Niva fuel spillage

[SP450andLE]

So... When I put fuel in my Lada the other day, it spat it back out. The fuel gauge reads near to empty, but i'm guessing that it's broken and the tank is most likely full? I filled it once before, and heaps of fuel got spat out of it then too.

So am I just over-filling it, and need to sort out the fuel gauge?

Or is this some other Russian characteristic?

Cheers,
Louis.

[LOLYF]

its spitting it back because your using the wrong fuel.

You have to fill it with vodka.

[giovanni]

From empty the Niva fuel tank fills good up to about the half way and or three quarter marks.

From there they tend to spit and splutters when filling.

In the past at self service pumps I ask for a chair to sit on as it takes forever to fill it right up.

The Niva fuel tank is mounted quite high in relation to the filler cap intake i.e. little fall.

They also lacks good sized breathers and pipes.

The factory breather pipes are the size of windscreen washers pipes , prevent good breathing and flow,prone to kink and not always clamped properly.

Hence the fuel smell in the cabin some or most of the time.

Miles of the stuff is curled up in the inner guard and may be vented via a vapour trap come charcoal canister return system.

Upgrade all clamps and pipes to the fuel tank,replace the breather lines with fuel lines,shorten your breather pipes and do away with the cannister should improve things.

[SP450andLE]

From empty the Niva fuel tank fills good up to about the half way and or three quarter marks.

From there they tend to spit and splutters when filling.

In the past at self service pumps I ask for a chair to sit on as it takes forever to fill it right up.

The Niva fuel tank is mounted quite high in relation to the filler cap intake i.e. little fall.

They also lacks good sized breathers and pipes.

The factory breather pipes are the size of windscreen washers pipes , prevent good breathing and flow,prone to kink and not always clamped properly.

Hence the fuel smell in the cabin some or most of the time.

Miles of the stuff is curled up in the inner guard and may be vented via a vapour trap come charcoal canister return system.

Upgrade all clamps and pipes to the fuel tank,replace the breather lines with fuel lines,shorten your breather pipes and do away with the cannister should improve things.

Thanks for that. now I'll have to spend some time with it... If No-one hears from me for a while, the Lada has probably blown up.

[SP450andLE]

its spitting it back because your using the wrong fuel.

You have to fill it with vodka.

I forgot about that. problem solved. Chur!

[SP450andLE]

Ooh, one more thing... What size are the wheelnuts? I can't seem to find any that fit

[andy3542]

My landy did the same... had to fill it at a trickle once it was around 3/4 mark. otherwise it would 'cough and splutter' fuel back if i did it too quick. i increased the diameter of the breather hose and its help quite abit. i know its a landy and not a niva but you never know, it may help.

cheers

[SP450andLE]

My landy did the same... had to fill it at a trickle once it was around 3/4 mark. otherwise it would 'cough and splutter' fuel back if i did it too quick. i increased the diameter of the breather hose and its help quite abit. i know its a landy and not a niva but you never know, it may help.

cheers

Both old technology

Chur

[Drurban]

its spitting it back because your using the wrong fuel.

You have to fill it with vodka.

[sibainmud]

Ooh, one more thing... What size are the wheelnuts? I can't seem to find any that fit

I have a 20L bucket full of wheelnuts if you want to try some, otherwise I have a few thread pitch gauges and some verniers to measure them. I'm seeing Lincolin tomorrow and can give the bucket to him for you to try some. But I bet the Lada's are up north ay?
Cheers,

[andy3542]

sorry for the thread jack

Ooh, one more thing... What size are the wheelnuts? I can't seem to find any that fit

I have a 20L bucket full of wheelnuts if you want to try some, otherwise I have a few thread pitch gauges and some verniers to measure them. I'm seeing Lincolin tomorrow and can give the bucket to him for you to try some. But I bet the Lada's are up north ay?
Cheers,

Could i possibly have a couple for my landy? i only have 4 nuts on each front wheel...

