Installing a Fuel Pickup Line in the Ford Transit's Tank


Now that the Diesel Heater has been converted to gasoline, a fuel line from the Ford Transit's tank needs to be installed.

It is quite an ordeal though that involves raising the van, drilling the top of the pump unit, installing a standpipe, and carefully mounting all the fuel elements under the chassis to guarantee flameout-free heater operation. Gotta be quite motivated and mechanically-inclined to embark on this.

For those who do, hopefully this post will provide an idea of what such a conversion might involve.

Happy crawling under the van to all !


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Warning: converting a diesel heater to gasoline is NOT safe. First, the heater was not designed for it. Second, gasoline is much more volatile than diesel, so failures can have severe consequences. It also voids insurance. This post only describes my journey. It is not a how-to, safety, or official guide. Do such a conversion at your own risk


FYI: great post also documenting the install of a fuel standpipe in the Ford Transit (click 'see more' in 1st post): Espar M2-B4L Transit Install: Standpipe Install & Webasto vs Espar

 

Parts

I initially planned on using the existing spare Aux port on the tank, and got the Fuel tank connector kit for Ford Transit & E-series Gasoline 10-7-0011

But the factory standpipe in the tank is not optimized for a heater application. It does not go all the way to the bottom of the tank and has a large diameter, which reportedly leads to losing the column of fuel once the tank is ~half empty and gasoline is sloshing around. Priming the system again after that is difficult and can lead to flameouts, owing to the diameter of that pipe which traps a lot of air.

Since we often travel with a close-to-empty tank and want idiot-proof reliable heater operation, using the Aux port was discarded in favor of installing the dedicated standpipe from Eberspacher: Fuel Standpipe 300mm 221000201600 Genuine for Espar D1LC D2 D4 D5

It has a small inner diameter, so if air bubbles get in priming will be fast, which is important for safety to lower the risk of unburned gasoline, carbon deposits, flameouts, or possibly (contained) explosion (see the one experienced in this post). Once cut to length its opening can hover only a few millimeters above the bottom of the tank. 


Dropping the Tank

First, working with a near empty tank is a must. I dropped it once while half-full and wrestling with that thing was a nightmare.

The van was lifted 4" (10cm) off the ground via wood blocks under each wheel. This is optional as some people successfully dropped and rotated the tank out to expose the pump unit without raising the van.

But it also allowed the use of a mechanic's creeper, like the one built in this post, which saved my back and tons of time. It was also extremely handy while installing the heater over several days.

At that point the 3 braces holding the tank were removed, and the tank was  dropped onto blocks to avoid stretching the fuel lines. 

The filler hose was also disconnected as it was badly stretched:

The tank could now be rotated out from under the van, providing access to the pump unit.

 

Removing the Pump Unit

First, the fuel lines had to be disconnected. Easy enough, except for the green one that required gently prying open the sides back and forth while slowly lifting the clip with a tiny screwdriver. Am sure there's a special tool out there for that but why, Ford, why ? 🙄

Then the outer metal ring holding the whole pump unit secured to the tank was removed. Here again there is a tool for that but MacGivering it by gently tapping counter-clockwise on one of the protruding ears with a hammer and rod worked like a charm: 

Before removing the unit, measure how much it springs out once the ring is removed. The pump assembly is pushed tight against the bottom of the tank via 2 springs. The distance the top springed out of my tank was about 1/4" (6mm). This will be important to properly cut the standpipe to length.

Note that the Aux port's pickup line is installed in the 2 pics above (90° rubber pipe with yellow connector). That was done before I changed my mind and switched to the Eberspacher standpipe modification below.

 

 Installing the Fuel Standpipe

 The top of the unit was drilled, and the standpipe installed:

The position of the hole was selected carefully to allow for enough space for the pipe's nut and washer, and for the wrench I had. It is a tight space under the cap, with several molded features in the way. So it took a while to find an optimal spot.
The pipe was then bent to avoid any interference with the gauge's arm, leaving at least 3/8" (10mm) of clearance.

At that stage, the pipe could now be marked for cutting. I wanted it to hover 1/4" (6mm) above the bottom of the tank, so, using the top of the bench as the reference (2 pics above), a line was scribed at that hover height + springback distance measured previously. I.e 0.5" (10-12mm) in my case.

After cutting the pipe, it was carefully deburred, making sure not to leave any metal flake in it.

Truth be told, I initially didn't know about the springback, so my 1st cut resulted in the pipe hitting the bottom of the tank which prevented closing the top of the pump unit. So I had to measure the tank depth and substract that to the pump's resting height to find the springback distance:

Live and learn !

When re-installing the pump unit, special attention was paid to the large green o-ring (pic above). It was easy to unseat it and required careful handling.

Reinstalling the outer metal ring in the proper orientation was confusing at first, but the markings / letters on the tank collar and the ring help align things properly.

 

Fuel Line Routing

The line was routed toward the back of the van, along the middle of the tank where there is enough space to prevent pinching against the van underframe. It then exits on the driver side:

 

Done. Onward to the installation of the heater now !


Posts in the Diesel-to-Gasoline heater series:

  1. Installing the Gasoline Heater
  2. Installing a Fuel Pickup Line in the Ford Transit's Tank
  3. Gasoline & High Altitude Heater Conversion - Success !!!
  4. Programmable Controller & Pump for Diesel Heater
  5. 'Chinese Diesel Heater' - is it Good out of the box ?
  6. High Altitude Gasoline Heater for Camper Vans ?   

 

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