Morris Minor Owners Club

Hi my dads morris has been unused for years and there seem to be a blockage inside the tank any ideas on how to unblock without removing the tank from the car please?

thanks!!

You could try blowing through with a tyre pump - NOT compressed air - but that would only push the obstruction back into the tank. But then you could drain the tank and hope the rubbish comes out with the petrol.

Can we double check the symptoms and how the diagnosis of blockage inside the tank was reached?

1 fuel not coming out of pump into carburettor
2 pipe from tank was disconnected from pump and compressed air did not pass through to tank (air introduced from this side of the pipe)
3 fuel pipe disconnected from tank (olive) and compressed air passed through to the open end of the fuel pipe (pump side)
4 pump tried ant tested and works well with pump pipe immersed in a small container with fuel.

im assuming this got blocked (pic from another post not mine )

If that pipe or filter is blocked, you must have a pretty contaminated tank. You could pass a narrow engine brush through but you might push the filter off, and in any case, the debris, if dislodged would be the wrong side of the filter, ready to clogg again. If you are convinced that’s the problem area, another tank might be safer.
I think the tank baffles would stop access from the sender unit.

have you tried it with the petrol filler cap off,if not do so before strripping anything eldse

hi thank you all for the replies!! unfortunately the blockage is confirmen on the inside of the tank!! i put some Redex petrol cleaner directly into the strainer pipe and im leaving it in for a couple odf days. If nothing happens then it has to be a new/sh tank...

What about pouring something fairly volatile, such as thinners, etc. in the tank and leaving it for a few days to hopefully dissolve the blockage...

Has anyone seen the actual end of the pipe inside the tank? is it actually open ended or does it include a metal strainer?

looks like you have eliminated blockage in the pipework so has to be in the tank, take cap off and try comp air directly into tank outlet cant hurt anything,may clear the end of the pick up . but after a very long lay up' pipe has possibly collapsed with corrosion .And in any case all the crud will still be inside the tank so out it must come.Likely to be perforated as well at the top.

what's the pick up pipe like at the end is it a gauze or jist an open end pipe? I'll try to poke the blockage with some steel wire if the latter is the case

The picture you posted shows a filter fitted, so presumably yours is the same.

do you know if the pick up pipe (inc strainer) could be unscrewed and taken away from the tank outlet hole please ?

oh i think i can answer my own post ... looks like this is what happened in my tan!! found this pic probabbly it describes exactly my case..

today i took out the tank and took a photo of the pickup strainer, lm trying to understand whats inside this strainer, is it just a pipe? i believe it has to be solid so that is still picks up the last few litres of petrol in the tank.

I passed compressed air through the outlet orifice and seems to pass through now. Any idea what product to use to clean the tank please?

From that photo it doesn’t look like you can remove the strainer, pity because it looks full of rubbish inside.
Flushing the tank with some proprietary cleaner may buy you some time but if it was me, the condition of the tank would prompt me to look for a replacement, the last thing you want is another unexpected fuel restriction on a busy road.

Yes the pipe almost touches the bottom of the tank and the strainer is wrapped around it.
I had a rusty tank and had to cut off the strainer which revealed the pipe.
I relined my petrol tank with POR15 tank sealer after cleaning it out.

I pulled the tank out this morning, poured in 1/4 kilo of Citric Acid powder and a couple of gallons of really boiling water. Swilled it round for a while and then stuffed a welding rod in the sender hole with a scotchbrite pad skewered onto it. Got a LOT of crud out, none of it magnetic so I guess it is 70 years of dust and dirt. The filter is now spotlessly clean and a bright pinky copper colour. The fuel pump now runs 3 times faster at pumping fuel.

Citric Acid is the Mutts Nuts at cleaning rust and the boiling water makes it even more vigorous. Cheap on Ebay (£5 per kilo, delivered)