RE: Subject: pinhole leak in fuel tank of quattro - suggestions

["Buchholz, Steven" <Steven.Buchholz@kla-tencor.com>]

> Since it seems to me that you will have to pull the tank anyway (sorry),
> if
> the 2WD and Q tanks are the same, $15 for a good tank from a U-pull-it
> sounds like a better deal than patching your bad one - you don't want to
> do
> this job twice!
> 
... I think that in most cases the rear diff and half shafts consume some of
the space that is often used for the fuel tanks ... I am certain that on the
5k/200 models that the fuel tanks are quite different for q vs fwd.  I also
know on the 5k/200 sedan/avant that there is an access window that allows
the fuel pump to be removed without dropping the tank.  Actually, I was
surprised to see so many cars at the "pick-n-pull" that still had the fuel
tanks in place ... I doubt that UPS would want to ship fuel tanks, so you'd
probably have to find one locally.  

IME, there are a lot of the braided cloth covered rubber hoses carrying fuel
in the area above the tank ... in a car that is over 10 years old these
lines have likely deteriorated.  Are you sure that the problem is a hole in
the fuel tank itself?  It is awfully difficult to look around the sides of
the tank without dropping it ...

Steve Buchholz
San Jose, CA (USA)