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Thoughts & Tips on Fuel Tank Safety |
A gallon of gasoline spilled on the floor and the tech, a stray spark, a nearly full fuel tank in the middle of the fire, the car is on the hoist and unmovable. This is my biggest fear as a shop owner. I would like to spend some time discussing the problem, highlight some of the things I have found we can do to cut the odds of it happening, and share some info.
The problem; at one time, not so long ago, pulling a fuel tank was not that common a job, then they started putting the fuel pump in the tank. You know the rest; I don't think it would be that uncommon for a three-man shop to pull three tanks a week. Three a week, 156 a year, 1000 every 6.4 years, suddenly one chance in a thousand is not so comforting.
Gasoline does not burn, the vapors do, what better way to stir up some vapors then wrestle a fully loaded tank out, a little splish, a little splash, now the gun is cocked and loaded, all we need is a spark. We had a shop in town that nearly burned down several years ago, they were pulling a tank on one of those T-Birds that has the tank straddling the driveshaft, some fuel sloshed out, not sure what ignited the fumes, perhaps a light switch, maybe a pilot light. They were lucky, they got a big fireball, and every one ran out the door, the last fellow shut the door and the flames went out due to lack of oxygen. I’ve heard of reports that three shops burnt down in the Indianapolis area, my friend reports four within twenty miles of his front door, another associate reports losing a neighboring shop this past winter. I think our fears are justified.
Risk factors; some things that I believe make this job much more dangerous then it needs to be. Working with a full fuel tank, not having a good gas caddy to transfer fuel with, not having a hoist, not having a good jack with a adaptor designed to safely support the tank while removing it, using a trouble light with a incandescent bulb, if your still using one of these trouble lights just throw it away, and of course someone in the next bay that is involved in what he is doing and not what you are
doing.
How about that full tank? Let’s empty it before we pull it, feel dealing with a empty tank will do much to improve our odds. Trouble is how do you empty it? We always used to do the best we could, which was not very good. About 8 years ago we got a nice gas caddy, seems this was about the same time they started to add roll over valves in the fill neck, since then we had pretty much given up on getting a suction tube down the fill neck. GM DID supply detailed information on every model to drain the tank; we just had not bothered to look for it. On some vehicles you pull a vent tube and run the suction tube down that way, others you pull a evaporative emissions grommet, quite a few call you to slip the evacuation hose down the fill tube, I tried that on a 95 Cavalier in the shop and to my surprise the hose dropped right in. Fords give detailed info and even Chrysler does a pretty good job of giving the information to drain the tank.
Where do we get this information? Yup, that is a problem isn't it? Not many of us can afford the factory information on every vehicle we work on. We have Mitchell here in our shop and they often do not pass the information along, just sort of ends up on the cutting room floor, good news is they have committed to including it on all makes starting with the fourth quarter. I have been trying out All-Data the past couple weeks, looks like they do a good job of including the factory information on tank draining and removal. A pat on the back for those boys, and bravo to Mitchell for committing to add it fourth quarter. I would love to see a company put out a book dealing with fuel pumps, fuel tanks, and nothing else, sort of patterned on those Auto-Data timing belt books that are so handy, this would put the information within easy reach of everyone. The important point I want to make is in most cases the information is out there, for to long we didn't look for it, we just pulled the tank full or used dangerous methods to empty it. If you are going to pull a tank, LOOK FOR THE INFORMATION! We have been and in most cases it makes the job much safer and easier.
Is all the factory information good? I don't think so, I looked through some different makes in All-Data, 2001 Subaru Imprezza 2.5, pull the rear seat, pull the sender and then they have a picture of one of those little plastic siphons with the squeeze bulb like you get with kerosene heaters to transfer the gasoline to what looks like a open five gallon bucket. Toyota seemed to drop the ball on some models, maybe Toyota's problem, maybe All-Data's.
Lots of Chrysler's use a drain plug, I have concerns about drain plugs, drain plugs mean funnels, pretty good chance of spilling when using a funnel and even if you don't spill for sure we are going to stir up some fumes when we drop it into the funnel.
