Dropping the gas tank and driveshaft install

[Kidd-7]

I'm planning on doing both these jobs this week. I've been on borrowed time with my fuel pump for a while now. I've got some questions and looking for any advice:

- What's an easy was to engage the fuel pump? I've got a few gallons in there I'd like to drain as much as possible.

- I'll be installing the new to me aluminum driveshaft, reusing my slip joint, should l replace the seal where the slip joint goes into the tranny?

- I'm pretty sure my tranny has been leaking around the shift lever seal, any guidance on how to replace that?

- I've got some squeaking and a rattle from the drivers side front, I'll start with making sure everything is tight and ball joints look good. Any other insights to look for?

I think that's about it, it's enough for sure.

 

[theterminator93]

IIRC you can jump the pump at the cutoff switch in the trunk. I think you can also energize it from the CCRM harness.

I've never replaced the output shaft seal or had a leak there, but YMMV. Not sure about the MLPS seal though.

Suspension rattle could be either sway bar endlinks or UCAs. Squeaking could be the LCA, depending when you hear it. I've also had aftermarket sway bar bushings squeak.

 

[Kenz]

IIRC the seal where the slip joint goes in, is the extension housing seal. Never had it leak in my high mileage Tbird, and my Cougars 4r70w had the factory one still with a 93 Mark driveshaft I put in. I think since the driveshaft is mostly stationary due to the IRS on the car, they don't really go bad or leak.
I did replace it on the T45 I swapped into my Cougar.

Doing the fuel pump on mine soon as well. I couldn't find any easier way to "hotwire" the pump than what Brandon mentioned. The tank in mine is about on E though so not going to bother draining it completely.

Last time I lowered the tank I used a harbor freight rolling transmission jack. It made things a lot easier! Going to be using it again.
https://www.harborfreight.com/autom.../450-lb-low-lift-transmission-jack-70262.html

 

[White Lincoln]

If you get the car (both ends) up high enough, the tank is not hard to drop. The hardest part is probably the fill tube to tank. New U-joints are always a good idea if the current ones have miles on them. The seal, if it aint leakin', leave it. Be sure to get the correct filter for the pump (had a shop put the wrong filter in one of my cars once, was not a happy experience). Unless you have rust, it's 4 bolts, the fill tube (3 screws?) and that's it. Oh, unplug your wiring and and fuel lines. Emptying as much gas as possible just makes the job a little lighter and easier to handle.

I actually bought one of these and it worked great on removing my exhaust hangers:

 

[XR7-4.6]

The tank only needs to be tilted downward forward to get at the pump, you don’t have to mess with the fill tube or crossover tube at all, just make sure to disconnect the clip that holds the lines on the tank and it’s actually surprisingly easy if the tank doesn’t have much gas in it.

On that note 12v to the inertia switch is my method to pump out fuel (I forget for sure which wire but I think it’s green with yellow tracer). Just clip your power source to that and ground to ground and that’s all you need.

It’s even easier doing the driveshaft, you can basically only loosen the front strap bolts and remove the rear strap bolts and set the back of the tank on a jack to lower it just enough to slide the driveshaft out beside the differential.

There’s no scenario beyond outright contamination to 100% remove the tank completely from the car. The exhaust removal is by far the most annoying part if you follow these methods

 

[KevinVarnes]

Same as above on engaging the fuel pump. Honestly, if it is only 4-5 gallons I wouldn't even bother. As stated, the three lines (fill, vent, cross over) are the biggest pain to the job in my opinion. I've never done it with anything but a floor jack and a 2x4. You can drop the tank down to the ground (assuming your car isn't 20' in the air) before disconnecting the electrical and fuel lines on the fuel pump.

If the slip joint doesn't have any grooves and the seal wasn't leaking before, I would leave it alone, but that is me.

I've heard squeaks from ball joints, control arm bushings, and strut rod bushings on these. Could be anything. Does it squeak when turning the steering wheel or when the suspension moves up/down?

 

[White Lincoln]

You could just cut a hole in the floor under the rear seat and forget all the rest. I did that in my Mark VII because dropping that tank in that car is a lot harder. There are several write ups on the web about doing it this way.

 

[Grog6]

It is the green/yellow wire, the ground should be grounded already. I cut the wire, and added in a dpdt switch, one way is 12v,other way is the normal car circuit. I've pumped almost 15 gallons of 15yo syrup out of the red car. to do the ds, drop the diff,yank the exhaust,yank the 4 12mm bolts on the flange, and pull the ds all the way back over the diff, until it drops out of the trans, then pull it forward under the trans. doing the mlps seal, drop pan,remove the lever assembly, pull out the seal, install new one.
I'm not sure it can be done under the car. You can pull the tail off the trans, and replace the bushing and seal.

 

[Kenz]

You could just cut a hole in the floor under the rear seat and forget all the rest. I did that in my Mark VII because dropping that tank in that car is a lot harder. There are several write ups on the web about doing it this way.

That subject has been discussed here before. It turned into a heated discussion and the thread ended up being locked.

It seems like a valid option for saving time if that is most important.

 

[theterminator93]

Yeah, there are some polarizing opinions about it. At the end of the day, keeping the car on the road is your responsibility; how you choose to do that is up to you.

 

[White Lincoln]

That subject has been discussed here before. It turned into a heated discussion and the thread ended up being locked.

It seems like a valid option for saving time if that is most important.

I do recall that.