[ryguy]

Thanks Clovisman!=D

I was going to try to make a "how to" then realized I'm missing a few steps... but at least I can show others a good spot to inspect and keep an eye on.
If everyone is aware if this bracket, then hopefully no one else will have this issue.

The repair only took about an 1-1.5 hours. Its pretty straight foreward... just the bolts that hold the bracket were rusted and I broke all but 2 of them... (at least thats enough to hold it back on...I may try to tap a hole or punch out the rest of the bolts that are stuck. I have the lines zip tied up at the moment.)

theres 1 bolt kinda hideing.... its easier to get to if you take the rear wheel splash guard off....but I took it off/broke it off from the bottom...

Deff a good thing to keep an eye on those drain holes everyone.
(Like Clovisman said, it only takes less then 5 min to check these holes.)


and a side note, to people that may have the same issue...
I was able to drive the car with those lines broken, WITHOUT it leaking gas... the 2 lines I THINK are return lines...or fuel vapor lines, so theres not always gas comeing through them...

I drove it to the parts store with the bracket off and the lines broken...No leaking......
I DONT recommend it, but I did do it without any problems. For those of you in a jam and need to get to the parts store...
I figured in my case, the lines must have been broken for about a year and it never leaked...

 

[ryguy]

Awesome write up Ryan. This proves the site isn't completely dead after all

Thanks Tim : )

 

[ryguy]

heres the rest of this job...more pics.

You do NOT want to leave this bracket off, since its for safety. : )

so here it is back on and the process I did...

Heres the bracket in the sink...I filled it with water to see how it drains...

Notice the water gets caught up where the weld is...its really rusting there too.

So I sanded the rust the best I could, drilled another hole by the weld for better drainage and painted the bracket black.
(Now the water and dirt wont get caught in the rust.)
Much better. : )


since I broke 2 of the bolts, when getting the bracket off, I had to drill out the old bolts, and re-tap the holes. (there M8 thread )

to get the bracket back in, its a tight fit...
You have to feed the bracket in, from the wheel well, down, but over the line that goes to the charcoal box... then jiggle the bracket, and move another rubber hose that comes out of the charcoal box, out of the way.
(the bolt holes on the bracket make it a pain to get the bracket back in place, but youll get it...be carefull not to break/pinch any other lines... take your time...
here it is in... this is the angle you want to pull the bracket in from...
laying there, I feed it in from the wheel well, and was able to jiggle it in place and move the lines from the under side...
notice one of the new bolts holding it up...

just below the bracket is the line going into the charcoal box...thats the line you need to feed the bracket over.

heres another new bottom bolt...
you can see both new bottom bolts here...


heres the 3rd bolt holding the bracket to the car...Its kinda hard to see.
You can see it here cause the bolts new, it stands out... when I first started takeing the bracket off, I couldnt find this bolt. (Theres a rubber hose in the way of it. and you cant get your head in the wheel well to see it. I stuck the camera in there so its more visable.)
its to the right of the bracket..you can get to it from under the car with a ratchet, but this pic is from the side of the car, looking into the wheel well.


bracket installed. : )

notice I had my clamps on the rubber hoses just about perfect.
You want to have the clamps past where the bracket goes...theres not much room inside the bracket, so you dont want those clamps in there catching dirt and blocking water flow...
I cut out the zip ties I had in there too. They were just holding the lines up while I had the bracket off.

splash guard installed.
( the hole this bolt goes into,is on the bracket, it had a bolt stuck in it. I think the oem was M6 thread...but after drilling the old bolt out, I just re-tapped it to M8, so all the bolts are the same. : )

(you can also see 3 of the 5 push clips holding the splash guard in place...theres 5 of them. the 2 you cant see, ones on the under side of the rear bumper,bottom right of this pic, just off the pic, and the other is up to the top left of the pic...just off the pic..)

All Done! = D

(I'll check it in a couple weeks and keep an eye on the drain holes.)

Everyone keep an eye on your drain holes! : )

 

[ryguy]

Thanks John. : )

I'll have to check that out, cause after looking under the car more, I see some other rust spots I want to fix too.


I was going to spray the fill tube with "truck bed liner" but after looking at it more, its not rusted as bad as I thought it was....but the product you mentioned would be perfect for it.

 

[ryguy]

Thanks John! = D

I could only find the 3M rust fighter... Which didnt really do what you said...
Its more of a wax, and dosent dry hard like the one you said...


Thanks for the link! : )
I cant find the 3M stuff around me, but I found Rustoleum brand and Dublicolor brand rust converter near me. I'm going to pick up a can tonight and try to do it this weekend. I know 3M is better, but these others may be worth a shot. They say they do the same thing.

Think I should add some "truck bed liner" or rubberized spray to give it some more strength and help protect it?

 

[ryguy]

I went back and made this better I think...the rust was bothering me...

Thanks again for the idea John (Clovisman).
(I didnt know they made a spray on rust stopper/eater... I've only seen rust preventer...I know about vinegar and other solutions though...)

I prob should have used the 3M stuff, but this stuff seemed to work and was local.


heres a quick "before". from side shot


"after" Rust Fix. from side shot


"before" from under shot

"after" from under shot


more pics of the Rust-Fix process...link...
Rust Fix by rygdogg1 | Photobucket

Then I added some spray on truck bed liner. about 5 layers...
(dont have a pic of it, I tossed the can.)
side shot

close up

close up

under shot


DONE...Bracket back on...


(notice I sprayed that rear brace that was rusting pretty good, with the rust fix stuff... it looks much better now too.)


more pics of the truck bed liner process.
Rust Fix And Truck Bed Liner by rygdogg1 | Photobucket

I wish I had sprayed the bracket with the rust fix stuff before I painted it... but at least I somewhat fixed the fuel filler line. : )
It should be fine for a long time, but I'll keep an eye on it...

Keep an eye on your drain holes everyone! : )

 

[ryguy]

Thanks for the info on this. I just got my '08 Spyder and it's been throwing the P0456 code regularly. Now I have a good place to start looking.

Your welcome. : )
I hope it helps.
in your case, P0456 is a larger leak.....P0442 is a smaller leak...so this may not be your issue, but deff a good place to check/start. maybe yours is totally broken/worse then mine was.

Please post back if it does?
I'm curious if anyone else has had this issue.

 

[ryguy]

Friendly reminder to check your drain holes. = D

only takes a minute to check.