11 replies to this topic

[BuffetLife]

Hello All,

Hope all are well. I tried doing a bit of search on the topic, but could find limited detail here and there. Basically, I bought a CRX about 2 weeks ago, and I smelled gas, but nobody else did. Anyhow, yesterday day on my way to walk to her for my commute, I caught a strong gas smell all the way from the sidewalk to my car (20ft. away or so), and new it had to be my CRX. So sure enough I get to her, look under and there is puddleling and I touched it for smell, and confirmed a gas link.

I brough her to my garage, lifted her up and could tell she was leaking but it was very tricky to determine from where. The fuel lines seemed wet as did the thank. There was definitely evident rust. That said, I am not looking to repair, rather REPLACE both the tanks and fuel lines on my 1987 Honda Civic CRX DX 1.5L.

My question really is what have others used for their replacement, and if they took her to a shop, what was the damage. I should be done this myself, as I have done other projects with my brother, but this one might be beyond us with a lot of rust and possible refabrication of rusted out brackets, etc.

Thanks in advance fellas!

[cbstdscott]

Unless you are VERY good at fabrication, your best bet would be to buy a used replacement tank. Chances are poor that your local junkyard will have a CRX without rust issues so place an ad in the classified section of this site under WTB.

Be aware that there are three types of gas tanks for the CRX: the HF tank is smaller, the Standard (Honda did not use the "DX" designation) and the Si tank which is pressurized with a return line for Fuel Injection. Any of these tanks will work for you, but if you plan on swapping in a Fuel Injected engine later won, you would be best served to get an Si tank.

Scott

BTW- If you have rust on your gas tank, you will have rust in other areas. Get under your car and look throughly.

[hondaguy72]

Just swapped in my si tank into a 84 dx 1.3 chassis. Dropping the tank is easy being the car has a drain bolt. Get as much fuel out as possible. The fuel lines are the biggest bitch. It requires pulling the complete dash and unsecuring the wiring harness and removing the heater box and a/c crossover. the condenser should be able to be left in place. At the tank just disconnect the filler hose, vent hose, feed/return/evap lines, and disconnect the sending unit at the factory bullet connectors and unbolt the tank. Probably only weighs about 15lbs dry.

Mounting a fuel cell in the hatch is an option, but you'd probably lose your fuel gauge and have to fill the tank with the hatch open.

Keep your carbed pickup if you want a direct swap in and change out the fuel filter while you are in there. Any tank fits, depending on your exhaust. The dx muffler straddles the tank, so an si style or shorty exhaust would be needed for the larger tank. One strap is relocated in another factory supplied position.

A shop would charge major $$$.

Another thought, most likely the line is only bad on the exterior. All lines exit in back of the driver's seat. A decent shop could add line at that position. That would be far less expensive than replacing the lines front to back.

Edited by hondaguy72, 08 November 2009 - 01:58 PM.

[BuffetLife]

Thanks guys...

FUEL TANK
This I would not fabricate, I would look for a replica replacement or OEM in the rare event I could find one

FUEL PIPES/LINES
This is the part that worries me. I bought the 87 CRX shop manual, and in looking at the diagram I realized that the dash would indeed most likely have to come off, and one of you guys have confirmed my fears... That said, which was my thought as well, I think the solution would be to cut piping where it is rusted and run it bac to the tank... as it would mean a lot of time and labor to put in new pipes from beginning to back. This would be a great spring project, but being that I need a car this winter... it must be done The other thing that makes it hard to replace all the lines, is that they are EXTREMELY RARE to find from what I can see. I think there is one that is readily available.

Next question for anyone that has done either of these replacements with aftermarket NEW parts, where did you source them?

Regards

[cbstdscott]

Next question for anyone that has done either of these replacements with aftermarket NEW parts, where did you source them?

Honda still stocks many (not all) parts for the old cars, but your local dealer may not have them in stock. Majestic Honda and San Leandro Honda run good on-line parts departments.

