'll wish you'd paid a pound a litre for it instead

LOL i'm not quite _that_ poor (yet), just a joke

I think I may invest in a syphoning pump though, for all of the couple of pennies it'd cost.. syphoning by mouth is one of the most revolting experiences I've ever been through..

Sod it, that sounds like effort - i'll take the running dry route. I got a decent new petrol can a few days back that's got the dual benefits of 1. actually being square bottomed (so it doesn't roll round the boot like the bizarrely rounded-off old one did) 2. not being originally made for leaded, that is it has a small enough end on it to fit down the pipe and push the flap open! no longer will emergency fills take 5 or more minutes to avoid spilling half of it.... (and it was only 2.29 from tesco, less than the price of 3 potentially spilled litres, bargain)... so it wouldnt be a hassle just to pull up and put another pint in every time it started missing beats (say, every 5 miles?) just til it reaches the forecourt.

the hard part would be finding a car that doesn't have a locked fuel cap.

what...you mean like mine?
never had the key, and it seems jammed open anyhow! (why you think i havent given a detailed address to anyone yet? )

QUESTION

Is £170 a reasonable quote for the job? Including the tank itself, unless i ask them how much that counts for and (somehow) supply it myself cheaper.

Dunno if they're gonna charge for the check-over as well, i'd assume so though.

anyone?


(well at least im none too bothered by the handling any more, unless the guy looks as the somewhat worryingly rusty shocks and pronounces them screwed.... managed to get it to step out a *little* (after understeering as well) on a wet corner tonight near where i lost it before, at all of 27mph (going a touch too quick for a particular tight one on purpose), but couldn't actually reproduce anything in the previous spot... think its just grease and cambering. and maybe crap tyres as i was able to get some major wheelspin in 2nd...)

Haha!!!! Gotcha... little MFer.....
Not too worried by the cost any more, as it'll be a thing to keep the car alive another 10 years or more.... but, it's purposeful now... i found the leak

Yep - it's on the filler neck. Managed to clear out the rest of the decade-old crap that had built up there (took a full 10 minutes wheel-off with a powerful hose - not bulky, dangerous jet spray), let it dry off, then went to filling station. Put petrol in til it dripped, (paid for fuel, moved away to car park, jacked car, removed wheel...) and finger-followed pipe down til they got wet and smelly. Nice, obvious depression in pipe wall just at where the wetness started, and what feels like a tiny little pin-hole. (It must be small, because even after adding another 2 gallons, it was only a very slow drip-drip).

Shame that it's all one-piece - the tank looks fine, but the pipe is in an awful, rust-heavy state. Might be worth sticking a bit of repair putty on to plug the hole for now but it's beyond total salvage.

Though it's one of the standard faults to look for, I'd reccommend to all those who haven't replaced it that you get hose, jack and wheelbrace out, and go take a peek now. Just in case, yknow?