Amazon: Fuel tank repair

[BenR]

Finally traced my fuel odour problem to what looks like a slight weep/crack at the junction of the filler neck with the main tank body.

Looking at the design with the neck hanging in the breeze, I doubt I'm the only one with this problem...Anyone had any luck repairing their tank? All tips welcome! I'm thinking I could remove it and mostly fill with water before making a local repair without blowing myself up!

On the other hand, maybe you can offer me a good tank at a reasonable price and save me from myself.

[B20F]

You can try this to treat the whole inside of the tank against rust. I read some good stories about this product.

[Ron Kwas]

Ben;

This is an absolutely typical failure mode and what I experienced...after emptying, I pulled the tank, vented it overnight by blowing air through the sender-hole (until I couldn't smell much fuel at all!) and soldering it (adding gussets from the filler neck down to the tank) to reinforce the joint and take away some of the overhanging load action...it took me several attempts and I got really good at removing the tank (the trick is to also remove the fitting which is left in the tank threads and which protrudes after removing the tubing connector fitting...ANY protrusion will prevent tank removal!) ...it is quite tricky and one needs a high-wattage soldering iron of the type used for soldering copper gutters (500Watt!) and experience soldering...I recommend against soldering with a flame just in case there is still some fuel left in there! ...a LOT OF WORK!!!

At this point, I would recommend cleaning the cracked area (if you know where it is compromised) with a high order solvent which leaves NOTHING behind and epoxying the hole...or using a flourosilicone RTV (normal silicones are NOT hydrocarbon compatible)...a hell of a lot simpler with higher chance of success!

Good Luck and Cheers from Connecticut!

[TomTom]

This typically happens when a higher vehicle, like a van, bumps you on your petrol cap. As Ron says, any reinforcement is good. I've had this done to every Amazon I've owned.

Tom

[Tom7]

If you decide to make a welded repair you must have the tank as full with water as possible. Any air pocket will contain petrol vapour! When soldering the drain plug plate onto the bottom of my tank the small air pocket ignited, luckily it was very small! I have heard of using exhaust gasses to dry out the vapour but have not tried it.

[nglasson221]

Here is a write up I did about this repair on my wagon. Wagon is different in that the filler tube is 2 parts but I imagine repair process is otherwise the same. I didn't bother with any gussets to make it stronger but I can see this might be a good idea.

http://amazoniac.wikispaces.com/Fuel...filler+leaking

[BenR]

Thanks to all

Looks like it's time to borrow a nice big soldering iron.

Thinking about it it's not the best car to be rear-ended in! Good chance of rupturing the tank. Thinking about it a bit more it's probably best not to think about it...

[tom-madbiker]

if you have a mig welder just fill wash the tank with water then fill say 3/4 full then fill the airspace with welding gas thats how i do any fuel tank repair as the gas is inert then solder or weld dont on any circumstances use a plasma cutter even if the tank isfilled with inert gas as it introduces a air rich mix and a flame and goes bang might sound daft but i have seen two people who should have known better one got away with it with a blown tank the other got very badly burnt be careful it only takes a moments lapse both of them had been doing tanks for a number of years and were well experienced