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Hey, just thought I would write How I removed the fuel tank on my diesel NT Pajero.
I removed my tank from my Pajero because a diesel mechanic said he found a gelatinous substance in my fuel tank. The mechanic said, it had clogged the in tank filter so bad, fuel was not getting to my engine. My wife and kids were the unfortunate ones who endured the car stopping dead going up a very steep hill in Perth. He believed I had been exposed to some contaminated fuel.
Before I write the how to, I must give a thanks to member " shawty950 " who wrote how to remove the second plate in the cargo area. This is the plate that covers lid of the fuel tank, that holds the in tank fuel filter.
Also, the Russian online repair manual found in the DIY section of this forum; DIY bible, gen 4. With the diagrams, order of removal of the tank.
You follow my instructions at your own risk, I am not a professional.
In the cargo area on the drivers side, underneath the rear sears is a rectangle plate with four nuts securing it. You need to use the handle on the bum part of the seat ( yes, I am getting a bit technical here, try to keep up ). Fold the seat flat, use the handle to lift the bum part of the seat up, you will see metal poles with a red plastic cover in the middle, holding the seat up.
Remove the four nuts, pull the rectangle plate off, being careful not to take off too much of the goo/glue that seals it to the cargo bay metal work. The first time I removed this plate is was stuck really well, I was scared I was removing something that wasn't meant to be removed, thanks to shawty950's write up I was confident it was ok.
You then have another rectangle plate in the cavity, from which the first plate removal has shown you. This has four bolts holding it in place, as well as the goo/glue to keep the dust from entering the inside of the car. The plate is off centre to the right. Once the bolts are undone, you need to manoeuvre the plate 90 degrees clockwise in the cavity, get a corner to sit proud of the first plate hole, it should then be able to be taken out.
You then have 6 nuts on studs, that hold the lid on the fuel tank, this is where the main fuel line and return to tank lines go into. Make sure you don't make my mistake, spray the nuts with a very liberal amount of WD 40 or CRC to penetrate the nuts. I broke two of the studs trying to remove the nuts.
You are now inside the fuel tank, don't let any dust, dirt or whatever fall in the tank. There are two black rubber tubing that are attached to silver metal pipes. One is short and has the white plastic in tank fuel filter. Pull off the long black rubber tubing first. Then get a Phillips head screwdriver to undo the screw holding the in tank filter in place. Once the screw is out, pull the short rubber tubing off the metal pipe, DON'T LOSE IT. Have a look at the in tank fuel filter, but chuck I in the bin, and replace it with a genuine OEM Mitsubishi in tank filter.
Get a syphon and drain as much fuel as you can out of the tank as possible. Make it as light as you can when you remove the tank.
I drove my car up on 4 car ramps to allow me to get good access to under the car.
I removed the bolt on the drivers side, towards the back of the plastic fuel tank guard. There are two nuts to remove in the centre back section of the guard to remove. The two nuts, are on two studs from a brace around the actual fuel tank. Next is a single nut, on a stud from the more forward of the two braces.
Now the hard part, well I found it hard any way, well not so much hard as nerve racking. There is a crossmember that has two supports for the gearbox. I removed the two long bolts on the drivers side of the brace. I put a bottle jack on top of a vehicle stand to support the brace/gearbox coming off. ( makes it sound like I planned this, in reality, when I was removing the bolts, the gearbox and everything attached to it was getting closer and closer to my body ). Once the brace was low enough, and holding your tongue in the right position, slid the guard off. It was hard work, trying to get it past the crossmember brace. There is a decent lip at the front of the car end, that is really hard to get off.
There is a 2 cm diameter rubber pipe on the drivers side of the fuel tank, it is from the metal fuel syphon, where you fill the car with fuel. Undo the hose clamp, pull rubber pipe from the metal fuel syphon pipe. Put a plastic bag over the rubber hose, secured with a cable tie or electrical tape
Place a jack around the front middle section of the fuel tank. Place another jack at the back, middle section of the tank. If you are using bottle jacks like I did, make sure you can let the pressure off to lower them gentle down a bit.
Remove all the nuts bolts securing the tank to the car, make sure the jacks are in place, with some room to lower the tank a bit on them. Lower the tank on the jack/s about 2 cm or however much room you need to get you hand/plyers between the top of the fuel and the metal work of the car.
At the rear end of the fuel tank, there is a electrical plug that needs to pulled off. There is a pipe, about 1/2 a cm in diameter, the syphon breather hose, remove the hose clamp, pull the hose off.
There is a 2mm diameter rubber hose that joins a metal t-section part at the back of fuel tank. It is the hose that joins the metal pipe facing out to the drivers side of the car. Take hose clamp off, pull the hose off.
You have to all the above by mostly feel. Look at the Russian online manual diagrams to know what your looking for, feeling for.
Go to the very front of the fuel tank, you will find two 3 to 4mm hoses going onto two metal pipes of the fuel tank. Remove the hose clamps, pull the hoses off.
