'02 Gas tank doesn't fit??

Hey guys I could use some help...I'm putting things back together after replacing coolant/throttle body hoses, valve cover gaskets, etc...and it seems that my fuel pump bolt is hitting the rear valve cover on the hump. I feel like this is something obvious but I'm drawing a blank. I have a service manual but see nothing out of place. Everything fit fine before the operation. Please help, I'm losing my mind over this....

 

Pic maybe?

 

I've pulled and reseated the rear valve cover, nothing seemed amiss...any ideas are welcome...

 

The front tank mounts have two collars that are positioned very unHondalike in the bushings. They install from the bottom of the rubber bushing and then have 2 washers on top under the bolt. If the bottom collars are installed thru the top of the bushing (or have dropped out and are missing), the tank might be going down in front just far enough to allow that to contact.

 

if you chilled it way down like with liquid nitrogen the tank would shrink smaller, wouldnt it ?

 

That's not that crazy, it's like gas tank expanded or something?? Idk anything anymore

 

I def still have the bushings but maybe in wrong...

 

Are you positive that the throttle bodies are fully engaged with the cylinder head/inlet rubbers? If not the airbox lid will be sitting too high.

 

But didn't he say that the fuel pump stud/nut is hitting the valve cover? (not the air box?)

 

I thought that was the issue at first but removed the air box, it's definitely hitting top of valve cover from fuel pump bolt.

 

Did you have the fuel pump out of the tank? I wonder if the flange has been rotated so the fuel banjo is not in the expected position? Pure speculation on my part as I don't know whether the flange can be rotated or whether that puts the fuel banjo bolt in a different/interfering location.

 

Is it the fuel pump stud/nut or the fuel line banjo that is hitting?

 

Fuel pump stud to be exact

 

Good guess but pump was not pulled. All suggestions are great ideas because I'm at a loss besides trying a different tank. Maybe got frisky propping it up and bent the rear tab. I've tried massaging it with a rubber mallet, which got me closer but I'm hesitant to hammer much more.

 

Do you still have the correct long shouldered bolt (and bushings) that connect the pivot mount to the frame?

 

Yessir. This all makes me second guess my ability to turn a 10mm wrench...

 

Does the valve cover have any wear that looks like it's been doing it for a while?

At a certain point I would start adding some shims between the tank and pivot mount, but it would BUG THE SHIT OUT OF ME.

 

On the front tank mounts, the parts diagram actually shows the collar going thru the rubber from the bottom and then another washer all UNDER the tank flange with the bolt then going thru it all. Weird.

 

It didn't have wear marks until I started putting it back together dried out #27 grommets are gonna get replaced for sure. I think that washer goes between the flange bolt and the grommet on the upper side. Tanks aren't insanely expensive so I may just bite bullet to make sure I'm not crazy.

 

The grommets aren't responsible for height, that won't help anything regarding clearance. They just hold the collars that do determine height.

While this would bug me too if I couldn't figure it out, buying another tank seems like an extreme solution that isn't even a guarantee.

Like I said before, throw a couple shims/washers between the rear tank mount and the pivot bracket and see what it takes to clear. It probably won't affect fitment of anything else and you can still try to figure out the issue for the future.