My felicia has failed mot with a rear brake pipe corrosion problem, as I know absolutely nothing about cars took it to a friend who deos, he says fuel tank must be removed to get at this brake pipe- I have 3/4 full tank at present just wanted to know is there any way to get this fuel out or is my only option to run car till its empty

When I changed a fuel tank on SWMBO's Mk2 Polo, I siphoned the fuel from it (at the top of the drive) into my golf (at the bottom) with a hosepipe down the filler neck and then through the level sender hole (under the rear seat). That left very little in the tank- I was able to drop it on my own.

I don't think the brake pipe does go above the fuel tank. If you look underneath the car, on one side is 4 pipes, these include fuel supply and return pipes (the thick ones) and brake pipes. The brake pipes lead from the front of the car to a hose, then the hose leads to a shorter brake pipe on the suspension arm thing. But if you do have to drop the fuel tank, replace both brake pipes while you're in there with kunifer pipes which will not corrode, there's no point saving a couple of pennies with plain copper if you'll have to go in and do the job again. Probably a good idea to change the fuel filter at the same time if it's not been done in a while.

it was a mechanic told me fuel tank had to come out and on mot fail sheet corroded pipe is described as rear near side pipe, As I said in original post I know only very basic stuff only been a car owner and driver for a few years. Thanks CJB for your post had forgotten about level sender will give that a try

thanks guys

:)I run a garage/MOT centre and have worked on and MOT'd plenty of Favorits/Felicias. The fuel tank does NOT need to be removed to replace the rear brake pipes.

i had to replace both my rear pipes when the cylinders were badly leaking and i could not undo the old pipe nuts. ordered the parts and it took me no longer than 2 hours to do the whole lot. the pipes are easy to remove and put back on, and with a bit of wiggling no need whatsoever to remove fuel tank. They go around it, not above it!

be prepared to bend in funny ways like you have never bent before when you are undoing them from the other end though (thats if you are only using jacks / ramps and not a full lifter. i ached for days afterward.

if you cant get the old nuts undone where they fit into the flexible hoses just cut the pipe with pliers and put a socket over the nut. they new ones are well easy to fit on then!

remember - BLEED YOUR BRAKES PROPERLY afterward, took nearly 30 mins to get all the air out. its also a great way to easily replace you brake fluid at the same time!

remember - BLEED YOUR BRAKES PROPERLY afterward, took nearly 30 mins to get all the air out. its also a great way to easily replace you brake fluid at the same time!

Be careful not to damage the seals in the master cylinder like I did with the old brake pedal pushing bleed technique. It's best to use a gunson eezibleed which forces fluid through the system using air pressure from a spare tyre (or even better a vacuum brake bleeder which sucks fluid through at the bleed nipples, but these are expensive). Unfortunately when I tried my eezibleed I couldn't get it airtight so resorted to the brake pedal pushing and needed a new master cylinder and brake servo at £100.

got the fuel removed by disconnecting rubber hose on underside of carand pumping out from there, brake pipe should be done by tomorrow. Many thanks to all those who posted and for all the help.