What is it

[wp1234]

Just wondering what this Fiat fuel tank part is and what it’s for ? I’m guessing it’s some sort of breather ? I recently noticed that on filling my tank to the brim I had a diesel dripping underneath the van coming from from the tank.
I had the tank taken off and discovered that the part circled on the first picture seemed to be damaged when compared to the picture of a new fuel tank ( 2nd pic) , it just looks like something has snapped off the end.

Any thought from the experts ?

Thank you.

 

[Landy Andy]

Agree that it looks like a breather.

 

[wp1234]

Agree that it looks like a breather.

Cheers … Mmm that’s my initial reaction as well but it would be interesting to know how that works given the ‘ball’ like top on the new tank picture .

 

[mitzimad]

my guess would be it has some sort of float that shuts it when the tank is full probably a floating ball that seats inside the dome needs to let air out to fill as the filler is low

 

[Alex and Lesley]

wp1234 It definitely is a breather, we had our van in our local “Fiat Professional” !!! garage and had the same dampness, they told me that the tank could not be repaired and the only option that we had was to replace the tank at a cost in excess of £1200! When we got the van back nearly 2 weeks later with said new tank I also collected the original tank and for less than £20 we got it repaired by our local garage.

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[wp1234]

wp1234 It definitely is a breather, we had our van in our local “Fiat Professional” !!! garage and had the same dampness, they told me that the tank could not be repaired and the only option that we had was to replace the tank at a cost in excess of £1200! When we got the van back nearly 2 weeks later with said new tank I also collected the original tank and for less than £20 we got it repaired by our local garage.

That’s very interesting … my thoughts are that I will come up with my own breather arrangement … Araldite , tube and a u bend . I will also avoid filling my tank to the top

 

[Landy Andy]

It will have a valve in it so if the vehicle overturned it doesn’t leak out.

 

[mitzimad]

i would araldite a plastic tube in and clip it up high as you can

 

[wp1234]

i would araldite a plastic tube in and clip it up high as you can

Super and thanks for this ..this is exactly what I did and took the new pipe up way above the tank top and all seems to be good .
From now on I will never completely fill a tank so as not to put pressure on anything .I also checked the price of a new tank and they run at around £600 for the part only ..wow.!

 

[wp1234]

wp1234 It definitely is a breather, we had our van in our local “Fiat Professional” !!! garage and had the same dampness, they told me that the tank could not be repaired and the only option that we had was to replace the tank at a cost in excess of £1200! When we got the van back nearly 2 weeks later with said new tank I also collected the original tank and for less than £20 we got it repaired by our local garage.

I have been flicking through some old MMM mags and cane across this article in the technical help section . The damage to my breather vent is the exact same, in fact it could have been made by the same rat .

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}