The Toyota Landcruiser Owners Club

[Roger Fairclough]

I removed the fuel filler pipe on my KZJ70 to do an inspection. Near the bottom ( just before the connection into the hose adjacent to the tank) I found a number of holes. There were similar holes in the air return pipe that connects to the top of the pipe next to the filler cap. The small bore pipes that litter the side of the main pipe were just sections of rust held together with underseal. A quick check on Toya DIY indicated a price around the £250 mark.

I ground off all the small pipes and amputated all but about 75mm of the air return pipe. I bandaged the main pipe holes with a glass fibre may tourniquet soaked in resin. When that was set I smoothed it down and plastered the pipe with bitumastic paint. I blocked off the 3 small pipes that exit the top of the tank and re-assembled the pipe. I didn,t have any suitable fuel hose to replace the air pipe, so I used (as a temporary measure you understand) a length of garden hose). Don't laugh, it survived an hour or so in a can of petrol!

Now I have no idea what the 3 small pipes are for. Fuel goes in the big pipe. Air comes out via the pipe that exits next the cap and the tank is vented by the valve in the filler cap. I haven't driven the car yet so lets hope i don't get any nasty surprises.

The moral of this story is maybe you need to check your pipes !!!

Roger

[Google]

[Roger Fairclough]

Phase two.

With the delivery pipe sorted,I ran the tank down to near empty, drained the remaining diesel out and removed the tank. The protection plate had a few corrosion holes underneath the support straps but will survive, the fuel gauge sender is unmarked and the main fuel intake hose is also ok. The outlet and return pipes were corroded and the outlet pipe had a small hole near the tank but solder sorted that but the main problem was the tank. A quick look appeared to be positive but the section under the strap support hid corrosion that was actually a small hole that was sealed with rust. Wire brushing enlarged this to a hole approx 5x3mm. Soldering was out so I filled the hole with body filler reinforced with a double thickness of fibreglass matting.Two coats of bitumastic paint and it,s all gone back together.

A point of interest concerns the number of minor pipes that exit the tank. The main entry pipe and the air release pipe are logical. The 3 pipes that exited and then joined up to the fuel entry pipe before going back to the tank are a mystery, but the other minor pipe that then went via a hose before connecting into a body shell crossmember  was a real mystery. On checking when the tank was out revealed that this pipe just dead ends. It appears to be a piece of pipe welded onto the tank.

Has anybody got any ideas?

Roger

[outdoordan]

got any photos Roger. similar arrangment on my bj73 IIRC.

I'm planning to drop  and flush the tank in the spring.

[Roger Fairclough]

No photos Dan but being realistic they probably wouldn't have helped you anyway. What I can do is to give you step by step instructions when you are ready.

roger