Removing fuel from tank

CNYTDi

Active member
Joined
Jul 18, 2014
Location
UPstateNY
TDI
2013 Passat TDi SEL
Last day of driving our TDI (before I realized how bad water leak was), I filled it up w/ diesel fuel. Now that it sits in garage and will do so until VW comes thru w/ a date, how do I go about removing at least 15 gallons from the tank?
 

nord

Veteran Member
Joined
Mar 5, 2010
Location
Southern Tier NY
TDI
All turned back to VW. Now a 2017 Hundai Tuscon. Not a single squalk in 10k miles.
More to the point... Have you nothing better to do? Even at $3.00 per gallon we're talking $45.00. You'll spend more than that in time and effort recovering those fifteen gallons of fuel.
 

roni024

Veteran Member
Joined
Mar 31, 2007
Location
Syracuse, NY
TDI
2015 Passat TDI SEL DSG
Punch a hold thru the bottom of the tank, drain the fuel, patch with bubble gum.

You wouldn't take the time to LOOK for a simple water leak, but you're willing to spend your time getting filthy to squeeze your precious fuel from your car?

Someone needs to get their priorities straight...
 

turbobrick240

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Nov 18, 2014
Location
maine
TDI
2011 vw golf tdi(gone to greener pastures), 2001 ford f250 powerstroke
Maybe he needs the precious juice to fuel his big rig on its journey to the thunderdome. :D
 

compu_85

Gadget Guy
Joined
Sep 29, 2003
Location
La Conner, WA
TDI
... None :S
If I didn't have a pump and hose to put down the filler neck I don't think it would be worth the PITA. There might be an anti-siphon thing in the filler neck too. What are we talking about here, $40 in fuel?

-J
 

Johnny G1

Well-known member
Joined
Jul 3, 2012
Location
British Columbia
TDI
2013 golf wagon DSg
I'd swear that there are people on here that would take the air out of their tire's or drain their rads rather than let VW have it, I can see the nightmare that Canadian's are gonna have with people like that, Have enjoyed our car for 4+ yrs and hate to have to part with it but if VW will pay enough for it we'll buy a new one.
 

CNYTDi

Active member
Joined
Jul 18, 2014
Location
UPstateNY
TDI
2013 Passat TDi SEL
Punch a hold thru the bottom of the tank, drain the fuel, patch with bubble gum.
You wouldn't take the time to LOOK for a simple water leak, but you're willing to spend your time getting filthy to squeeze your precious fuel from your car?
Someone needs to get their priorities straight...
Why don't you then wire me $100.00 bucks so I can get it checked out. Don't expect me to pay you back tho.

If I'm going to have VW take back the car and given the water leak is severe, why then would I want to spend money to find out where it's leaking never to re-coupe the money spent to find the leak? The leak isn't simple BTW as it's bad enough to drain the rez in a couple days. Not my fault VW got their hand caught in the cookie jar. Frankly, I think whoever was able to conger up the scheme is pretty smart. However, we, the owners of such vehicles are caught in the middle. Add to that, VW's known faults of the DEF heaters, water pumps, exhaust gate valves etc.

If removing fuel is simple enough to do, then YES I will do it. No cost to do so other than my time. And yes, I can use it in my diesel tractor.
 

767wrench

Veteran Member
Joined
Jul 25, 2012
Location
Ohio
TDI
1981 Rabbit Pickup
Remove the back seat cushion. The tank sending unit is on the passenger side under a cover. Just don't damage the sending unit or lines when removing it. You can pump it out with a battery operated pump such as one for filling kerosene heaters or siphon it.

Other way may be jumpering the fuel pump relay and removing the line at the filter but depending on year built the location of the relay is subject to change.

