Fuel Tank Breather
Discussion
Just got back from a 1,000 mile trip to France and can report that the Chim performed faultlessly and was an absolute hoot! Even got 25mpg on the autoroutes.
Had just one issue. As I was parking up one day, my pal said he saw something dangling down under the n/s/f for the car. On closer inspection, it appeared to be a fuel/oil grade rubber hose with an OD of about 15mm. This hose was coming from the back of the car along the main chassis rail. There was no obvious place that it had come disconnected from and there was no evidence of any 'wetness' in the pipe, just a very vague niff of fuel.
Having checked out the rest of the car and verified that coolant was OK, PAS was OK, brake servo was OK and that there were no oil or fuel leaks, we decided that this was almost certainly a breather pipe for the fuel tank.
However, I'm still a bit perplexed.
The car almost certainly has a carbon cannister in the o/s/f wing and these usually have 3 take off points. One from the plenum to provide some 'sucking' power, one to vent the cannister and one for the breather from the fuel tank.
So I can see the pipe from the plenum going into the wing and if you look very carefully, you can see a similar pipe exiting the wing down by the bottom of the radiator and this pipe just sits loose in the nosecone and presumably vents. This leaves the breather pipe from the tank.
How does this get to the cannister? Especially as it's coming down the n/s of the chassis.
Any input here would be most welcome. Thx.....
Had just one issue. As I was parking up one day, my pal said he saw something dangling down under the n/s/f for the car. On closer inspection, it appeared to be a fuel/oil grade rubber hose with an OD of about 15mm. This hose was coming from the back of the car along the main chassis rail. There was no obvious place that it had come disconnected from and there was no evidence of any 'wetness' in the pipe, just a very vague niff of fuel.
Having checked out the rest of the car and verified that coolant was OK, PAS was OK, brake servo was OK and that there were no oil or fuel leaks, we decided that this was almost certainly a breather pipe for the fuel tank.
However, I'm still a bit perplexed.
The car almost certainly has a carbon cannister in the o/s/f wing and these usually have 3 take off points. One from the plenum to provide some 'sucking' power, one to vent the cannister and one for the breather from the fuel tank.
So I can see the pipe from the plenum going into the wing and if you look very carefully, you can see a similar pipe exiting the wing down by the bottom of the radiator and this pipe just sits loose in the nosecone and presumably vents. This leaves the breather pipe from the tank.
How does this get to the cannister? Especially as it's coming down the n/s of the chassis.
Any input here would be most welcome. Thx.....
I can't remember the hose route sorry but as you say it should be a continuous run from back to front.
A lot of owners delete the canister and just put a small filter on that hose at the rear of the car somewhere.
Obviously remove and blank the plenum hose too.
A good diagram here for the Griff but it's the same.
http://www.bertram-hill.com/replacing-the-fuel-lin...
A lot of owners delete the canister and just put a small filter on that hose at the rear of the car somewhere.
Obviously remove and blank the plenum hose too.
A good diagram here for the Griff but it's the same.
http://www.bertram-hill.com/replacing-the-fuel-lin...
Thanks for that - very useful article too.
So the $64,000 question is how does the breather pipe from the tank route to the carbon can!
My 'dangly' bit of pipe on the n/s (before we chopped off the mangled bit) would probably have been long enough to just about get as far forward as the radiator, but that is miles away from the cannister. Unless where my pipe became 'dangly' it previously took a route over/under the gearbox perhaps, and into the wing somewhere around driver's footwell. I'm only guessing here.
So the $64,000 question is how does the breather pipe from the tank route to the carbon can!
My 'dangly' bit of pipe on the n/s (before we chopped off the mangled bit) would probably have been long enough to just about get as far forward as the radiator, but that is miles away from the cannister. Unless where my pipe became 'dangly' it previously took a route over/under the gearbox perhaps, and into the wing somewhere around driver's footwell. I'm only guessing here.
Access to the canister is either through the offside wheel arch where you can change the headlight bulb from, or depending on the year of the car and your arm size, you can potentially reach it through the front grill.
Through the wheel arch
Routing of the pipe is then out of the bottom inner wing (under the expansion tank if its a later car)...bottom of pic
...across the car effectively under the radiator and fans...lower half of pic
...and down the inner chassis leg all the way to the tank...across middle of pic
Hope those help.
EDIT: No idea why the top picture has uploaded upside down !!!
Through the wheel arch
Routing of the pipe is then out of the bottom inner wing (under the expansion tank if its a later car)...bottom of pic
...across the car effectively under the radiator and fans...lower half of pic
...and down the inner chassis leg all the way to the tank...across middle of pic
Hope those help.
EDIT: No idea why the top picture has uploaded upside down !!!
Brilliant - that helps a lot.
I'm pretty sure my 'dangly' pipe must have been joined (probably just a push-fit joiner) to the pipe that is laying loose inside the nosecone.
Just need to find where it entered the nosecone on the n/s, get a replacement piece and join the two bits together.
I'm pretty sure my 'dangly' pipe must have been joined (probably just a push-fit joiner) to the pipe that is laying loose inside the nosecone.
Just need to find where it entered the nosecone on the n/s, get a replacement piece and join the two bits together.
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