New Here- Fuel tank/filler issue?

[JOATMON]

Hey all, I am new to the forum today. I have a chance to buy back what was my father's 1985 xr4ti that I learned to drive on. My father owned it for about 7 years from new, sold it to his buddy who has had it for the last 25 years- always garage kept and well maintained. 5 speed, with sunroof, AC, cloth interior. 86kmi. Turbo was updated. The owner recently passed away, and his son and I are friends... Long story short they are offering me the car at what seems to be a fair price based on my research of the internet and scouring these forums. I'm handy in the garage- to the point that i have built Jeeps from the ground up. The only known issue that my buddy is telling me is his dad had some sort of either fuel tank, or fuel filler issue.. Not really sure what it is, and I can't find anything in the FAQ area of typical failures in this area. Before I commit to this car, can anyone weigh in on what might be a common fuel tank/filler issue, and what remedies there are. Many thanks in advance and I ope this isn't just a stupid newb question that I simply missed the answer to.

JOATMON-
Jack of all trades- Master of none

[John Brennan]

Welcome Aboard, um, JOATMON!

Does the car run? What is it doing/not doing to illustrate the symptoms described?

[JOATMON]

We have not even tried to start the car. It is currently one of the two "back wall" cars in the garage... it will need to wait for the AMX, the GTO, the Firebird, the snowmobile, the Grand Marquis, and a couple others to move before it even comes out. Last driven two years ago. I am only going on what my buddy (his son) told me- Something fuel tank or fuel filler related that his dad had researched and found the part was not available anymore. His plan had been to swap for a fuel cell. Heck- he may have been on this forum, but I wouldn't have a clue how to see, and none of the threads seem to lead to him or this problem. I was hoping maybe there was a "common" issue that popped up with regard to the tank or filler. Going to see the car today.

[DAReese]

Unless it is the tank, I can't imagine what the issue might be that doesn't have a readily available replacement. Fuel pumps can be replaced with aftermarket ones, and there are still good used XR4Ti tanks out there. Once you figure out what the problem is, the usual suspects of Mike, Blugg and Russ will have the part most likely.

[JOATMON]

Just got back from looking at the car. I think I’m gonna pass on it, but MAN, what a flashback to my youth. 73,000 miles on the odometer.
It’s gonna need tires, brakes, interior clean, headliner, and I would assume all new fluids...
I just don’t need a project right now. I wish I knew how to share pics. The damn thing still looks great minus a few paint blems and a couple door dings.

[John Brennan]

This thread shows how to post pix:

http://forum.merkurclub.com/forum/viewt ... 37&t=10212

That said, throw it on Craigslist-- we'll see it. Would help to know your location as well.

[JOATMON]

John - Once they have it ready to come out I will suggest that and share however it is listed if they don't have someone else local in mind.

Thanks for the suggestion. Central NY state.

[Ed Lijewski]

Just got back from looking at the car. I think I’m gonna pass on it, but MAN, what a flashback to my youth. 73,000 miles on the odometer.
It’s gonna need tires, brakes, interior clean, headliner, and I would assume all new fluids...
I just don’t need a project right now. I wish I knew how to share pics. The damn thing still looks great minus a few paint blems and a couple door dings.

Hardly a "project". Don't know the asking price, but I bet it doesn't reflect recent new tires installed. New brakes, c'mon, piece of cake and new pads and shoes are cheap. Ditto fluid changes. Cleaning interior, hardly a big job. Headliner R&R and relining is not much work either but you can postpone that to later (a pack or two if headliner push pins will keep it up and away from your head.

Remember: they're not making these anymore, and decent ones at low prices are less and less common. As well, finding one in your local area again with a known history may not happen.

YMMV

[JOATMON]

Just got back from looking at the car. I think I’m gonna pass on it, but MAN, what a flashback to my youth. 73,000 miles on the odometer.
It’s gonna need tires, brakes, interior clean, headliner, and I would assume all new fluids...
I just don’t need a project right now. I wish I knew how to share pics. The damn thing still looks great minus a few paint blems and a couple door dings.