Lower your jack/s, take out your fuel tank
I removed my tank from my Pajero because a diesel mechanic said he found a gelatinous substance in my fuel tank. The mechanic said, it had clogged the in tank filter so bad, fuel was not getting to my engine. My wife and kids were the unfortunate ones who endured the car stopping dead going up a very steep hill in Perth. He believed I had been exposed to some contaminated fuel.
Before I write the how to, I must give a thanks to member " shawty950 " who wrote how to remove the second plate in the cargo area. This is the plate that covers lid of the fuel tank, that holds the in tank fuel filter.
Also, the Russian online repair manual found in the DIY section of this forum; DIY bible, gen 4. With the diagrams, order of removal of the tank.
You follow my instructions at your own risk, I am not a professional.
In the cargo area on the drivers side, underneath the rear sears is a rectangle plate with four nuts securing it. You need to use the handle on the bum part of the seat ( yes, I am getting a bit technical here, try to keep up ). Fold the seat flat, use the handle to lift the bum part of the seat up, you will see metal poles with a red plastic cover in the middle, holding the seat up.
Remove the four nuts, pull the rectangle plate off, being careful not to take off too much of the goo/glue that seals it to the cargo bay metal work. The first time I removed this plate is was stuck really well, I was scared I was removing something that wasn't meant to be removed, thanks to shawty950's write up I was confident it was ok.
You then have another rectangle plate in the cavity, from which the first plate removal has shown you. This has four bolts holding it in place, as well as the goo/glue to keep the dust from entering the inside of the car. The plate is off centre to the right. Once the bolts are undone, you need to manoeuvre the plate 90 degrees clockwise in the cavity, get a corner to sit proud of the first plate hole, it should then be able to be taken out.
You then have 6 nuts on studs, that hold the lid on the fuel tank, this is where the main fuel line and return to tank lines go into. Make sure you don't make my mistake, spray the nuts with a very liberal amount of WD 40 or CRC to penetrate the nuts. I broke two of the studs trying to remove the nuts.
You are now inside the fuel tank, don't let any dust, dirt or whatever fall in the tank. There are two black rubber tubing that are attached to silver metal pipes. One is short and has the white plastic in tank fuel filter. Pull off the long black rubber tubing first. Then get a Phillips head screwdriver to undo the screw holding the in tank filter in place. Once the screw is out, pull the short rubber tubing off the metal pipe, DON'T LOSE IT. Have a look at the in tank fuel filter, but chuck I in the bin, and replace it with a genuine OEM Mitsubishi in tank filter.
Get a syphon and drain as much fuel as you can out of the tank as possible. Make it as light as you can when you remove the tank.
I drove my car up on 4 car ramps to allow me to get good access to under the car.
I removed the bolt on the drivers side, towards the back of the plastic fuel tank guard. There are two nuts to remove in the centre back section of the guard to remove. The two nuts, are on two studs from a brace around the actual fuel tank. Next is a single nut, on a stud from the more forward of the two braces.
Now the hard part, well I found it hard any way, well not so much hard as nerve racking. There is a crossmember that has two supports for the gearbox. I removed the two long bolts on the drivers side of the brace. I put a bottle jack on top of a vehicle stand to support the brace/gearbox coming off. ( makes it sound like I planned this, in reality, when I was removing the bolts, the gearbox and everything attached to it was getting closer and closer to my body ). Once the brace was low enough, and holding your tongue in the right position, slid the guard off. It was hard work, trying to get it past the crossmember brace. There is a decent lip at the front of the car end, that is really hard to get off.
There is a 2 cm diameter rubber pipe on the drivers side of the fuel tank, it is from the metal fuel syphon, where you fill the car with fuel. Undo the hose clamp, pull rubber pipe from the metal fuel syphon pipe. Put a plastic bag over the rubber hose, secured with a cable tie or electrical tape
Place a jack around the front middle section of the fuel tank. Place another jack at the back, middle section of the tank. If you are using bottle jacks like I did, make sure you can let the pressure off to lower them gentle down a bit.
Remove all the nuts bolts securing the tank to the car, make sure the jacks are in place, with some room to lower the tank a bit on them. Lower the tank on the jack/s about 2 cm or however much room you need to get you hand/plyers between the top of the fuel and the metal work of the car.
At the rear end of the fuel tank, there is a electrical plug that needs to pulled off. There is a pipe, about 1/2 a cm in diameter, the syphon breather hose, remove the hose clamp, pull the hose off.
There is a 2mm diameter rubber hose that joins a metal t-section part at the back of fuel tank. It is the hose that joins the metal pipe facing out to the drivers side of the car. Take hose clamp off, pull the hose off.
You have to all the above by mostly feel. Look at the Russian online manual diagrams to know what your looking for, feeling for.
Go to the very front of the fuel tank, you will find two 3 to 4mm hoses going onto two metal pipes of the fuel tank. Remove the hose clamps, pull the hoses off.
Lower your jack/s, take out your fuel tank