how best to drain the gas tank?

[Pete M]

pump does nothing but make noise.  tried getting a hose down the filler to no avail.  tried sucking through the pump's line.  tried sucking through the return line.  can't get it to start self-draining.  open to ideas so I can drain it down enough to pull the pump. 

[camjeep3]

I just ran into a similar situation. I was able to use a hand pump through the return hose to get it low enough to pull the pump 

[Pete M]

tried a drill transfer pump and got nowhere fast.  managed to get a hose down the fill tube and the end got wet, but wouldn't pull anything.  might have ruined the pump but ran out of warmth and light to diagnose.  I'm starting to think the fuel gauge is lying to me about being full.  tomorrow (or the next decent day) I'm going to just crack the gas pump opening and see what happens.  If I lose a bunch of gas into a tote, so be it. 

 

on a side note, my spare fuel tank I've been hanging on to for a decade now appears to have a large rust hole in it, so that's one less thing I gotta store.  yay.

[Pete M]

just to wrap up this thread, but none of the typical ways to pull gas from a tank will work if there's not really any gas in the tank (previous owner slapped an XJ sending unit in there and it was all sorts of wrong including showing a full tank on the gauge)

[watchamakalit]

Hammer+screwdriver+bucket=problem solved

Edit: just read your last post Pete. And seems you would be right in your logic. Lol

[robfg67]

On 1/17/2025 at 1:14 PM, Pete M said:

pump does nothing but make noise.  tried getting a hose down the filler to no avail.  tried sucking through the pump's line.  tried sucking through the return line.  can't get it to start self-draining.  open to ideas so I can drain it down enough to pull the pump. 

Pete, when you say "suck out the gas through the return line" would it be correct to remove the hose clamp from the smaller line at the back of the fill and push a 3/8" line through the black return hose into the tank?

Edited January 26, 2025 by robfg67
misspelling

[Pete M]

there are 2 steel pipes coming out of the pump assembly on the side of the tank.  one is pressure out, the other is the return. the return goes all the way to almost the bottom where the rubber stopper is.

 

 

[robfg67]

Got it!

 

So I can attach a hand pump to the return line of the pump to drain the tank. Makes sense.