Fuel Tank Safety Valve

[ride2little]

I noticed a slight fuel leak or weep coming from somewhere near the filler cap. Today I pulled the side cover to investigate. It looks like the breather hose (going toward the charcoal canister) snapped off from the Fuel Tank Safety Valve. I tried to epoxy the plastic nipple back onto the the Fuel Tank Safety Valve but it isn't working. No good way to secure the rubber hose or the plastic nipple onto the assembly. So short of really rigging the assy, I'll just bite the bullet and get a new one.

Things I learned. The Fuel Tank Safety Valve is the gizmo where air flows with the assy upright. A pendulum weight causes it to cut off when at steep angles preventing fuel from leaking out on a tip-over. Not sure how the hose nipple snapped off.
My check valve seems to work perfectly. It's the in- line unit past the in- tank Fuel Tank Safety Valve assembly.

Anyone have a suggestion of the best place to buy/order one?

...for my own reference BMW part number - 16 11 7 691 397

[JRWooden]

Besides the dealer network, you might be able to find one here:

http://www.realoem.com/bmw/

If you could find a piece of steel or copper tubing that had an OD that matched the ID of the plastic pipe,
you might be able to glue in a "reinforcing insert" .... I've had luck with that before....

[ride2little]

Originally Posted by JRWooden

Besides the dealer network, you might be able to find one here:

http://www.realoem.com/bmw/

If you could find a piece of steel or copper tubing that had an OD that matched the ID of the plastic pipe,
you might be able to glue in a "reinforcing insert" .... I've had luck with that before....

Thanks. I drilled it out a little to where the original plastic one fits in there pretty tight. Then I used some fuel compatible epoxy stiff that I have used in the past w/ success. Just cant get a tight enough bond to keep it intact.

[ride2little]

Thanks to Motorfeits I have one on order. Hopefully this low-failure item is not going to be back-ordered form Germany (or Austria or Taiwan.)
Thanks buddy.


Update: Yup. Back-ordered from the mother land.

[ride2little]

Well...darn-it. My perseverance paid off. Looks like the fuel-safe epoxy...or my last late-night attempt WORKED. But I'm still not confident enough to leave it as the permanent solution. So I'll stick with getting the new unit. But at least my drilling, filing, cleaning and gluing (seems to have) worked.

[JRWooden]

Good as a "patch" at least....

I'd still like to know how/why it broke in the first place ....

[ride2little]

Originally Posted by JRWooden

Good as a "patch" at least....

I'd still like to know how/why it broke in the first place ....

Yeah. Me too. Only thing I can think is that when the dealer replaced the tank a couple of years ago they buggered it up. I have never been near this piece.

[ebrabaek]

Originally Posted by ride2little

Well...darn-it. My perseverance paid off. Looks like the fuel-safe epoxy...or my last late-night attempt WORKED. But I'm still not confident enough to leave it as the permanent solution. So I'll stick with getting the new unit. But at least my drilling, filing, cleaning and gluing (seems to have) worked.

If you want to make it extra strong..... Then pilfer a sheet of Carbon fiber.... Take out one say 20 inch long strand (toe) which contains anywhere from 3k to 12k individual strands of CF.... saturate it in your epoxy, and wrap it around the old break..... Will hold up for a looooong time.