The 'E' Type Forum

Hi Everyone

Well after a great weekend away at the Scottish jaguar Weekend I noticed that the fuel tank sump had decided to shed it's new sealing ring. I t was hanging down like a rubber necklace-sounds a bit pervy I know.
Fortunately I'd applied Blue Hylomar and this seems to have stopped any great amount of fuel leaking out and now seems to have resealed it temporarily.
This is the third seal I've bought from SNG and I'm not happy with the way it seats once you screw the sump back on the tank.
Has anyone else had these problems-possibly as part of a total rebuild, or am I just unlucky?
The original leak turned out to be one of the circular braises in the sump itself. When I took it off the seal fell off as well. The SNG equivalent is just a plain rubber O ring about 3mm thick and is a very tight fit over the thread on the tank. The original was much larger and fatter.
Would someone like Hutson's offer an alternative?
I've a suspicion that this item is rarely needed and so the part may not be an exact copy of the original. This was the case with the replacement sump I ordered-it didn't even have the right diameter internal thread. I was told that they hardly ever sell these and a check on the rest of their stock would have to be carried out.

Alan

Alan, that seal should be a flat rubber washer rather than an O-ring, which will never seat properly. XKs Unlimited supplies the correct piece, p/n C 26310. It's my understanding that they've had this part made correctly. Kind of silly to send across the pond for a two-dollar part, but if it keeps the petrol inside...

Go and buy some rubberized cork sheeting and make your own.

Sorry I should have described the seal as a flat rubber washer not an O ring, as you've done Mark. It fits so tightly around the threaded hole, that you have to "screw" it on.
When the sump was fully screwed home. the seal was sometimes squeezed out of shape. At best the outer edge was deformed downwards with the pressure of the sump against the tank.
I have some cork gasket sheet in the garage which I think I'll use to make my own seal.

Cheers

Alan

Alan, I've fitted a few of the SNG seals with no issue (yet!). I ush them down and seat them before screwing down the sump. Fingers crossed!

Angus

I think the problem with these seals is that the width of rubber makes them susceptible to distortion when pressure is applied. The original rubber washer was much wider and far more rigid than the SNG item. I've now made up a cork seal which is much wider and will fill the whole of the opening on the underside. This has shown just how good a seal Blue Hylomar is. It's only the residue on the threads which is preventing further leakage. I'll take a comparison photo of the two washers, assuming my home grown effort is successful! Now my only problem is finding a container large enough to catch 7 gallons of super unleaded.

On a different note the Scottish Jaguar Weekend was a great success. 200+ cars attended, helped by lovely weather. We managed 23 miles to the gallon even with the leaky sump. My better half took a great video of the run out to Loch Katrine on the Saturday. It shows the E's bonnet in all it's glory and an F-Type desperately trying to escape. We stayed on it's tail-we'll just about anyway.

Cheers

Alan

Well the latest update is that the homemade cork gasket seems to have cured the leak. On the down side I now only have about 5 gallons of super unleaded. The carefully selected black bucket that the fuel was to be emptied into had a large tear in the base. This only became noticeable when I moved it away from the sump and a jet of petrol soaked my feet. Anyway I'll keep checking the sump since I've been here before and the little bugger started to leak as soon as I'd stopped the last time!

Cheers

Alan

If you still have problems try Granville Petro-Patch http://tinyurl.com/lxttn93 (the liquid rather than the putty)

Thanks David, I'll keep it in mind.
Hopefully the cork will do the trick. It has never failed me yet, as evidenced by the number of circular holes already cut in the sheet.

Alan

Final Update.
The cork gasket seems to have done the trick. Two weeks after fitting it the outside of the sump is as dry as a bone. One up for home made over off the shelf.

Alan