Gas tank leaking---Options?
 

Hey guys,

So, I recently found out that my car is leaking gas from the gas tank. My friend's dad, who is experienced with cars looked at the tank and told me that he thought the seal between the two halves of the tank was failing in one place, because it was only wet below the seal, and it was running down the side of the tank. This was the best evaluation we could do because the entire car was kinda wet from driving in the snow. My question is: What are my options? We can not find a new gas tank for a reasonable amount of money. Is there a good chance that this will happen again if I get a used gas tank? Is there something I can do to fix my current gas tank? Thanks for the help, don't really know what to do from here.

-JPieps

1. Measure where the leak is.
2. Take it to a radiator shop and have it boiled and sealed.
3. Take it to a weld shop and have them reweld the section in the area of the leak.
4. Clean the exterior of the tank, and paint it with some rustoleum or something similar.

From what I've read, I think it only runs about 50 bucks to have a tank boiled/sealed. And the welding shouldn't be more than 20 bucks or so if you shop around.

Maybe someone else has a better idea. Good luck. :)




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Alright, I will see if I can find a radiator shop around here. Is there anything I should tell the shop when I go in to get it done? Or do I just say "Boil and seal this baby" and if they ask what exactly I mean, I leave and look for a more knowledgeable shop? If my friend is a pretty good welder can he do the welding for me? It shouldn't need any special equipment once the radiator shop is done with it, right? :scratch:Thanks for the help. :nod:

The older Harley motorcycles were bad for developing leaks in the fuel tanks we use to buy a product called kream .. You clean and dry the tank ( after taking it off ) pour the Kream into the tank and roll it around to get the inside completely covered let it set and cure and you have a tank with a very good inside seal it also worked on rust spots that start to leak from pinholes even just tanks with lots of rust inside .. It use to be available in different size cans for different size tanks ..you might want to try something like that ..:)

Por15 makes a gas tank restoration kit you could also look at. Similar to what gerald m is suggesting above, you drain the tank, clean it out with the cleaner in the por15 kit, let it dry then pour in the gas tank sealer, make sure it coats everywhere inside the tank and let that dry, then make sure you clean the outside of the tank and seal it up as well to keep it from rusting further.
Not sure I would say its a permanant fix, but its definatly solid stuff and will keep you going for quite a while.

+1 for por15 ... if you cant find a rad shop . do it your self...http://www.por15.com/FUEL-TANK-REPAI...ductinfo/FTRK/..i use it 5 years ago .so far so good

If it is a small leak you can do it with JB Weld Sticks. Regardless of what method, your first step is to remove the tank and figure out where the leak is. It took me 2 days and $15 worth of JB Sticks and regular JB Weld to seal up my tank. If I could have taken it to a radiator shop for $50 I would have done that.

I had to empty the thank, fill it full of water, plug it up and shoot compressed air ever so gently into the tank. The pressure pushed the water out of the leak. I had to dry it off, JB weld it and let it sit for 8 hours then do it again. Every time I fixed one leak I found another. The weakest link would show up. So the process took forever. Now I have a solid tank again but it was a hell of a lot of labor.

Eastwood (eastwood.com) has a kit similar to the POR kit.

http://www.eastwood.com/gas-tank-sealer-kits.html

I used the por-15 kit for the inside. I then cleaned all the rust on the outside and painted it with por-15. I used fiberglass cloth to put over the really bad rust holes. (The tank was extremely rusty) It's been solide for 3 years so far. I highly recomend it.

You can't effectively stop a leak from the outside of the tank, there is too much movement .. try the por 15 or a product like it .. It really does work and lasts for years .. If you buy a different tank it is possible that you will be having the same problems, remember these tanks are 20+ years old and who knows what is inside them .. even if you get it welded it could still start another leak .. There aren't very many shops that will screw around with a gas tank anymore . Sometimes they end up looking more like a barrel than a tank ,, like comet said put something on the outside after you do the inside :)

Alright guys. Looks like I will look for a radiator shop in my area. If that doesn't work I will try the POR-15 kit. Either way I will probably have my friend weld up the outside where the leak is. Thanks for the responses. If anyone has any other ideas/experience, feel free to chime in, otherwise I will let you guys know how things turn out.

You need the radiator shop to work their magic and boil out the fuel residue BEFORE the welding. Otherwise the tank could explode from the fumes in it. This is very important

I think this is your best bet also. All the other suggestions may only be a temporary fix if the tank ruins in another area.

Brazing works better, easier than welding. Tanks are so thin welding can burn bigger holes than what one starts with.

Hey everybody. I found out what the problem was, and I hopefully fixed it permanently. The gasket around the opening for the fuel level sender had failed, and it was leaking. I took it apart and put some gasoline safe sealant in between the gasket and the opening, and between the gasket and the cover. It has shown no signs of leaking since then. Didn't even use my POR-15 kit that I bought. Should've known that it's better to take everything apart and then buy the necessary parts when I know what I need. Just letting everyone know that the issue is resolved. :nod::icon_tup: