RobClubley

More photos from @The Surgery showing what was done - cut a hole, cut out the bottom to get to and remove the gauze filter. Clean, degrease and coat the inside with POR15 products, weld up holes, re-paint. Also they repaired a cracked weld on the filler neck where it joins to the tank.

It's back and looks great! Just need time to work on it.

I can't claim credit for the photos they were done by John at The Surgery who are doing the work. Couple of little jobs done. Fixed the check lights and brakes warnings, and fitted a new heater fan. It made an annoying ticking noise on the middle setting.

Next the bottom of the tank - the plastic end of the fuel return - which looks nothing like the parts diagrams I have - snapped off as soon as it was touched so that went in the bin. Next job was to cut the bottom and get to that old gauze filter to remove it.

Some fun has been had with the tank. Firstly the filling issue. It definitely has an internal return pipe for air. Fuel goes in through the flap, air out by the pipe above. The square holes at the top should let air out, round hole for fuel in. Turns out the rubber flap has gone hard and no longer moves, stopping fuel getting into the tank.

Dropped tank at The Surgery for some surgery https://www.thesurgery.co.nz/ Plan is to cut a hole, remove gauze filter, treat rust and coat the inside, weld a breather elbow on the cut-out piece then repair. Another elbow on the filler and connect with fuel hose. Also there's a small leak in the weld connecting filler to tank which was covered by black silicone !! Looks like the filler neck isn't original to that tank. I suspect it has been repaired and they've blocked or cut the internal filler vent. In the meantime, bit of cleanup. The remaining stuff is old rust protection I don't want to scrape off. I also found a seatbelt bolt wedged in the corner! And some new hoses that actually bend, for the fuel return and breather connection.

Reading this... https://forums.quattroworld.com/4000/msgs/68637.phtml I don't think my gauze filter is blocked, assuming it's in there, because fuel flows out fast when I disconnect the pipe to the pump. Need to watch out if I re-coat the tank inside though.

Well this wasn't much fun to do! Ran the car until it was flashing E on the fuel gauge then did another couple of trips to the shops. Started by pumping out 5l with a hand pump, helped by my assistant. Then I loosened the pipe to the fuel filter and slowly drained the other 7 litres! The tank is pretty corroded inside as is the fuel sender. It's hard to tell if the tank has had a large breather removed or is a different tank. It has an internal pipe at the top but I can't see where that goes. Sticker says. 857 201 075 M My parts diagrams have 857 201 075 Q My tank matches one of the diagrams, though I'm missing the gravity valve. Maybe that internal pipe is a breather that's blocked?

I keep forgetting to post my reviews on my Brisky thread! https://www.drivelife.co.nz/author/robclubley/

I recently tested the RS3 and wanted to keep it. https://www.drivelife.co.nz/2022/06/2022-audi-rs3-sportback-car-review/ It sounds great over 4000rpm

Nice! The noise from the rally car!!

They are the two old ones. Different part numbers with different threads.

Bah, it's never easy. That bottom one (right side on pic) was pretty grotty and leaking.

New brake pressure switches from Latvia

Some clips of Rusty from Wookies https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X7u4lj5iG2s

I have yes thanks, big fan of Jonny's work. That car was in great condition considering.

Yay all washers working. As always it turned into a more complex job than expected. The rear washer I had to extend the pipe as it seems to have shrunk with age and wouldn’t reach the pump. The fronts were blocked, and the water smelled funky. It seems to have dried out at some point and formed smelly black slime which has blocked the squirters. Took them off and soaked them in cleaning solution overnight. Had to pull the bottle out and clean it, using bleach to make sure! And I managed to damage the wiring to the pump so had to repair that too. It’s never simple!

Yeah this one. http://www.t85q.com/urTfa/Subgroups/fuel-filer/image001.gif It's not hard to get the tank out. Boot carpets out, remove 4 big bolts and the tank is loose, disconnect the feed pipe to the fuel pump (which is under the car). disconnect vent tube and sender, pull the rubber boot out around the filler. The hardest (smelliest) bit is draining it. Just knowing how much is in there and having a big enough container Might get a small pump, and pump it out, I can pop the fuel gauge sender out for easy access as I have a new O-ring to fit on that anyway. Much more controlled than pulling the 15mm pipe off the bottom and it gushing out everywhere.

The plastic pipe I have goes under the tank and out to atmosphere through a grommet in the boot floor. That is the one I blew through it's definitely clear but it's just not big enough to move enough air to compensate for fuel going in. I'm talking to a local guy who has a shed full of old Audis in various states, he might have a tank and filler spare. Need to be careful though as the Coupe GT has a similar tank but it's 71 instead of 91 litres. Getting one built would be expensive and would require the car to be re-certified at a cost of about $1000. Though technically the modifications to the tank and filler as they are would need a cert too. I do plan to remove the ABS as it's leaking from the ABS unit and not functioning and parts just aren't available to repair it. Again that requires a cert. A cert is basically a full safety check by a specialist with any modifications listed and stamped onto a plate which has to be riveted to the body in the engine bay. It's required on a car with certain modifications, so that it can go through the Warrant of Fitness process (MOT). A cert is a one-off process for any and all mods and if further mods are made it had to be re-done at full cost.

28/30 is the later revision replacing the setup I have. It adds a rollover protection valve. I have solved part of the mystery with pics from a friend’s car. You can see there’s a double outlet going to the vent I have plus a fat one that links back to the filler. This is mine Single small pipe. It makes sense that the small pipe can’t vent enough air to compensate for the fuel flow. And my filler tube has been welded up where the connector should be. How odd! I know the car was hit hard from behind once when parked and had extensive repairs so maybe the tank is from a different model, or maybe some repair person did this for a reason but it’s weird. It has always been hard to get petrol in. it is a steel tank by the way.

Got me on a mission now. Found this with Google images. It has the extra breather.

Actually looking at these photos it looks like the filler tube is going up hill. It might be a misleading photo angle but I wonder if some adjustment can be made.

Indeed and it was a damn good pie, too! And I realised after that they forgot to charge me for my coffee. I haven't got to the bottom of it yet, no. There is one vent on the top of the tank which leads to a 5mm-ish plastic pipe. On later models it feeds via a gravity valve then out of a grommet in the boot floor. On mine it's just a 3m-ish long pipe with no valve - outlined in red. I pulled the whole pipe out, checked for blockages, re-routed it a bit and chopped about 75cm off the length. I can easily blow air into the pipe so it doesn't seem to be blocked. It's really odd. I have thought about the idea of making a new vent. No. 14 on mine does not exist, and is what's needed I think.

Bit of dashcam footage. @Warrior193 the chateau is there briefly.