Hello,
When I decided to switch to E85 from RON98, I wanted to completely empty my fuel tank. I tried 3 different methods, here is my feedback.
Important note: be extremely carreful when you deal with gasoline as it is a highly flammable product. Always work on a cold engine and avoid any kind of hotspot and flame. You take your own responsabilities...
1. First method, old school : Siphon the gas out with a hose from the filler neck.
--> Forget about this method. It is simply impossible, whatever is the lengh or the diameter of the hose you want to use, you will never be able to reach the surface of the fuel in the tank.
2. Second method, the hard way : Access the fuel from the top of the tank.
Have a look at the following video. At 1:50 you will see how you can access inside the fuel tank from the top, by removing the fuel pump.
This method will take time, you will mess around with the black sticky sealant, drop fuel in your car, and finally you will not be able to siphon out all the fuel from the tank. Bad idea.
3. Third method, the official method : easy and fast !
This official method is briefly mentioned in the BRZ Service Manual page PM-33. You can find the PDF document here :
http://www.ft86club.com/forums/showthread.php?t=8374
You will need:
- Phillips screwdriver
- 8mm (5/16) outer diameter pipe, 2 inch long or more.
- 8mm (5/16) inner diameter hose, 4 feet long.
- a fuel container
- Laptop with Techstream software
a) - Cold engine, ignition off. Pop up the hood, find the fuel lines that feed the injectors, and disconnect the one visible in the picture below with the screwdriver. Be prepared to capture few drops of fuel with a cloth.
b) - Connect the 5/16 pipe with the fuel line, and connect the pipe to the 5/16 hose. Then insert the hose in the appropriate container. And that's it for the hardware part !
c) - Now on the software part, start Techstream, plug the cable in OBD port and put ignition ON (DO NOT start engine). When ignition is ON, the fuel pump will run during few seconds only, so a small amount of gasoline will flow in the container via the hose you just installed.
The goal of the procedure is to take control of the fuel pump with techstream, to turn the pump ON and pump out all the gas from the tank into the container. Easy.
d) - In Techstream, click on "Connect to Vehicle"
e) - Then click "NEXT" to confirm the connection
f) - On the "All ECU" page, select the "Engine" ECU, and click onto the green arrow to continue.
g) - Click on "Active Test" to open the test list and select "Control the Fuel Pump / Speed" and press "OK" to continue.
h) - Start the fuel pump by clicking on the appropriate arrow, the fuel will flow down into your container. The pressure is not so high so that it is safe (watch out for leakage anyway) and the flow is quite decent so that you will empty the tank quickly. The flow will decrease as the amount of fuel is minimum in the tank. Let the pump run until no fuel at all is flowing from the hose. Then simply turn of the fuel pump clicking on the second arrow. DONE.
i) - Exit Techstream and turn ignition OFF. Plug back and secure the fuel line to feed the injector.
By doing this way, I really believe only few traces of fuel are left in the tank.
I'll be glad if this DIY is usefull to somebody someday.
Drive safe.
