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Beware aftermarket fuel tanks


Kamaloha

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I have a 1989 Leisure Odyssey Americana with the 3VZE engine. Two years ago I was diagnosing a power/performance issue and it came down to two injectors totally blocked with rust dust. I eventually cleaned the fuel rails and replaced all injectors, filters, fuel lines, and tank to rid myself of rust. (The tank had sat empty for fifteen years by PO and was lined in rust, the root cause of the problem).

All is well and the RV has no power problems. However, the one big mistake I made was replacing the fuel tank. Being naive I purchased a nice inexpensive new non-OEM tank from an online site for about $90. This tank was the same shape as the original; the only difference was the original had a drain plug and this did not. No big deal. 

Then the replacement tank started leaking in six months. I got a warranty replacement, but had to ship back the leaking one which was almost as much as I paid for it. The replacement failed in six months too, and no warranty this time. Bought s third online. It failed too. The fourth one I got from Advance Auto for over twice the price and received THE SAME TANK. Yep, you guessed it; that one just failed, seven months later. This time though all I had to do was return it to a store near me (no shipping) but the warranty replacement still took a week to arrive, stranding me in Seattle on a long road trip. So now I am on my FIFTH replacement fuel tank in two years.

All the tanks have had the identical failure mechanism. They are much thinner steel than the OEM tank, and there is a slosh basket spot-welded to the inside bottom of the tank in which the fuel pump sits. Those spot welds create a stress riser in the steel tank skin, and since the bottom is flat and oil cans as you drive, the welds eventually crack through at the edges and leak. In the last failure all eight welds had broken and the basket was flailing around loose in the tank.

This time when I installed the new tank (same lousy design) I coated the outside bottom in two layers of fiberglass and epoxy first. When these welds break, as they undoubtedly will, hopefully the fiberglass and epoxy will prevent a leak and the show will go on.

Bottom line: Stay as far away as possible from replacement fuel tanks. If yours is rusty, find a way to line it with epoxy. I've inquired around from a dozen different sources and every one sells the identical crap tank. AFAIK there is only ONE aftermarket manufacturer and their product is garbage.

On a positive note, I highly recommend the Fuel Tank Patch Kit made by PermaTex and sold at O'Rielly's. There seem to be two types: A cold-mix solid epoxy stick and a liquid epoxy that comes with a fiberglass patch and a mastic plug to stop the leak while you patch it. The first is useless as it can't patch a leaking hole. However the second is great; the mastic stuff they include really stops the leak so you can then clean and dry the surface to apply the patch. Just be aware the epoxy fires off VERY quickly so be ready to work fast.

I am attaching a video showing the leaking spot welds.

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A used tank might be the answer if there is a next time.

What brand were the bad tanks?

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I don't understand why after so many times you just didn't buy a fuel tank from Toyota. They are still available and even though they cost quite a bit more you still would have saved money in the long run.

Linda S

https://www.toyotapartsdeal.com/oem/toyota~tank~assy~fuel~77001-35985.html?Make=Toyota&Model=Pickup&Year=1991&Submodel=2+Wheel+Drive&Filter=(d=USA;1=3VZE;4=STD;5=ATM;6=4HC;7=RCB;8=WT;9=HLF;11=EFI;13=IV6;14=T1;0=VZN95L-TWSREA6)&Location=fuel-tank-tube,,77100

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32 minutes ago, linda s said:

I don't understand why after so many times you just didn't buy a fuel tank from Toyota. They are still available and even though they cost quite a bit more you still would have saved money in the long run.

Linda S

https://www.toyotapartsdeal.com/oem/toyota~tank~assy~fuel~77001-35985.html?Make=Toyota&Model=Pickup&Year=1991&Submodel=2+Wheel+Drive&Filter=(d=USA;1=3VZE;4=STD;5=ATM;6=4HC;7=RCB;8=WT;9=HLF;11=EFI;13=IV6;14=T1;0=VZN95L-TWSREA6)&Location=fuel-tank-tube,,77100

$401.26 w/shipping... I probably wouldn't have gone that route either, yikes!

I would also like to know the brand of tanks that were used (and I'm hoping that you, Kamaloha, made sure to bring this to the manufacturer's attention).

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Thanks for taking the time to write that up and video. There are several stories of after market tanks failing on the net, same thing spot welds.  The inside of what I thought was my OE tank looks rough,  turns out it is a used tank, but not leaking.

  I purchased a $90 replacement tank, have no idea what brand?  My old tank is not leaking so have not replaced it.  On my bucket list is having the spot welds re-welded before installing the tank.  Ridiculous to have to have that done, but I don't want to spend $400 on new tank and did not know they were available. 

 

Out of curiosity I looked for new tanks.  I find 2 different manufactures Dorman and Spectra     Dorman shows a 576-191  and spectra TO 7D or TO 8D,  seems to be some confusion on number?

Are they both manufactured in same place or are they different??

As I recall all the complaints I have heard are on Spectra tanks or unknown.  Any input on that??

Edited by jjrbus
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Well it certainly doesn't look like Dorman and Spectra are in any way related. Dorman is an American company that does do manufacturing in China. Spectra is a Canadian company that manufactures in that strange and far away county Canada. Expect the prices to go up drastically for their products because they use American steel for most of them. They also have contracts to build OEM tanks for many American cars and American made ones from other manufacturers.

