Clogged drain channel

[eric]

Recently I noticed that if I have a little spillage during a fill-up the gas just pools in the fuel filler bay area instead of draining.

I just soak/wick it out with some paper towel.

After some heavy rain a few days ago I noticed that fuel filler bay (inside the gas door) was completely filled with water!

I figured the drain channel from that fuel filler bay must be completely clogged, obviously.

When I try to push a straightened clothes hanger through it, it hits a hard barrier (a clog i assume) and will not poke through no matter how hard I push or twist it. I have tried this from both sides entering from the fuel bay end and also from the bottom/exit end of the drain channel. Still won't budge.

Any suggestions on getting this channel unplugged?

(It is an 86 GT by the way)
Thanks!
-Eric

[ashley roachclip]

Do you have an air compressor , and try to blow from the bottom.

[wraithracing]

If the advice above doesn't fix the issue, then I would recommend pulling the passenger side interior quarter panel. That will give you access to the backside of the fuel filler area. The hose is crimped on the end of the plastic bay. If needed you can remove that and just replace the rubber hose with some vacuum hose or fuel line the same size. Good Luck!

[homer302]

Yeah, I would go from the other end. It's very easy to see it if you duck under the quarter panel. You can see the hose hanging there. Blow air UP from the bottom. It's barely an 18 inch piece of hose, easy fix. You should be fine.

[eric]

Thanks for all the suggestions and clarifications all !

I poured a little bit of castrol super clean in to the top of the tube and then just kept going at it from the top and then then bottom, back and forth with a straightened clothes hanger. Slowly but surely I started bringing out little chunks of gunk, and eventually i was able to pass the entire straightened hanger through the entire tube... so i did that a few more times and then rinsed it out with water.

Man, it was REALLY packed in there. I think it was a bunch of compressed/fine dust from when the car was completely sanded down before the paint job. Now that I think about it I don't remember it having been clogged before it went into the body shop so that makes a lot of sense now.

Thanks again!
-Eric