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Syphoning fuel out of a Focus


sierraman

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I hammered a nail through the bottom of my first car's (A mk1 fiesta pop which would probably be worth something these days) fuel tank just before it was HIAB'd away in about 2001. It was a metal tank and didn't catch fire, the bonus being that as it was a very small hole the fuel drained out quite slowly, especially as I kept the filler cap done up, and managed to drain it into a selection of cans and bottles.

 

Probably not a great idea, but if its a plastic tank then a small-ish nail and a hammer will do the job without too much risk. Just make sure you have enough cans to catch the majority of the fuel and don't do it with a ciggy in your mouth.

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Fuel can be pumped up the supply pipe by bridging two contacts in the fuse/relay box but don't ask me to remember which ones, this is the only way to pump fuel out of a Focus unless you can hot wire the fuel pump itself.

You might get a pipe into the tank if you can cut the filler pipe just above the tank, some tanks (don't know about the Focus) have a cross welded into the tank filler stub to prevent the stub collapsing when the pipe is clamped tight, but that has the added bonus of providing an excellent extra anti syphon,  anything standard hose pipe size possibly won't go in anyway so if you go in that way a thin pipe might still be needed.

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When my vectra went a friend Drained tank by disconnecting fuel line to injection rail, using a compression fitting attached to the end and an old fuel pump. One end in tank, Croc clips to battery to power it and other end on compression fitting. Sucked it straight from tank to can

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Ignore all the above advice

Get a fire extinguisher

Connect a long pipe to the fuel pump

Connect two long wires to the fuel pump connector

Put end of pipe in receptacle away from everything

Get a battery and put it on the opposite side of the fuel can

Bridge the wires on the battery and drain all the fuel

 

Don't do it all inside the car ffs and down power up the pump right next to fuel, the spark will ignite the fumes and you won't be able to put it out, especially with a high pressure fuel injection pump. I had a pump I was testing catch fire outside the car above and it just wouldn't go out

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If it's a petrol you can just disconnect the tank return pipe and connect a suitable length of rubber pipe / garden hose, leave it running for five mins and you'll be done. Used to do it on all the Focus and Fiesta rental cars when they were deflected when I worked at Ford. No way would we ever send them off to a dealer unless they were deep into running out of fuel territory.

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I've got a sealey suction pump thing for draining oil via the dipstick hole. It cost £40 and has been brilliant for oil changes but also draining tanks in scrappers. I hammer a chisel though the floor and into the tank, stick the pipe in and suck away. I've considered using it in minicabs when they invariably overcharge me on the way home from the pub.It's got a load of other automotive uses too!

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