1980 911SC...what's the easiest (and safest) way to drain the fuel tank?

[Alex]

I had the car in "storage" for about 2 years and have had difficulty starting her up recently when taking her out of storage. Two weeks ago I added a can of Seafoam which seemed to do the trick. Now, after a couple of short drives, the issue has returned. I added another can of Seafoam and, though it starts up momentarily, it runs very rough and eventually stalls. There is also what appears to be a lot of water droplets coming out of the exhaust. The tank is about 2/3 full. What to do?

[bmwphatpat]

Hi Alex, I have a 1980 911sc too, the few 911sc guys have to look out for each other - lol

Difficulty starting with CIS (assuming you have stock injection still) could be a multitude of things, but I agree getting some fresh fuel in it may help, find some without ethanol if possible, old rubber fuel lines don't like it.

I found a clean, safe way to drain the fuel tank without making a huge potentially disastrous fuel spill, or getting fuel all over yourself, is the following: Remove the fuel level sender on the top of the fuel tank (5 nuts) then you can stick a small pump down into the tank through the sender hole, and safely pump it into jerry can(s). I used a wand style pump from Princess auto that was inexpensive, worked out really well.

https://www.princessauto.com/en/12-gpm-battery-operated-pump/product/PA0008555765

Alternatively there is a drain plug on the bottom of the fuel tank, but if you go that route you better be ready to catch whatever quantity of nasty old fuel that comes out!

Another benefit if you go the fuel sender opening route, you can easily inspect the inside of the fuel tank with a flashlight for corrosion or debris that could clog your pump / fuel system.

You may want to replace the fuel level sender gasket while reinstalling it too.

Hope that helps!

[Alex]

Thank you very much for your post! I was aware of the drain plug method but it sounds a lot riskier as I've got about 2/3 of the tank to drain. I'll try your method probably next spring now as I'm about to store the SC for hibernation.

Cheers!

 

Alex