[Hoodoo]

Re-route the vent pipe on the side opposite the filler. Straight up, with an outside exit, and a valve should improve the breathing when filling. (That's if you've got a 1.6 tank).
You've had a reply on Lada UK about the wheel nuts.
Regards,
Hoodoo

[SP450andLE]

Ooh, one more thing... What size are the wheelnuts? I can't seem to find any that fit

I have a 20L bucket full of wheelnuts if you want to try some, otherwise I have a few thread pitch gauges and some verniers to measure them. I'm seeing Lincolin tomorrow and can give the bucket to him for you to try some. But I bet the Lada's are up north ay?
Cheers,

Thanks for that. The Lada is down here, but the Fiva is up at Dad's. Taking the Lada in for a WoF on Friday...

[Nivapulledout]

Good luck for your wof mate. For some reason mine is one of the rare nivas that will fill full speed all the way. It is all standard piping as far as I can tell. Don't touchy as it is working was my thought. However if it was a slow filler I would be sorting it out pronto as hate sitting there dribbling fuel into a car.

[SP450andLE]

Just got home from taking it to Motortech. let's hope the phonecall I get later in the day is a good one

And I put $20 of fuel in it and went slow, and it didn't come back out! But the fuel gauge still reads empty

Oh and I finally found some wheelnuts that fit

[andy3542]

Just got home from taking it to Motortech. let's hope the phonecall I get later in the day is a good one

And I put $20 of fuel in it and went slow, and it didn't come back out! But the fuel gauge still reads empty

Oh and I finally found some wheelnuts that fit

Good luck mate! you bringing it tomorrow if it gets its wof?

[SP450andLE]

Just got home from taking it to Motortech. let's hope the phonecall I get later in the day is a good one

And I put $20 of fuel in it and went slow, and it didn't come back out! But the fuel gauge still reads empty

Oh and I finally found some wheelnuts that fit

Good luck mate! you bringing it tomorrow if it gets its wof?

Yup. If not, I will be in Mum's Pajero.

Sick of being a passenger

[SP450andLE]

Failed. Brakes, engine mount, drivers seat mount (as it came from the factory) and play in front hubs. AAAARRRGH!

[Drurban]

Failed. Brakes, engine mount, drivers seat mount (as it came from the factory) and play in front hubs. AAAARRRGH!

Bummer about your truck man what a disaapointment

Hopefully you you have it all sorted

Cheers

[andy3542]

Failed. Brakes, engine mount, drivers seat mount (as it came from the factory) and play in front hubs. AAAARRRGH!

sucks bro. at least youre almost there with getting it back on the road, doesnt sound like theres too much to go.

cheers

[SP450andLE]

Failed. Brakes, engine mount, drivers seat mount (as it came from the factory) and play in front hubs. AAAARRRGH!

sucks bro. at least youre almost there with getting it back on the road, doesnt sound like theres too much to go.

cheers

Yeah, I'm reasonably happy with it. One more thing... The exhaust leaks. it's overdue for an upgrade anyways...

[Nivapulledout]

Bummer

Brakes? What failed?

Engine mount- easy.

Seat mount - I had same problem when I had standard seats. Told the guy that is how they are new and showed him how crap the design is. Then said only way to fix is put in new seats which require a cert. He let me off. But I upgraded the seats and never looked back. One of the best mods I did.

Front hubs - is it the ball joints or the bearings,if ball joints will need replacing if hubs just tweak them up till no play. Do not over tighten them though.
Exhaust. That was on your mod list anyway was it not.or was that the fiva.

[giovanni]

I put 43.5 ltrs in mine = $97.86

[SP450andLE]

Bummer

Brakes? What failed?

Engine mount- easy.

Seat mount - I had same problem when I had standard seats. Told the guy that is how they are new and showed him how crap the design is. Then said only way to fix is put in new seats which require a cert. He let me off. But I upgraded the seats and never looked back. One of the best mods I did.

