Gas tank

[zrice88]

How hard is it to swap out the gas tank on a '91 Festiva L. is there any order in which i should do things? what should i be concerned about. can i use an impact to take the bolts out or will it snap the bolts off? right now it can only hold a 1/4 tank of gas. i need a full tank so i can make it to the Midwestiva meeting this saturday. any tips or tricks u guys know of would be appreciated. thanx

also, was a catalytic convertor an option in 1991 on the L because mine doesn't have one. but my 1991 L parts car does. will it pass emissions with a cat?

[packrat427]

If you can , you want the tank as low as you can get it ,I would use hand tools first ,to see if they will budge , Impact may snap them right off , I would spray them with PB Blaster first to help ease them out .
If you don't have a tank ,use some gas tank repair putty to fix the leak .

As for cat's they have not been a option since mid 1974 ,unless it was a 1 ton truck or bigger ,
someone must have already removed it on yours .

[Jimmy]

To drop the gas tank you will need to get the rear suspension out of the way.

The easiest way that I have found to do that is to get the car up on jack-stands and then remove the 3 bolts per side where the bracket that holds the trailing arms bolt to the body (2 14mm head bolts, and 1 17mm per side). Let the rear suspension hang by the shocks, be sure it's not hanging by the brake hoses. When the time comes you can rotate the front mounting points of the rear suspension down and rotate the tank around the front of the rear suspension.

After that you will have to pull out the driver side back-seat area interior panel which also necessitates removing the back seat. With that part out you can remove the hoses at the gas tank filler neck. Under the carpet under the rear seat there is a panel where the fuel lines at the pump attach, you'll have to remove those too.

After that the tank drops pretty easily.

Honestly I'd search out a decent as tank as opposed to patching. In all likelihood the tank is leaking because it is rusting along the seams. There is so much rubber coating on the tank, you'll never get it all cleaned up and patched adequately and if it already rusted through at one place, it's gonna rust through somewhere else soon too.

This job sucks to do once, it sucks even more when you have to redo it 3 months later because the patch didn't hold or you didn't find the real hole. I had to do that on my GF's Festy.

[Dave G]

I just took one out and repaired it recently. It's a real PITA, but certainly do-able. The procedure in the Haynes manual is accurate, and you don't need to remove any suspension components. Mine was leaking under one of the corner reinforcing plates. I pried it off and ground everything clean, then pop-riveted it back on with a big thick layer of epoxy between. Also scraped all the loose rubber coating spots off and sprayed on new. I did a good job and fully expect it to last for years.

[Damkid]

it's kinda funny reading this thread because my tank is leaking too, i've ordered a brand new tank like 3 weeks ago and still waiting for it to come in.
it's a real pain to only put in a half a tank at a time

[ThaWeezord]

how much are new tanks? i have a gas leak too, need to see if its the line of the tank.

[lilred]

i removed my tank and didn't have to remove the suspension

[festivus]

this is weird. i just found a hole in my gas tank last night that's about 1 inch from the top of the tank. me and zrice 88 go to the same school and both have a red 91.

[Damkid]

how much are new tanks? i have a gas leak too, need to see if its the line of the tank.

i think the price for mine will be around $185, but i'm getting a bit of a deal since i know the people who own the shop

[zrice88]

i got a qoute at napa for $192 but i got it at Radiator Exchange for $115.21 with my Wittlin's Discount

[scubalude]

i dont know anything about festiva's

i bought a festiva yesterday (1989 l) and i was just wondering if,
1.) where is the fuel pump located?
2.)is there a rubber liner?

[zrice88]

fuel pump on an 89 is in the fuel tank. remove back seat and 9-10 plastic clips holding carpet down and underneath that there is a metal plate held down with 4 philips screws. remove the screws and the plate and the fuel pump is right there. what do you mean by 'rubber liner'?

[Damkid]

actually on the 89's i beleive they are all carburated if so the fuel pump is a mechanical fuel pump on the motor, so no pump in the tank, but there should still be two covers underneath the carpet one in the center (at least on mine there is, it's EFI) and another toward the drivers side for the other hoses

as far as the rubber liner, if you're asking if there is one around the tank i don't think there would be if it is it'll be in between the tank and body but i'll find out tomorrow when i put my new tank in

[johnhcarter]

Gas Tank

Gastanks.com
Great tank. Fair price. Reasonable deliver charge

[Tom]

Prestone makes a gas tank repair, it's like clay about the size of your thumb, you break off a piece about the size of a marble and put it in the leak and it dries hard and stays there ans stops the leak permanently. Napa has them. It works on wet areas too.