There are lots of other cheap China made tanks available though and we have no way of knowing exactly what kind of tanks Kamaloa ended up with

Linda S

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Spectra seems to be the most widely distributed of the Aftermarket tanks.

Just for laughs, I looked on RockAuto and was surprised to see a name I've never come across.

http://www.showmetheparts.com/liland/

There's a strong similarity between Specta and Liland Part Numbers (TO8B vs ITO8B).

https://ecat.spectrapremium.com/products/TO8B

Whether Liland is buying and reselling Spectra tanks is anyone's guess. :)

https://www.rockauto.com/en/catalog/toyota,1991,pickup,3.0l+v6,1277872,fuel+&+air,fuel+tank,6268

I've also no idea if the tanks from Spectra, Dorman or Liland are made USA, Canada, Mexico or Chindia. Or if the steel used is US, Canadian or recycled fridges in some foreign land. :)

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Dragged my new tank out,   little identification on the tank.  But is not Chinjunk.   Made in Taiwan!  Which may or not be considered Chinjunk??  

Looked up part # shown on box 1AFGT00551  and this came up.

This part replaces:

  • Hollander 197-58592, 197-58591
  • OE # 7700135985
  • Spectra Premium Industries TNKTO8D

Number stamped into tank    11 80 91     H8

The tank material seems heavy and not flimsy, appears to be well constructed.  Until looking at the spot welds on the bottom holding the baffle in, they do look dodgy.    5 of the 8 spots seem to cut into tank material.  If I had not read about these welds failing I would not have given them a second thought.  Spot welds are not something I would think to inspect. 

 

IMG_0163.JPG

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Edited by jjrbus
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On 7/10/2018 at 1:16 PM, Kamaloha said:

Decades ago way back in the last century it was common to solder gas tanks. A large soldering iron was heated by a blow torch,  The flames never touched the tanks so not for the faint  of heart , but not dangerous. Wonder if someone would solder this?

I did not think of it before and was reminded of it on another forum.

I am still pursuing having  my spotwelds redone,   I am already into this tank for $90 and a new one would put me at $500.   Will be talking with a high end welder next week. 

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23 minutes ago, jjrbus said:

Decades ago way back in the last century it was common to solder gas tanks. A large soldering iron was heated by a blow torch,  The flames never touched the tanks so not for the faint  of heart , but not dangerous. Wonder if someone would solder this?

I did not think of it before and was reminded of it on another forum.

I am still pursuing having  my spotwelds redone,   I am already into this tank for $90 and a new one would put me at $500.   Will be talking with a high end welder next week. 

I have soldered gas tank leaks and still have the irons. Works great for sheet metal type materials. This picture is not mine but almost exactly like mine. Probably a modern version available somewhere or an old one on eBay. Not sure soldering will fix a stress related leak. No matter what the tank still needs to be dry and fume free. http://www.copperguttershop.com/Soldering_irons.htm

 

1299a7400cf61f6ea08f89b43fe40745.jpg

 

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In the early 70's I use to hang around a shop,  don't remember his name now, but real old guy. .   He would siphon most of the gas out of a tank and jack it up to get what was left of the gas away from where he wanted to solder.   Then solder away.

You could hear the gas boiling in the tank,  I never stayed in the shop when he did this I was always outside around a corner. 

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To Solider/weld a gas tank. remove tank, remove fuel level sender, find a good sized hose and hook the tank up to the exhaust pipe of an running engine. This fills the tank with inert gas and you can weld solider as needed.

YMMV

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  • 2 months later...
On 7/10/2018 at 4:18 PM, linda s said:

I don't understand why after so many times you just didn't buy a fuel tank from Toyota. They are still available and even though they cost quite a bit more you still would have saved money in the long run.

Linda S

https://www.toyotapartsdeal.com/oem/toyota~tank~assy~fuel~77001-35985.html?Make=Toyota&Model=Pickup&Year=1991&Submodel=2+Wheel+Drive&Filter=(d=USA;1=3VZE;4=STD;5=ATM;6=4HC;7=RCB;8=WT;9=HLF;11=EFI;13=IV6;14=T1;0=VZN95L-TWSREA6)&Location=fuel-tank-tube,,77100

I am glad to see this, but I truly do not believe they were available 3-4 years ago when I fought with mine.  I (and more than one mechanic) searched.  I would of paid that in a heartbeat compared to what I went through with Spectra.

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 I think it's unlikely that they suddenly decided to start making them again for vehicles this old. I do remember when you were having all those problems but you had already gotten your first bad tank and were trying to get them to replace it. I'm afraid I just didn't look then. Sorry

Linda S

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On 7/14/2018 at 9:20 PM, WME said:

To Solider/weld a gas tank. remove tank, remove fuel level sender, find a good sized hose and hook the tank up to the exhaust pipe of an running engine. This fills the tank with inert gas and you can weld solider as needed.

YMMV

Yes we used to do that any more you probably would have a hard time getting any one to fix a tank shoot they hardly fix radiators any more!

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41 minutes ago, Maineah said:

Yes we used to do that any more you probably would have a hard time getting any one to fix a tank shoot they hardly fix radiators any more!

No doubt!  A $60 charge to repair a $90 radiator!  

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I had my new Spectra gas tank soldered.  I think it was $120, but zero for the mechanic's time and prep of the tank (he had previously used JB Weld and it didn't work).

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