I haven't tried to siphon from the tank inlet on one of these cars yet
 

meerschm

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Apr 18, 2009
Location
Fairfax county VA
TDI
2009 Jetta wagon DSG 08/08 205k buyback 1/8/18; replaced with 2017 Golf Wagon 4mo 1.8l CXBB
There already is a fine collection of fuel pumps on the car.

pull a fuel line from the fuel filter under the hood (use the one that returns to the fuel tank), hook up a similar diameter hose, and start the car. turn the engine off when your collection tank is as full as you like.
 

roni024

Veteran Member
Joined
Mar 31, 2007
Location
Syracuse, NY
TDI
2015 Passat TDI SEL DSG
If I'm going to have VW take back the car and given the water leak is severe, why then would I want to spend money to find out where it's leaking never to re-coupe the money spent to find the leak?
If removing fuel is simple enough to do, then YES I will do it. No cost to do so other than my time. And yes, I can use it in my diesel tractor.
That's exactly my point on your water leak. It wouldn't cost you anything to look where it's leaking from. Could be a loose hose clamp or something else that might cost you ZERO to fix, apart from your time.

If you fix your water leak, then you could actually drive your car and burn the fuel you have. Recovering that fuel could be messy, and what would you do with it anyway? Heat with #2 fuel oil? Have another diesel vehicle? Sell it on craigslist? Souvenir?
 

VeeDubTDI

Wanderluster, Traveler, TDIClub Enthusiast
Joined
Jul 2, 2000
Location
Springfield, VA
TDI
‘18 Tesla Model 3D+, ‘14 Cadillac ELR, ‘13 Fiat 500e
Remove the back seat cushion. The tank sending unit is on the passenger side under a cover. Just don't damage the sending unit or lines when removing it. You can pump it out with a battery operated pump such as one for filling kerosene heaters or siphon it.

Other way may be jumpering the fuel pump relay and removing the line at the filter but depending on year built the location of the relay is subject to change.

I haven't tried to siphon from the tank inlet on one of these cars yet
Removing the sending unit with the tank full of fuel will result in a half dozen gallons of diesel fuel in the floorboard of your car. Not recommended.
 

tdiatlast

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Jan 21, 2009
Location
Fort Worth, Texas
TDI
2009 Sportwagen (boughtback); 2014 Passat TDI SEL (boughtback)
O...M...G...all this blather over <$40 worth of diesel, probably getting in excess of $20k from VWoA at buyback.
Rather pathetic, don't you agree??????
 

VeeDubTDI

Wanderluster, Traveler, TDIClub Enthusiast
Joined
Jul 2, 2000
Location
Springfield, VA
TDI
‘18 Tesla Model 3D+, ‘14 Cadillac ELR, ‘13 Fiat 500e
O...M...G...all this blather over <$40 worth of diesel, probably getting in excess of $20k from VWoA at buyback.
Rather pathetic, don't you agree??????
Let's just approach this as a mental exercise rather than criticizing the guy for his motives. Knowing how to drain the tank is useful information.
 

VeeDubTDI

Wanderluster, Traveler, TDIClub Enthusiast
Joined
Jul 2, 2000
Location
Springfield, VA
TDI
‘18 Tesla Model 3D+, ‘14 Cadillac ELR, ‘13 Fiat 500e
One option would be to disconnect a fuel line from the fuel filter and use the in-tank pump and VCDS to pump the fuel out of the tank and into a container. Do that until the tank level is low enough that you can safely remove the fuel sending unit (or just pump all of the fuel out that way).
 

turbobrick240

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Nov 18, 2014
Location
maine
TDI
2011 vw golf tdi(gone to greener pastures), 2001 ford f250 powerstroke
Yeah, I would just attach a nice 4' length of hose (fuel line preferably) to the fuel return nipple on the filter canister. Then start the engine or use vcds to run the pumps. I'd leave at least a couple gallons in the tank.
 

meerschm

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Apr 18, 2009
Location
Fairfax county VA
TDI
2009 Jetta wagon DSG 08/08 205k buyback 1/8/18; replaced with 2017 Golf Wagon 4mo 1.8l CXBB
There already is a fine collection of fuel pumps on the car.

pull a fuel line from the fuel filter under the hood (use the one that returns to the fuel tank), hook up a similar diameter hose, and start the car. turn the engine off when your collection tank is as full as you like.
I may have spoken too soon.

the passat has a three hose fitting to the fuel filter, not the four hose version on the Jetta.

anyone know where the fuel line return to the tank can be accessed under the hood?


if you had a VCDS you could pull the supply hose, and run the in-tank pump directly, but the return to the tank would seem a safer bet to do with the car running (if you do not have a VCDS).
 
