Hi Woppa, welcome to Outdoorking.
You can retrieve the grommet through the tank's filler hole. Most of the grommets are not attached to the hose, they are just a tight fit on it. You often can't (or I can't anyway) get the hose through the grommet without pushing the grommet into the tank. This is because fitting the grommet into its hole in the tank shrinks it somewhat: that is deliberate, both to seal the outside of the grommet where it fits the tank, and to seal the fuel hose where it passes through the grommet. Sometimes you have to put the hose into the grommet while it is out of the tank, then feed the pickup hose through the grommet hole and push the grommet into place last, from the outside. Other times you have to feed the fuel line in through the filler hole, pull it out through the grommet hole, and then work the grommet into position by pulling on it from the outside plus a little push from inside. Look closely at the shape of the grommet and you'll see how it will be easiest. Incidentally, it takes me forever to do it, but the service guys seem to do it in just a few seconds. The people in the factory probably do it even faster.
Last edited by grumpy; 17/01/11 12:28 PM. Reason: Clarify
