J/W if anybody's dropped there 96-00 gas tank and have any tips from any suprises you might have ran into....
i gotta drop my 96dx gas tank so i can get to the brake lines and fix the leaking one. just dont want any suprises...

only thing i know positively is to pull the bottom rear seat to unplug the electrical connectors. other than that ill just be playing it by eye...

 

Raise the back of the car. Ramps are OK. Loosen the gas cap so there will be no residual pressure when you disconnect things. Disconnect the battery to be sure there will be no sparks. Use the drain plug to get most of the gas out and lighten the tank.

 

Addiction, I have not dropped my gas tank, but here is what the service manual says:

 

o ok.... so the hoses reachable from below after i replace the tank cover.

only other gas tank ive droped was on my dads 96 blazer which was a HUGE PITA!!!

 

how about brake lines.LOL

i got the tank dropped already and out of the way BUT the brake lines are so gunked over with undercoating and brake fluid and i only had a tiny bit of brake cleaner so i have to go after work tomorow and buy a bunch more brake cleaner. i cannt see the leak so far since its so messy. tho i didnt see any easy fittings around that area unless they are under that plastic cover that goes over all of them. i hope the leak really is there and i didnt drop the gas tank for nothing!

only other posible leak location could be on the front passenger tire since it is messy all around there as well but I THINK all that mess is from the torn axle boot but it might actualy be a mix after all... for that its gonna take alot of cleaner and pressure washer

i dont want to wait until the brake line fully ruptures before i fix these leaks. hopefully i can find them easy enough tomorow night.

 

Don't forget to bleed the lines when you get the brake job... don't want to lose pressure on the street.

 

o ya thats common sense there. but i have to find the problem first!
if i cannt find the leak i guess ill have to slap it back together and wait till it completly ruptures i really dont want to but i might have to. hopefully that rear line is not really leaking there and its just the front passenger around the blown axle boot. that rubber line is at least easy and shouldnt cost to much for a new one.
i just got home from work so in alittle while ill go out and start to clean the area so i can try and find the leak, it may have just been alittle gunk in that area from some gas fumes disolving the large ammount of undercoating makeing it look like brake fluid. but ive already droped the gas tank so i need to be sure!

 

Well as more common sense I suggest clean up around suspected leaks, then get in the car and push the brake pedal down hard several times (use both feet because you won't have power brakes). Then inspect for any newly appearing fluid.

 

ya i tried that last night. filled brake fluid all the way up and then kept pumping and holding the brake pedal down and couldnt see any leaks in the rear area that where obvious. hopefully after i fully clean that questionable area ill be able to see a leak or not and then ill pull the front wheel and clean out all that axle boot grease off everything and inspect that line up there.

i know the brakes feel kinda weak since i bought the car but i think most of it was from the weak DX brakes.

 

The master cylinder can also leak and cause mysterious loss of brake fluid. It leaks out toward the booster. On some models this fluid goes into the booster and is ultimately burned in the engine(*). Take the cylinder off and inspect for brake fluid at that end. You may not need to disconnect the lines.

(*) If you have one of those and it has been leaking, you must replace the booster along with the master cylinder. Brake fluid degrades the seals in the booster and it will fail within a few months.