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767wrench

Veteran Member
Joined
Jul 25, 2012
Location
Ohio
TDI
1981 Rabbit Pickup
Removing the sending unit with the tank full of fuel will result in a half dozen gallons of diesel fuel in the floorboard of your car. Not recommended.
I didn't realize the sending unit wasn't the highest point in the tank lol! I must have gotten lucky when I took mine out to clean the strainers
 

VeeDubTDI

Wanderluster, Traveler, TDIClub Enthusiast
Joined
Jul 2, 2000
Location
Springfield, VA
TDI
‘18 Tesla Model 3D+, ‘14 Cadillac ELR, ‘13 Fiat 500e
It's pretty high up there, but keep in mind that you have the entire filler neck volume above it. If your fuel gauge is reading anything less than full, you're probably fine to remove it.
 

DieselDavid

Veteran Member
Joined
Sep 6, 2005
Location
Maryland
TDI
2015 Passat SE TDI 6M, 2015 Golf SEL TDI DSG
For whatever it is worth, a while ago one of my non-VW gasoline powered cars was in a collision and declared a total loss right after I filled the gasoline tank. The car sat in my driveway for about 1 week while the insurance companies wrapped up the claims. While the car was sitting in my driveway I removed all but a gallon or two from the tank.

To remove the gasoline I disconnected the fuel line from the tank where it connected to the fuel filter under the car and placed it in a gasoline jug. Then I repeatedly used the key in the ignition switch to turn on the electrical system without starting the engine, which primed the fuel system by running the pump for several seconds. Each cycle pumped out maybe 1 cup (8 fl oz) of gasoline. In time the jug was about full. Then I did it again for other jug/jugs until the gauge showed the tank was very low.

Yes this took a fair amount of time but it did not change the value of my totalled car, and I knew the guys at whatever junkyard got my totalled car would cut the fuel line under the car to drain the gasoline for filling up their own personal cars. So I moved most of my own gasoline from my totalled car into one of my other gasoline powered cars.
 

sandmansans

Veteran Member
Joined
Nov 3, 2013
Location
NJ/PA
TDI
2014 Jetta
Let's just approach this as a mental exercise rather than criticizing the guy for his motives. Knowing how to drain the tank is useful information.
Good point veedub

I'd caution against running the pumps until dry. The hpfp especially as its known to grenade and if that goes you're really sol.

A question for those with more experience doing this, but couldn't he just pump or siphon it out from the filler neck? Make your own diy mity vac with a cheap hand pump, lines and a reservoir. I'd imagine that it would be drained in a relatively short amount of time. I've done so on older gas vehicles, not a problem. But I don't know if the filler neck on the tdi have any sort of restricting hardware that would make the reverse flow of fuel possible.

Sent from my SM-N910V using Tapatalk
 

flyboybob

Veteran Member
Joined
Mar 11, 2003
Location
sumwhere, oregon
TDI
'12 passat tdi se dsg, ‘15 passat tdi sel premium
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740GLE

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Aug 19, 2009
Location
NH
TDI
2015 Passat SEL, 2017 Alltrack SE; BB 2010 Sedan Man; 2012 Passat,
I'd swear that there are people on here that would take the air out of their tire's or drain their rads rather than let VW have it, I can see the nightmare that Canadian's are gonna have with people like that, Have enjoyed our car for 4+ yrs and hate to have to part with it but if VW will pay enough for it we'll buy a new one.

Ive been driving around for 4 months with no windshield washer fluid, they aren't getting more then they agreed too!!!!

J/K
 
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