I've had mixed success with replacing the corks and getting the tap not to lead.use a bit of grease to get new ones in but sometimes they seem to catch and tear a bit...and sometimes they stay entire butjust leak, usually when plunger is out/on.
Last one was working well. I've just drained the tank for the winter.
So best to take the plunger out of the fuel tap? Leave it in? Take it out and leave it in a sealed jar of petrol?
Advi e welcome
What do others do that seems to allow the cork to be reused after a period of stand up
Leave juice in the tank to keep the cork wet or remove the tap and put in a jar of petrol.
Anything but let it dry out.
Nothing modern and reliable to replace these poor quality corks? :-[
Hi,
I have found corks to be very reliable. They do not last for ever but as long as they are kept wet with fuel they last along time. I laid up then put some grease on them or take them out and store them in grease. It is also worth remembering that over time the taps wear as well. I had a tap that kept leaking even with new corks. A replacement tap solved it.
There is modern equivalent but I have found it to be very hard to pull the taps on. Not convenient when wanting to switch to reserve on the move.
Dave.
Positive point : they are cheap . ;)
Confess that I stopped using the cork plunger type many years ago and switched to brass taper and lever types.
About to drain tank down and going to try POR15 process to see if it protects the tank from the ethanol 5% I've had to use recently (last garage selling the ETOH free stuff has moved over to 5% version).
Hi,
The POR15 will be fine. After several k miles on E5 and E10 and still looks like new. Follow the instructions carefully. I found that there was enough to do two tanks but had not realised so only one tank prepared so some wasted.
If the tank is in good order it should not need lining unless and FG one.
Dave.
Being of that age Ican remember when the center pin was threaded and you could tighten up the corks they would last for years. I have tried various methods over the years making threaded center pins on the lathe alaso using O rings instead of cork they work well and never leaked but after about a year or so the O rings would start to swell and it became difficult to operate the taps. The main problem today is the quality of the cork it needs to be fine grained to many are of a coarse grain and do not last. As long as you keep fuel in the tank they should not deteriate over the winter months.
I think quality and innacuracy of size of some of the corks has been my problem. I did gingerly to a little sanding ( paper over a round file) of the fuel entry area in case there was a small bur catching the cork.....but didn't want to risk enlarging the bore for the plunger. This last cork just looked consistent in density and a better fit not requiring too much persuasion after greasing to go in.
( I POR15'd my tank about 5 years back when I decided to remove all ethanol sensitive bits. Had baking weather to do it which helped with making sure it dried after the cleaning/ prep stages. Happy so far......but still draining for winter. A small mistake I made was sealing at the base of filler so I have no POR15 on that small section below the cap snd the ethanol just lifts any paint there. So POR 15 it all the way to the cap. May be sensible to use a paint brush after poring out the surplus POR15...to paint the top.
I'm using E10 now as should be kinder to engine...I read... once tuned for it)