Extra fuel tank won't fill

Landrover have just fitted to my Defender CSW the two extra fuel tanks I bought from Frontrunner, South Africa. One tank (60 litres) is "under-body", and the other (40 litres) fits under the rear fender.

My understanding is that during filling, (diesel) fuel will flow from the outlet in the fender tank, filling the under-body one. Finally, the fender tank fills, giving a total capacity of 175 litres. Later, by means of an electric pump, fuel is sent from the under-body tank to the fender tank, from where it flows - as needed and of its own accord - to the original tank.

The issue is that during fill-up, fuel is not flowing, apparently, to the under-body tank. Yesterday, on fill-up from almost empty (5 to 10 litres left in ??), I got in 121 litres, a slightly odd amount, given that the original tank is 75-litre capacity and the under fender tank 40 litres, as mentioned above.

I wondered if the problem might be due to an air lock in the piping. But wouldn't the breather tube(s) presumably fitted resolve any problem in that regard?

Please, any suggestions?

what year is your 90?

opps, you didnt say it was a 90, my mistake. have you rung the dealer and asked if they had any probs when fitting it? have they fitted similar items in the past? might be worth phoning frogs island who stock front runner stuff and ask them re fitting etc. i understand thy have kitted out many an expo landy.

do you mind if i ask how much the underbody tank was? looking for something similar for my 90. fender tanks are out, but an underbody might be the solution.

G

when the lecy pump moves fuel from the UB tank to the fender tank how do you shut off the outlet pipe which moves fuel from fender - UB via gravity? if the fender trickles into the UB then when its pumping, surely the fuel just goes back out of the outlet into the UB! do you mean a leccy pump moves fuel from the UB to the main (original) tank?

anyway these questions dont answer your questions, sorry.

Griffdowg said:

.......... looking for something similar for my 90. fender tanks are out, but an underbody might be the solution.

G

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defender long range fuel tank/ expedition/ overland on eBay, also, Land Rover, Car Parts, Cars, Parts Vehicles (end time 15-May-08 21:42:59 BST)

cheers sean, tis a long way from here. good price though. be worth it for people equiping a 110 but prob take up to much space in me 90.

G

My Defender CSW is a 110, year 2005.

For both tanks, I paid a total of South African rand 4,035.09, free of VAT as they were exported. That included all fittings etc. and pump. It was a reasonable price. Please look at exchange site for GBP equivalent. Price might be different now. Please check Frontrunner website.

when the lecy pump moves fuel from the UB tank to the fender tank how do you shut off the outlet pipe which moves fuel from fender - UB via gravity? if the fender trickles into the UB then when its pumping, surely the fuel just goes back out of the outlet into the UB! do you mean a leccy pump moves fuel from the UB to the main (original) tank?

Good question.It might be moving the fuel to the main tank.

have you rung the dealer and asked if they had any probs when fitting it? have they fitted similar items in the past?

They took a good while to figure out how to fit them. I believe it was the first time they've done it.

Griffdowg said:

do you mind if i ask how much the underbody tank was? looking for something similar for my 90. fender tanks are out, but an underbody might be the solution.

G

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griffdowg - just fit a 90 td5 rear tank in addition to your underseat - tis what I did and it works well. Got it for 60 quids of ebay plus another 60 for an armoured guard. a blacksmith'll knock up the hangers for it for about 40.

job done.

(ok theres alot more fannying about but you get the drift!)

did you have to get brackets welded? also would i need a leccy pump installed to draw fuel into the main tank?



G

Griffdowg said:

did you have to get brackets welded? also would i need a leccy pump installed to draw fuel into the main tank?



G

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when i've done this is the past i've used a manually operated pollack fuel change over switch - i can't see how there's an easy way to be able to use the capacity of both tanks i.e. run dry on one then have an AUTO switch or self leveling device over to the other

the advantange of the pollack switches is that they also switch the sender siganal so your guage will allways show a fuel level, just a simple matter of some form of visual (LEDs) indication being mounted to show what tank your on

I got the chassis made by Richards Chassis and they welded the Td5 brackets on - maybe give them a ring and see what they want for a pair loose. You can always drill and bolt them thru the chassis rails with some M10x100 or 110 bolts.

Also that way it's all genuine landy stuff.

and as Sean sez. Just continue using the existing lift pump for each tank with a switch. plus the pollack switch routes the return line to the appropriate tank (I think) which is handy if you're running both tanks on diesel.

wtf is a pollack switch? was thinknig about this today and thought a fuel lift pump from the td5 tank to T into the filler tube for the original tank. so, when i run low on the main tank, i can flick the pump on and top up the main tank. refuelling would be done seperately ofcoarse. this seems like a very simple method and maybe it would get on my tits after a while, but atleast i can get my head around it!

G

tis one of these



and some instructions ere

http://www.biotuning.co.uk/images/Selector Valve Installation.pdf

...that does not look easy how much are those switches? and how much do you think the pump for the TD5 tank will be? shall i stick to jerry cans i like the idea of the tank being out of the way as appose to carrying 2-3 jerry's inside.

G

POLLAK 6 PORT VALVE, BIO-DIESEL VEGETABLE OIL WVO SVO on eBay, also, Other Vehicle Parts Accs, Other Vehicle Parts Accs, Cars, Parts Vehicles (end time 19-May-08 21:06:41 BST)

60 bucks, not too bad

Griffdowg said:

...that does not look easy how much are those switches? and how much do you think the pump for the TD5 tank will be? shall i stick to jerry cans i like the idea of the tank being out of the way as appose to carrying 2-3 jerry's inside.

G

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it's way easier than youd think, specially as there's a pre-wired connector for it - you'd not need another pump for the second tank - the valve does the switching (from one tank to the other) so that your orginal lift pump does all the work

i should have a few valves here, let me know if you want one - prolly about £25 if your interested

so it would just be a hose to the base of the TD5 tank? sounds easy.

ok, so a TD5 tank, 1 pollock, lots of fuel hose, an incab switch and the brackets to hold the tank to chassis.

would that be it? got any good links for fitting an aux tank? got me seriously thinking now whats the capacity of a TD5 tank in the rear?

G

Griffdowg said:

so it would just be a hose to the base of the TD5 tank? sounds easy.

ok, so a TD5 tank, 1 pollock, lots of fuel hose, an incab switch and the brackets to hold the tank to chassis.

would that be it? got any good links for fitting an aux tank? got me seriously thinking now whats the capacity of a TD5 tank in the rear?

G

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you'd use the standard fuel pickup, plus youd need a return (you could just return it to the exisitng tank) - plus some wiring for the sender etc - and a couple of LEDs to show which tank your using if you wanted to get really high techy

the arsey part is figuring out how to fit a second fuel filler

Sean said:

the arsey part is figuring out how to fit a second fuel filler

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just cut a hole surely!

good point though. food for thought. did a quick google and another good point is moving the exhaust system around a bit. so it looks like a side exit exhaust 1st. followed by the fitting of a TD5 90 tank to the rear.

when you say use LED's. if the fuel guage works on both (once linked) could i not just have a flick switch to activate the aux tank?

sorry sean, i dont really understand the ins and outs of the fuel system, ive never had to fiddle with it.

G