rcostanza
New member
Researching this forum, posting and getting advice, I thought I was ready to drop my gas tank, install a fuel tap and get my airtronix/espar heater working right before I headed out on a christmas trip with my better half. I have a 2005 Sprinter.
Dropped the tank (literally, lol, don’t forget strapping it to a board before supporting with a jack) I found the sending unit top flange (photo 1). The fuel and return lines of course had ports. The 3rd “port” had no downtube and looked like a dead end for me with no tube stub on either side. More troubling the hard plastic top flange, which looked perfect to drill into for the fuel tap, had an underside with a honeycomb, not a smooth surface. I could see no way to seal the fuel tap without a smooth top and bottom surface.
Looking to the plastic tank to install the fuel tap I realized there was no clear flat surface to drill into. No surface, that is, which allows clearance for the fuel tap under the beams and floor of the van. The fuel tap needs a 2” clearance from the top of the tank to any structure (photo 2). It seemed any flat top tank surfaces either contact the undercarriage of the van or was too far away from the sending until to allow inserting the fuel tap into the tank (my hand would have to be in the tank to insert the tap up and out any hole that i drilled).
Having read various views on tapping into the fuel return line on this forum (but not reading if anyone got this to work) I decided this was my only option at this point. See photo 3. Results? The Espar heater only works if the Sprinter engine is turned on.
For the trip I mounted a 1 gallon plastic gas can to feed the espar heater. If I have to keep this day tank perhaps I can fill it from what I teed off the fuel return line when the engine is on. That is my thoughts but I hope there is something i’m overlooking here that someone can point out?! In anycase I wanted to post so others may be more prepared for this job than I was.
One other note of this operation: In photo 3 near the heat exchanger coils you will see where I had to cut the fuel return line to drop the gas tank. I then had to install a hose clamps and a tube union to reinstall. So where the shop manual says to remove the fuel and return lines (from the flange is the implication) that is incorrect. The return line goes directly to the heat exchanger coils then to the flange. Disconnecting the return line from the flange will not free your gas tank ~ that line goes to the outlet of the heat coils which stay attached to the gas tank. Also I noted the sspar heater takes a lot more than “1 gallon in 24 hours”. But it works so well!
Dropped the tank (literally, lol, don’t forget strapping it to a board before supporting with a jack) I found the sending unit top flange (photo 1). The fuel and return lines of course had ports. The 3rd “port” had no downtube and looked like a dead end for me with no tube stub on either side. More troubling the hard plastic top flange, which looked perfect to drill into for the fuel tap, had an underside with a honeycomb, not a smooth surface. I could see no way to seal the fuel tap without a smooth top and bottom surface.
Looking to the plastic tank to install the fuel tap I realized there was no clear flat surface to drill into. No surface, that is, which allows clearance for the fuel tap under the beams and floor of the van. The fuel tap needs a 2” clearance from the top of the tank to any structure (photo 2). It seemed any flat top tank surfaces either contact the undercarriage of the van or was too far away from the sending until to allow inserting the fuel tap into the tank (my hand would have to be in the tank to insert the tap up and out any hole that i drilled).
Having read various views on tapping into the fuel return line on this forum (but not reading if anyone got this to work) I decided this was my only option at this point. See photo 3. Results? The Espar heater only works if the Sprinter engine is turned on.
For the trip I mounted a 1 gallon plastic gas can to feed the espar heater. If I have to keep this day tank perhaps I can fill it from what I teed off the fuel return line when the engine is on. That is my thoughts but I hope there is something i’m overlooking here that someone can point out?! In anycase I wanted to post so others may be more prepared for this job than I was.
One other note of this operation: In photo 3 near the heat exchanger coils you will see where I had to cut the fuel return line to drop the gas tank. I then had to install a hose clamps and a tube union to reinstall. So where the shop manual says to remove the fuel and return lines (from the flange is the implication) that is incorrect. The return line goes directly to the heat exchanger coils then to the flange. Disconnecting the return line from the flange will not free your gas tank ~ that line goes to the outlet of the heat coils which stay attached to the gas tank. Also I noted the sspar heater takes a lot more than “1 gallon in 24 hours”. But it works so well!
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