Hardly a "project". Don't know the asking price, but I bet it doesn't reflect recent new tires installed. New brakes, c'mon, piece of cake and new pads and shoes are cheap. Ditto fluid changes. Cleaning interior, hardly a big job. Headliner R&R and relining is not much work either but you can postpone that to later (a pack or two if headliner push pins will keep it up and away from your head.

Remember: they're not making these anymore, and decent ones at low prices are less and less common. As well, finding one in your local area again with a known history may not happen.

YMMV

All well and good, but I have a Grand Cherokee I’m building for an up and coming 1000 mile overland trip, a plow/trail TJ, a boat, a box trailer, a Jetsurf, a camp, a house, and a business. Adding a car that needs work, I won’t drive much, and that probably won’t ever be worth much more than sentimental value to me just isn’t on my short list. But, I’m sure someone on here will snatch it up when it comes out of the garage and have a great car. I know how my dad drove it and took care of it, and his buddy only put about 8,000 miles on it over the past 26 years- he had maybe 11 unique cars that were all garage kept and registered so he could take one out here and there and drive it for a few days, then cover it and put it back to bed.
I’ll be sure to let this group know when it’s out. I know they want it to go to an enthusiast home.

Cheers to you all.

[JOATMON]

Hey all - I'm back. The Merkur finally made it out of the back of the garage, and nostalgia and sentiment have bitten me. I am
probably going to buy the car, and bring it back home. My father, who is now in a wheelchair after a horrible accident 16 years ago, says he would
"LOVE" to go for a ride in the xr4ti again.

I stopped at the local garage where it was worked on for the last 20+ years and the mechanic remembered it well. He claims that the issue of why the car was parked 5+ years ago was that the gas tank is rotten and needs replacement. So, does anyone have a tank available for a 1985 manual trans xr? I'm in central NY state.
2nd part of the question - since our local mechanic is incredibly reasonable, good, and above all HONEST... I plan to bring the car directly to him to simply do a "go through" Tune up, brakes, tires, fluids, replace the tank. Any idea what all these parts might run- Ballpark? I plan to keep it as close to factory stock - survivor as possible and just put a few thousand miles on it each year.

Many thanks in advance.

[eaton53]

I had my mechanic sort mine last year after it overheated after being in storage.
I simply gave him the car, told him to go through it and "fix it".

Interestingly enough, I did not end up buying a single part... it was just a very thorough servicing.
Made sure everything was tight, clean and sealed, made sure nothing was decayed or near failing.
All of my gaskets and hoses have been verified to be in excellent condition.

It's been a full year and the car has been tip-top ever since I got it back.

[andyofcolumbusmerkur]

Tune up, brakes, tires, fluids, replace the tank. Any idea what all these parts might run- Ballpark?
Many thanks in advance.

It will really depend on the condition of the tank. A NOS tank will be expensive. If there are even any out there. A good used one shouldn't be that much. A hundred? Your best bet would be to find someone with a parts car and go pull that one yourself. Offer 50 bucks or something and see if you can get the straps as well. Use a product like red kote or por 15 and seal it. Make sure it is super clean and dry inside first. Put nuts and bolts in it and shake it around to knock any rust loose. Use acetone to clean the inside, this will dissolve varnish like crud. Good time to put in a walbro pump. Maybe add an aftermarket fuel gauge sending unit or mess around with stock setup. Good time to fix it up under there with the tank out. I like that Ospho rust neutralizer.

[John Brennan]

Jeff Herson ("Blugg") at Merkur Parts Midwest has recently posted some pix of some gorgeous, minty-fresh, refurbished gas tanks on the MCA Facebook page:

http://www.merkurmidwest.com

Jeff'll do 'ya right...

[my8950]

Owning a Merkur is a part time job, even if the car is in good shape, that just means it sat for a while.
Usually sit because they break and people don't know what to do with them, so they get parked in corners.
Fuel tank is an easy fix, as are the brakes and all that crap. I've got new Ford parts sitting here I need to get rid of actually...
Fuel tanks usually get some holes due to rust, senders fail, pump might be NFG as well.

It would be good to see pictures of a nice one, someone on here may be interested if you aren't...