[poweredbyhonda22]

the area behind your dash should be fine if its a dx just use rubber fuel line to replace the rotted out sections as well as clamps be an easy job i have done it many times in the past even to a fuel injected car but i used the good rubber line for that

[CSPCRX]

Probably just the rubber lines or damage to the tank. There is also a filter back there that could be damaged and leaking. There is no need to change the hard lines unless they are damaged.
You can use any 84-87 tank, if the tank is damaged, just change the pickup. I have done this on several conversions from carb to FI.

[BuffetLife]

Finally took her in to a radiator repair place, and it was determined that the tank will need replacing. He could maybe salvage the tank but there is rust growing, and the joints of the upper and lower half are coming apart which is where the gas is leaking out of.

However, curiously enough before taking her in today, I cleaned her out and discovered that right behind my drivers seat area and the back wall that leads back into the hatch, there was puddling of gas. It explains that intense gas smell in my interior over the last couple of months. I also discovered while she was up on a lift that she is very badly rusting and has actually rusted through to the carpet on both sides where the stands would normally hold her up

[BuffetLife]

Within the last two weeks, I have had nothing but issues...

The leak I had from the gas tank area was looked at and was told the tank would need replacing, as it was rusted. Well sure enough I go ahead and leave it at a local gas tank repair shop because they claim they can get a tank that is OEM and or aftermarket to fit my CRX. I told them that I had looked for a long while to find one and to no avail. Well he assured me it would be found and slapped on. These Aholes took 3 weeks to realize what I had told them, that the gas/fuel tanks were extremely rare. Option B at this point was retrofitting a fuel tank from another vehicle/and or other Honda. Well they said the got one from a 1986 Civic and put it in. Well after 3 weeks, I got my car back two weeks ago, and drive her off. Not a mile away, and the damn leak persists, gets towed back to the shop where they keep it another week.

I got her back last Friday, built out a rear subfloor our of plywood later wrapped in carpet (actually came out real nice and was needed to hold down my Infinity BassLink ), swapped out an old rusted headlight, threw in a new fuel pump, put new tires on, etc. Anyway, I think she is ready and good to go, and I drive the car into the city yesterday no problem. However, I can't help but notice that fuel smell again, but this time coming from the engine area through my vents. I can't figure it out, and figure maybe it is a minor leak etc.

Well today after leaving her parked all day, I come back and notice a lot of fuel leaked and leaking from behind the passenger side wheel. I pop the hood and spot what the problem might be. It seems that the fuel filter (I think, sits on the left back wall looking into the engine bay) hose below might not have been the culprit. I somehow manage, as dangerous as this sounds, to drive her to my garage to further assess the leak. I play around with the hose a bit, and it does seem that there is a minor leak coming from it. However, I could spot more of a flow as I scanned with my eyes further down the reservoir that the fuel filter hose connects to and see a more constant flow of fuel and dripping onto my garage door.

Sorry for all the writing, but I guess my question would be, does anyone know about that reservoir that the fuel goes into via the hose from the fuel filter? Is it replaceable/fixable? It seems to be welded on to the car and am afraid that this might be the end of my CRX I will see if I can get pictures. I really would appreciate the help.

[BuffetLife]

Parts 25 & 10 that feed into "Fuel Reservoir"
Above is an image of the parts that feed into that "reservoir" i was speaking of.
Below is the Canister with the hose and tube/joint/nipple that leads into that reservoir...


My hunch is that the reservoir either rusted out at the bottom/cracked,etc. If it is a matter of replacing the joint/tube (Ref#10 Part# 17742-SB2-671 JOINT, DRAIN TUBE (CANISTER)) at the end, then easy fix if I can procure it

Edited by BuffetLife, 17 June 2010 - 05:16 AM.

[1985 CRX SI]

"Fuel Reservoir"

Evaporated Controls
http://www.redpepper...h12-31.png.html
Jeff

[BuffetLife]

Evaporated Controls
http://www.redpepper...h12-31.png.html
Jeff

Jeff thanks... however, the issue I am trying to figure out is if I am correct about the "reservoir" that the canister hose leads into, is either fixable/replaceable/impossible to fix... That is where the leak is stemming from. If it is just a matter of replacing the canister/hose/joint no biggie, but if that reservoir is the source of the leak, and unfixable... then she would be a goner