96 Neon Gas Tank Support Question

[WRX DRAGON]

Hey guys, I'm new to the forums and I hope to be here for a while!

I just wanted to ask a question about what supports the gas tank on a 96 Neon. I have noticed that there are two metal straps holding the gas tank in place and just recently, those two metal straps snapped off my father's Neon (they were rusted as hell)

I just wanted to know if the car is still safe to drive even without those two metal straps supporting the gas tank and what else supports the gas tank to prevent it from falling off.

Thanks for the help and I can provide you guys with pictures if necessary.

~WRX DRAGON

[das2123]

This should help you out...

- Back vehicle up onto ramps, set parking brake, shut vehicle off. (block front wheels for added safety if you wish)
- Open hood, & disconnect the negative battery terminal
- Put on gloves & safety goggles at this point and go under the rear of the car
- You will see over the passenger side front corner of the gas tank, a shield which is held on by 3 small bolts. Remove 2 using your 8mm socket, and the larger one using your 10mm socket.
- Under the shield is 1 connector, and 2 gas lines. Pinch the clips with your fingers on the gas lines (one blue one green you may want to mark them at this time) and remove them from the in tank pump. Slide the red lock on the electrical connector to the right, then remove it.
- Open your gas door at this time, and using your T25 torx bit, or driver remove the 4 screws around the gas filler orifice which will release the filler neck (you do this so you don't break the filler neck when trying to slide the filler neck off the rubber hose mating it to the gas tank.)
- Place your hydraulic jack directly under the center of the gas tank, eyeball it straight and put your piece of wood on top of the jack length-wise with the car to support the tank, raise the jack to touch the bottom of the tank.
- Using your 13mm (or 15mm on plastic tank cars I believe) remove the 2 bolts which hold on your straps and allow the straps to hang down.
- Slowly lower the jack until the tank is down a couple inches, and stop. Now with your flathead screw driver losen the clamp closest to the filler neck on the rubber coupler. Once it's loose enough, slide it out of the way and finess the filler neck, and the rubber coupler apart so you can drop the tank. (stick screw driver between rubber and filler neck, squirt in some PB blaster to make this process faster.)
- There is a T fitting on the rear of the gas tank, unhook both lines connecting to it so the gas tank is no longer connected to the vehicle at all.
- Proceed to lower the gas tank all the way, and slide it carefully off the jack onto the ground, then out from under the car. Remove the filler neck from the vehicle as well at this point, because it's probably rusting and it would be a great time to hit it with some rust inhibitor or paint.
- Remove the straps from the vehicle by turning them sideways, they come right out easily as long as they aren't rusted to the car.
- Gas tank removal is complete, set aside all of your hardware and don't lose the torx screws or the bolts.

[WRX DRAGON]

oh man so I'm assuming its not safe to drive the neon after reading that :S

[das2123]

No it isn't!

Go to a local pick a part place and pull you some "newer" straps.

[Shawley3]

I believe replacing those clamps is pretty important. I had a clamp go bad on my tank about a month back due to rust and for safety never ran more than a half tank full making sure not to stress out the other clamp. They are not hard to install at all. Pick one up at any auto parts store for about 15 bucks or make your own. Its a simple fix I recommend replacing it.

[XWrench3]

all that holds the fuel tank in place are those two straps. if one fails, PARK THE CAR AND REPLACE THEM! otherwise, when the second breaks, you will be riding in a BOMB!

[das2123]

Originally Posted by XWrench3

all that holds the fuel tank in place are those two straps. if one fails, PARK THE CAR AND REPLACE THEM! otherwise, when the second breaks, you will be riding in a BOMB!

LOL, the original post was back in April 2010.