Removing gas tank? I'm an idiot!

[bp299]

Best way to remove the fuel tank?

Your gonna love this one-
I'm filling the 700-4 tank w/ my moto gallon tank which is full and heavy. Apparently, I leaned too much weight on the hose in the filler and the plastic threaded hose base snapped off at the can. As I pulled back the can, the hose was just hanging in the filler hole but as I reached my finger in to grab it-you guessed it-plop, into the tank. So now I have a 18 inch gas jug hose sloshing at the bottom of my tank!

 

[Admin]

 

[slowdryrider]

Rather then removing the tank could you maybe jack it up on the driver's side so that the hose will maybe roll or come over to the filler neck side of the tank. I don't know if you've ever seen one of these tools that have four little jaws that open and grab onto stuff just by you pushing down on a button.You could reach into the tank and possibly grab hold of the filler hose with it rather then take the tank off.I'am sure you can pick one of these cheap tools up say at a Dollar store,or something like that.I'd be doing that before removing the gas tank.

 

[bp299]

I have one of those grabbers and spent over an hour trying that! Tank is half full and its not floating but slides around easily on the bottom. I have to keep doing a quick brake slam to get it back in view thru the filler hole.

 

[slowdryrider]

I have one of those grabbers and spent over an hour trying that! Tank is half full and its not floating but slides around easily on the bottom. I have to keep doing a quick brake slam to get it back in view thru the filler hole.

How about a coat hanger/wire with a hook on the end to try and hold it to the side or use the coat hanger to try and get into either end of the hose.Sometimes you just have to hold your tongue the right way :lol: then it'll work.

 

[Hondasxs]

Oh.. Im sure taking it out would be a pain.
Use the grabber to hold it while you run the coat hanger through it.

 

[TandT]

That sounds like alot of fun, Happy Fishing!!

 

[Hondasxs]

bp,
Hows the recovery effort going? you get it out?

 

[sksshooter]

if you get it over near the filler hole go to harbor freight and get one of these. they evidently have them at academy also http://www.academy.com/webapp/wcs/store ... 7Aodo0QApA
suck the fuel out and maybe it will stop moving around on ya.

 

[bp299]

Update.

I finally got the sucker out.
With no luck fishing it out with the coat hanger/grabber tool because it kept floating out of sight, I took off the side cover, seat back and partially the tray above the tank. My goal was to get to the fuel pump and possibly remove it to get into thru the top of the tank. That wasn't going to be easy as the lock ring holding the pump into the top of the tank appears to be crimped on and needs either a special tool or a trip to the dealer. I did remove the tank strap and rear bolt holding the tank down, allowing me to lift the rear of the tank to get the hose to float/roll back into sight thru the filler. After some serious tongue twisting and goofy faces, I was able to get the hook shaped end of the coat hanger to just snag in the end of the hose enough to pull it into the filler hole. Once there, I used a screwdriver to hold it to the edge to slide it out. Because the sight was SO limited, I had to have the wife hold the iphone light on the hole. Definitely needed 3 hands.
Best part of the story- before I got it out, I was explaining how stupid I was to my brother in law when he told me he's had one in his rhino for the last 2 years.

 

[Hondasxs]

hahaha.. love the pic.
And thanks for showing us what the fuel tank looks like. lol.
oh. how many flys did you kill.
We will put this one in the "lesson learned" section.

 

[sksshooter]

congrats on getting it out. to fess up I have been in the same position before with my tractor. a friend was helping me fuel/greese up and he dropped the spout in. I turned around shortly after and dropped the gas cap gasket in. didn't worry about retrieving either until one day when the tank got a bit low, the gasket slid over the fuel line hole and stopped the fuel flow (diesel is a b**** to re-prime) I then siphoned the tank empty and fished all of the items out.

 

[fishin2Dmax]

Way to go! After that ordeal, a two hand / finger salute would have been appropriate. Look on the bright side, next time you do something stupid, just call your brother-in-law; if he's like mine, he'll have far more experience and expertise in doing really stupid things. When I do something stupid, I get a degree of comfort knowing no matter how bad I screw up, I never be the dumbest person on the planet :lol:

 

[ncred02]

My gastroenterologist would have had that out in no time