Wanna really get some excitement drop a full tank off the tranny jack. We did it here once. Let me tell a story a good friend told me. He was putting a fuel pump in a S-10 Blazer, all was going good, the tank was on the transmission jack and out from under the truck, he had the sender out and was ready to go back with the new, he needed a tool on the bench out of his reach, the tank was perched on the little square base that's standard with most trans. jacks, tanks pretty full and a little wobbly, he steady's it with his hand and seems OK, he quickly let's go and heads to the bench for his tool, of course before he gets back the tank slips off. You know that sharp raised seam where they put the two tank half's together? It sliced right through his trouble light cord when it hit the ground, fuel all over the place. My friend reports the next time the tool man came he bought a adaptor for his transmission jack designed for working with fuel tanks, we bought a Sunex brand # 7704 adaptor, about a 150.00 and really makes the job of pulling a tank much easier and safer, I like the straps they supply to lash the tank to the adaptor.
Gasoline fumes go down? Gasoline is lighter then water right? Storm clouds float, why should gasoline clouds sink? The implications of this are pretty big. I have always heard that natural gas is much safer then propane because natural gas rises while propane sinks, this means that natural gas will tend to rise and get out of the area, propane sinks and collects in low spots, ditches, basements and waiting for a spark to blow it. If gasoline fumes sink that means if you have open alignment pit or other low spot in your shop it could be real trouble, the fumes could be waiting for you long after you think the danger is over. The thought of draining fuel out of a tank into an open container while the car is over a open pit are really scary. I believe the person that made this statement is correct, the other day we were dropping a tank out of a Dodge van, big tank, pretty much straight down, only had about five gallons of fuel in it, I was helping Alan with it and grabbed the side with the fill tube opening, opening was about half way down the tank, I covered the fill tube opening with the palm of my hand to prevent any sloshing of fuel, as we juggled the tank a little I could feel fuel splash against my palm. With the tank resting on the jack Alan grabbed the Gas Caddy to pump out the rest of the fuel, he called me over to see what he saw. You know how you can sometimes see fuel vapors, as you stood behind the tank and looked at the area by the fill opening we could see the fumes we had stirred up leaving the tank, oddly they came out the opening and dropped straight down, looked just like you were pouring cream out of it. I have never seen fumes as visible as these were. Wouldn't it be neat if we had special glasses we could put on that would turn all the areas with combustible mixtures red? I'll bet that would be enlightening.
I had a farmer friend get a pretty good burning several years ago. He had a pile of wood to burn, he doused the pile with gasoline and then stood clear back and threw a gasoline soaked corn cob to start the fire, a big woof and the flames came all the way back and got him, luckily for him once the fumes burnt off he was in the clear, he lost some hair and was red and sore for a while. He had done the same thing many times before, this time though he said there was a low area, sort of a low ditch leading away from the burn pile, he was standing in this low spot when he threw the cob, the fumes from the pile must of collected and traveled down the low area. It's important to be aware of this tendency of gasoline fumes to sink and collect in low spots.
What is a fuel evacuation port? It would consist of a tube entering the top of the tank and going to the bottom, the end outside the tank would be equipped with a universal coupler that we could attach our gas caddy to. Sound familiar? Chrysler used them for several years. We deserve it guys, all there is to it.
For the consumer, Air Bags, ABS, and on and on it goes. I don't have a problem with safety for the consumer, but what do we get? We get a picture of a siphon going into an open five-gallon bucket?
To Summarize:
1. If you do not have a good gas caddy get one, and use the ground strap supplied with it. Use the tie down straps to secure the tank to the adaptor.
2. If you don't have an adaptor for your transmission jack get one, Sunex #7704, there are others also.
3. Look for the information to properly drain the tank before working on it. In most cases it's out there.
4. Have a fire extinguisher at the ready; notify the other techs of what you are up to.
5. Be aware of the dangers of fumes, don't rile up the gas anymore then you have to. Avoid spilling.
6. Think about how neat it would be to have a fuel evacuation port standard on every new car built.
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