Front hubs - is it the ball joints or the bearings,if ball joints will need replacing if hubs just tweak them up till no play. Do not over tighten them though.
Exhaust. That was on your mod list anyway was it not.or was that the fiva.

Brakes are just plain crap, and they said they will need to be full looked over.

Turns out the seats are pretty loose anyways, so just need a tighten up.

They didn't explain what they meant by the play in the front hubs, so will have to call them on Monday.

And exhaust... I did want a new one. The old ones look so damn restrictive!

[Nivapulledout]

Oh the way to check the gauge is lift off the fuel tank cover , unplug the level plug and touch it to earth, if the gauge goes to full then it is your sender, if it stays at empty then it is a broken wire or gauge.
Good time to redo your fuel tank breathers as well

[SP450andLE]

Oh the way to check the gauge is lift off the fuel tank cover , unplug the level plug and touch it to earth, if the gauge goes to full then it is your sender, if it stays at empty then it is a broken wire or gauge.
Good time to redo your fuel tank breathers as well

OK, I did that test and it went to full. So it's the sender. Can that be fixed? Or is it easier to get a new (or known good condition 2nd hand) sender?

Also... Is it safe to drill out the holes for the breather pipes on the tank (bearing in mind it is near full)?

[Nivapulledout]

I would just replace the sender, I have a spare but it is in a pile of parts in my storage shed. Should not be to dear from g motors in Napier.some of the lad a boys on here with a wreck would have one.

Not sure what you mean by drilling them out? From memory they are just little tubes that are brased into the tank. I would try bigger hosing with a shorter run, making sure no kinks in it first.
If you can drill and I have missed something then it should be fine with fuel in the tank just try to keep the filings out, vacuum cleaner sucking while drilling normally catches most of it. Have a fire extinguisher handy just in case.

[sibainmud]

Drilling a tank is risky as
If you are going to, then a full tank is safer than a empty one.
If it was me, (and I have done this before) drain the tank, fill it with water or an inert gas (CO2, argon), drill your holes. Drain water and rinse with Methylated Spirits. All good.
Do not put a drill anywhere near a fuel tank, as the drill itself has sparks and WILL cause a fire or explosion
Don't put a vaccum cleaner anywhere near it, as it sucks up fumes and exhausts them straight through the motor.....big bang
Got to be safe when doing things like this.
I have seen a guy explode a boat tank, he took 6 months to recover and will never be the same again. They found him 20 feet away and the boat was a write off.
Stay safe Lewis.
Cheers,

[SP450andLE]

Drilling a tank is risky as
If you are going to, then a full tank is safer than a empty one.
If it was me, (and I have done this before) drain the tank, fill it with water or an inert gas (CO2, argon), drill your holes. Drain water and rinse with Methylated Spirits. All good.
Do not put a drill anywhere near a fuel tank, as the drill itself has sparks and WILL cause a fire or explosion
Don't put a vaccum cleaner anywhere near it, as it sucks up fumes and exhausts them straight through the motor.....big bang
Got to be safe when doing things like this.
I have seen a guy explode a boat tank, he took 6 months to recover and will never be the same again. They found him 20 feet away and the boat was a write off.
Stay safe Lewis.
Cheers,

I wasn't keen on the idea, and said the drill would cause sparks. but Lincoln tried to tell me it wouldn't. Nice to see I'm right


And Nivapulledout, Does it matter if the breather goes from the small brass tubes into a bigger hose? I thought it would be better to replace the small tube bits on the tank with bigger ones to suit the hose...
But if I don't have to, that would be cool

[Walby]

This problem is well know with the nivas

Here is the solution I used on my niva:
http://forum.ladanivabelgium.be/phpBB2/ ... =11&t=2564

Sorry for the language, but if you look at the pretty pictures you should get the idea.

The big copper tube is used in plumming
The small copper tube is brake line.

The 2 top small hoses go to the little fume pot above the right rear wheel arch, the 2 bottom small hoses go to the fuel tank ventilation things.

This mod has been done on many nivas here in Belgium, and works really well.