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Help new member old guy with 1983 fuel tank question


Irrelephant

New Member
Joined
Jul 16, 2024
Messages
3
City
Oregon, USA
Vehicle Year
1983
Transmission
Manual
Hey there everyone, hope youare having a great day.
I have a 1983 Ranger XL 4x4 2.3l carbed 4 speed dual tanks, the front tank leaked when i got gas the last time so I removed the bed.
The fuel tank where the fill hose attaches to the tank is flush with the tank, there is no piece of steel sticking up to connect the fill hose to. That being
said there is a rubber grommet of sorts in the opening of the tank with a piece of steel looks like exhaust tubing hose clamped in the rubber grommet and the fill hose is hose clamped to that steel tubing which is aboput 4 inches long.
The rubber grommet is severely cracked etc and needs replacing, and i see that there are plenty of fuel tanks that have no raised short piece of steel tubing on the tank in which to connect the fill hose to, BUT for the life of me i cannot find that piece to replace it and no one at any parts stores has any clue what im talking about.
Please help. any info would be greatly appreciated.

Im adding a pic of an identical fuel tank to mine. Even upon searching fuel tanks online like the one pictured here, every site i have searched has nothing as to what goes in the hole. Summit racing referred me to a company in Canada that manufactures fuel tanks, they didnt have any idea what goes in the hole.
Im on a fixed income so im trying to avoid buying a new fuel tank and fill neck
MjAyMiUyRml0ZW0lMkZpbWFnZSUyRkZGVCUyRlVTRkZUMEYyMEEwJTJGVVNGRlQwRjIwQTAtMjAyNDA1MDYtMF93aWR0aF...jpg



20250402_112840.jpg
20250402_112840.jpg
 
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I'm out of my element on this one since I never worked on that old of a Ranger. We'll need to wait for someone who has, to chime in.

Welcome to the forum and good luck.
 
Welcome aboard!

I have an 87 4x4 XLT 2.9, which should be the same thing, but I’ve never had the bed off. I hunted in my usual rabbit holes, and I found this.

And let me start by saying those old square bodies are pretty popular and I’m sure somebody else on this forum will chime up with better advice than mine, but I’ll give it a shot.

I looked around for a fill neck, but the earliest I could find was for an 89 which I think is different. I did find a fill neck grommet for the top of the tank.

Exactly, where is it leaking? I fear you may have to pull yours apart and then try to match it up with a good replacement. Unfortunately, my experience is when you pull old stuff like that apart, it disintegrates.

A couple thoughts on that. The fill neck on my 97 is actually a hard plastic pipe inside about a 2 inch radiator hose type outer fuel-rated hose, both of which are permanently attached to the gas cap assembly. The inner hard plastic pipe ends at a 45° angle, and it is longer, and is supposed to go in and touch (or be very close to) the bottom of the tank to avoid sparks from static electricity as the fuel falls.

If you squeeze your fill neck, carefully, you should be able to tell if it’s got the inner hard tube. If it does, that part is probably OK. If so, then you’re only looking at getting the outer hose. You could probably go to NAPA or somebody like that and just buy a length of the right size FUEL hose, and make it work at the top. At the top, that outer hose should not have any liquid in it, it is for vapor relief.

I did find these grommets for the top of the fuel tank. They just friction fit/pop in the top of the fuel tank, and then they hold the fill neck with a hose clamp.

IMG_4202.png
IMG_4201.png


If you could find the right fill neck, that metal sleeve may be part of the fill neck assembly. If you can’t, it may be as simple as reusing the old piece. If that doesn’t seem like it’s an OEM Ford sleeve or part, I would recommend you use a piece of aluminum tubing, simply so it doesn’t corrode.

1/3 of the guys in this site only want to use original Ford parts when they fix stuff. The second third of the guys who build the monster trucks and such, want to use something 10 times bigger and more heavy duty. I’m in the last third, where we like to fix them with what we find on the side of the road.

Having said that, I used the approach above when I remove the bed from my 97, and replaced it with a weatherguard toolbox, and I mounted the fill neck into the side of the weather guard box, which moved the cap assembly about 6 or 8 inches closer to the centerline of the truck. The drop leg worked out OK, but I had to modify the outer hose. And again, I’m not sure that’s the arrangement on the 83.

