You'll never believe what I found in my fuel tank...

[slbard]

I've had the mysterious "engine bogs down after twenty minutes" problem with my BX2200 for a couple of years now. The local shop said to look for something in the tank that was blocking the line. I was skeptical but I finally broke down and brought it into town where I could work on it easier, determined to find the problem.

I drained the tank of all fuel and the water that had accumulated from around the leaky fuel sending unit (more on how I hopefully fixed that later) and finally pulled the tank off. Imagine my surprise to find the tank pretty clean except for this random light bulb! At first I didn't think that could be the problem because I assumed it would float, but it doesn't, being that the air space is a vacuum. It just happens to be the perfect size and shape for blocking the outlet, so I have my fingers crossed. It's been running fine but I haven't had it running for a long enough yet to be sure.

As far as the leaky sending unit goes - I removed the rubber grommet, cleaned it and the sending unit body, and then wrapped Gorilla duct tape around where the grommet sits to make the grommet larger and tighter when I replaced it. I then slathered it in silicone glue, replaced the grommet, and then slathered it in silicone. I then replaced it all making sure it was much snugger than before. I then ran a bead of silicone around the outer edge for good measure. Hopefully that will take care of the water problem. Fingers crossed ;-)

 

[85Hokie]

I've had the mysterious "engine bogs down after twenty minutes" problem with my BX2200 for a couple of years now. The local shop said to look for something in the tank that was blocking the line. I was skeptical but I finally broke down and brought it into town where I could work on it easier, determined to find the problem.

I drained the tank of all fuel and the water that had accumulated from around the leaky fuel sending unit (more on how I hopefully fixed that later) and finally pulled the tank off. Imagine my surprise to find the tank pretty clean except for this random light bulb! At first I didn't think that could be the problem because I assumed it would float, but it doesn't, being that the air space is a vacuum. It just happens to be the perfect size and shape for blocking the outlet, so I have my fingers crossed. It's been running fine but I haven't had it running for a long enough yet to be sure.

As far as the leaky sending unit goes - I removed the rubber grommet, cleaned it and the sending unit body, and then wrapped Gorilla duct tape around where the grommet sits to make the grommet larger and tighter when I replaced it. I then slathered it in silicone glue, replaced the grommet, and then slathered it in silicone. I then replaced it all making sure it was much snugger than before. I then ran a bead of silicone around the outer edge for good measure. Hopefully that will take care of the water problem. Fingers crossed ;-)

glad you saw the light! ......aw come on - that was funny!!!!

How in the Sam hell did THAT get in there?

 

[slbard]

Heh-heh, good question ;-)

 

[Diydave]

Now that gives me an idea...

 

[Tooljunkie]

Isnt diesel fuel a little lighter than it used to be?you now have proof!

Found a valve cover bolt holding an intake valve open on a 3.5L intrepid once.
It had only 450 km's on it when i found it. Chrysler put a new head on it.

 

[D2Cat]

Have a friend who goes through big tractors and sells them. He had one in his shop that had a full sized flashlight, with batteries, in the transmission when he took it apart.

 

[sawmill]

Some DIM WIT musta dropped it in there.

 

[sheepfarmer]

I have to check the fuel level in mine with a flashlight after filling, and it is my fear that I will drop it in...if it happens I won't confess to it here... had a kid knock a plastic spout off the gas container into the Gater tank. Didn't cause any problem, but finally sprang to have it disassembled to get it out.

 

[BadDog]

Glad you found your problem.

But to be more correct about float or not, the air space being (near) vacuum is not why it sinks. In fact, if it contained not vacuum but rather air, it would be more likely to sink because "air" has mass. Mass of displaced fluid vs mass of object is the only relevant point (ignoring things like surface tension, etc). In simple terms, that bulb does not displace fluid weight more than it weighs, so it sinks. But I can definitely see how it might suck up against the pick-up and act like a plug in the sink.

 

[Bulldog]

Probably some smart ass at the factory going "hey y'all watch this"

 

[Lil Foot]

Many years ago, in preparation to re-soldering a Toyota Landcruiser fuel tank, I had lowered in a 12v light to inspect the inside of the empty tank for rust. A buddy decided to "help" me by yanking the light out of the tank- it got hung up, & he pulled the socket & bulb off the end of the pigtail, leaving them in the tank. I was able to fish it out. Perhaps something similar happened in your case.

 

[65specialk]

Had a local guy died when a fuel tank leaked on his drop light. He had the car on a lift and went under to find the leak. Blew him and the garage doors 200 feet across the street. Don't put light bulbs in or near a gas tank!!!

 

[Diydave]

Had a local guy died when a fuel tank leaked on his drop light. He had the car on a lift and went under to find the leak. Blew him and the garage doors 200 feet across the street. Don't put light bulbs in or near a gas tank!!!

Never seen diesel explode. Not once. Still not a good idea to put small jury rigged stuff in a fuel tank...

 

[Daren Todd]

My grandfather was a shade tree mechanic. Went out to a saw mill with him while he worked on a truck. Proceeded to bust out a welder and welded a patch onto a gas tank on an old pickup truck He found me down on the other end of the lot when he finished. There was gas in the tank while he was welding on it. Still not sure how he didn't blow himself up

 

[Diydave]

My grandfather was a shade tree mechanic. Went out to a saw mill with him while he worked on a truck. Proceeded to bust out a welder and welded a patch onto a gas tank on an old pickup truck He found me down on the other end of the lot when he finished. There was gas in the tank while he was welding on it. Still not sure how he didn't blow himself up

Yep, it can be done: https://youtu.be/hnz6s2g5HT8

I like the exhaust on the car, too...

 

[OldeEnglish]

Sometimes ya find the strangest things in places that make you wonder how they got there. Had an s10 work truck I bought used...first oil change I did the oil was hardly coming out the drain hole... Stuck something in there and found a bolt was in the oil pan. It had a magnetic drain plug to hold it there . Hell I left it and put 80k on it before selling it to a friend and he's still driving it today.

Found some 3" stones in a fire sprinkler system fed from a pond once, we didn't know if someone intentionally put them there or if they made it through the pump. After a few days of flushing and trapping everything that came out... We ended up catching some good sized minnows that made it through the pump impellers without a scratch

 

[Bulldog]

We had a 14" turbine pump mounted on a barge in out pond at the quarry that supplied our plant water. It was very common to have minnows make it all the way to our wash plant and would still be alive.

 

[Daren Todd]

Hydraulic submersible pumps will actually pass turtles through them. I used to have to go to job sites, cut and splice lay flat hoses, do to a turtle getting stuck in the fitting and blocking the lines. The fun ones were the ticked off snappers

 

[Corney]

I keep seeing this shade tree mechanic description showing up?

What the hey is that referencing?

 

[Daren Todd]

I keep seeing this shade tree mechanic description showing up?

What the hey is that referencing?

Straight from the urban dictionary: A person willing to learn and perform scheduled maintenance or simple repairs on there own vehicle rather then being completely reliant on technicians who may be dishonest, careless, or ignorant