IMG_5976.jpeg


And one last thought, if you’re new on the forum, you have to get one of these and wear it for the first year.


IMG_1785.jpeg


Good luck with it all, don’t be afraid to chime up if nobody responds. Someone will know.
 
Mine just has a steel tube coming out of the tank that the hose clamps onto. The thing in the original post looks homemade.

Screenshot_20250402_173030_Flickr.jpg


Screenshot_20250402_173231_Flickr.jpg


If you are swapping tanks 85+ have a bigger pickup hole in the tank.
 
Welcome aboard!

I have an 87 4x4 XLT 2.9, which should be the same thing, but I’ve never had the bed off. I hunted in my usual rabbit holes, and I found this.

And let me start by saying those old square bodies are pretty popular and I’m sure somebody else on this forum will chime up with better advice than mine, but I’ll give it a shot.

I looked around for a fill neck, but the earliest I could find was for an 89 which I think is different. I did find a fill neck grommet for the top of the tank.

Exactly, where is it leaking? I fear you may have to pull yours apart and then try to match it up with a good replacement. Unfortunately, my experience is when you pull old stuff like that apart, it disintegrates.

A couple thoughts on that. The fill neck on my 97 is actually a hard plastic pipe inside about a 2 inch radiator hose type outer fuel-rated hose, both of which are permanently attached to the gas cap assembly. The inner hard plastic pipe ends at a 45° angle, and it is longer, and is supposed to go in and touch (or be very close to) the bottom of the tank to avoid sparks from static electricity as the fuel falls.

If you squeeze your fill neck, carefully, you should be able to tell if it’s got the inner hard tube. If it does, that part is probably OK. If so, then you’re only looking at getting the outer hose. You could probably go to NAPA or somebody like that and just buy a length of the right size FUEL hose, and make it work at the top. At the top, that outer hose should not have any liquid in it, it is for vapor relief.

I did find these grommets for the top of the fuel tank. They just friction fit/pop in the top of the fuel tank, and then they hold the fill neck with a hose clamp.

View attachment 126074View attachment 126075

If you could find the right fill neck, that metal sleeve may be part of the fill neck assembly. If you can’t, it may be as simple as reusing the old piece. If that doesn’t seem like it’s an OEM Ford sleeve or part, I would recommend you use a piece of aluminum tubing, simply so it doesn’t corrode.

1/3 of the guys in this site only want to use original Ford parts when they fix stuff. The second third of the guys who build the monster trucks and such, want to use something 10 times bigger and more heavy duty. I’m in the last third, where we like to fix them with what we find on the side of the road.

Having said that, I used the approach above when I remove the bed from my 97, and replaced it with a weatherguard toolbox, and I mounted the fill neck into the side of the weather guard box, which moved the cap assembly about 6 or 8 inches closer to the centerline of the truck. The drop leg worked out OK, but I had to modify the outer hose. And again, I’m not sure that’s the arrangement on the 83.

View attachment 126077

And one last thought, if you’re new on the forum, you have to get one of these and wear it for the first year.


View attachment 126078

Good luck with it all, don’t be afraid to chime up if nobody responds. Someone will know.
Thank you for the info. im going to post a pic of another fuel tank that is like the one i have.
and i will be glad to sport the hat lol
 
IMG_3705.jpeg

I just git my tank from Rockauto today. Mine has the neck welded in. Your truck being carbed may have different size hole.
 
View attachment 126124
I just git my tank from Rockauto today. Mine has the neck welded in. Your truck being carbed may have different size hole.

Does your truck have the fill tube in the outer tube, the fill tube dropping to the bottom of the tank?

Or does it have the separate vent line up to the gas cap assembly? There’s a little hole for s grommet across from the tank’s fill pipe apparently, is that the vent hole?
 
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The big fill tube that connects to the tank and at the end of that tube, there is a smaller tube that does extend out iof it. I dont know how it is attached inside but it is factory. I dont know the purpose of it but it is the way it came from the factory.
 

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