On the road (sort of) Fuel Tank Repair...$3.50

[bufbooth]

Hello All,

I had my Toyota in Winter storage at a family members house (about 200 miles from

where I live) and went up to get it this weekend. On a Saturday night (after 7pm) I

got about 20 miles down the road and stopped to fill up with gas and after I did I was

cleaning the windows and thought I smelled gas. I looked under the RV and saw gas

dripping from the gas tank, I as examined the tank closer, I saw that it was leaking from

an old patch that was done, about the size of a quarter. It appears that the past owner

hit something that put a small dent in the tank, along with a hole.

I estimated that I was going to lose about 7 gallons of gasoline before it would drop

below the failed patch line, and that the dripping gasoline was not near the exhaust and

the dripping was slow, so I decided the best thing was to not let the RV sit in one spot to

accumulate. And decided to drive it back to my family's house. The route was pretty

much country driving and made it back in about 25 minutes.

I got a pan under the gas tank and since it was 8:30pm I thought I was stuck since all

the auto parts stores were closed, I ended up going to Menards and back in the putty

section of the paint department, they had gas tank repair kits ($3.50) that looked like a

roll of clay. I scraped the old patch off, it came off pretty easy, it showed a one inch

crack in the tank, versus a hole. Decided to make the crack a hole in order for the patch

to have something more than the tank outside surface to attached to. Opened up the

crack to about a 1/4 inch wide (used a piece of wood). The patch kit looks like a tube of

clay, one just rolls it up in your hands for about a minute and it activates a chemical in it

and then one has about one minute to get it where it needs to go. Pushed the clay patch

material into the 1/4 hole, and made the new patch about the size of a old silver dollar to

give it some extra surface area to attach to.

Instructions state to wait one hour before one could using, but also stated it takes 12

hours to fully set, so I stayed the night to give it the fully 12 hours to dry. Filled up the

gas tank on Sunday and took it for a test drive and then let it sit for about an hour, all

was good, so we then made the four hour drive home.

I actually purchased two of the kits, decided to leave one in the RV, it works on gas tanks

and any other type of tank, even water pipes (can withstand 3500 PSI). The instructions

state it could even be used wet, but best results are when try. I figured I could use it on

the drinking, black or gray water tanks if I ever had a leak on the road.

Dennis...

[motoyhomme]

Dennis,

Thanks for the info. I have often wondered what I could use for such an emergency if I got a hole in my fuel tank. I have the optional 26 gallon tank on my Sunrader and it is exposed to road debris more than I would like. Since We don't have a Menards in Virginia what is the name of the patch kit and is it still holding?

The attached picture shows the monster tank (to the side and above the driveshaft) that sits about 7 inches off the ground so I'm always worried about snagging something.

Thanks again,

Allen

[bufbooth]

Hello Allen,

I will reply back later with the exact product name, but I noticed over the weekend that

JB Weld makes the same type of project and from their description will handle up to 5000 psi

and can not only be used wet, but under water. The JB Weld project was at a Meijer Store

(Meijer is like a Walmart, but only located in the Mid-West) and sold for $5.50. You should

be able to the find the JB Weld product (clearly states on the package that it can be used

on gas tanks) at Walmarts, Kmarts, and most auto part stores. Menards is a home supply

store, so if you look at Lowes, Home Depot, and any hardware store, check both their

car supply area and their glue/sealant areas.

The patch is still holding. Actually, I had a mechanic friend (also is a welder and has done

gas tank welding repairs in the past) help me on the patch work and stated that the patch

should last the life time of the tank, and that there reason the old patch failed was that it

only had a small amount of surface area to attached to since my tank had a hairline crack.

He has used the patch material on semi-truck fuel tanks in the past. Also, I was told that

the patch material does not work sometimes on seams or corners, probably due to the

reduced amount of surface area.

Dennis...

[Kimbo]

The most amazing fuel tank repair I ever saw was with SealAll. Didn't matter that the affected area was wet with dripping fuel or the fact that it was unprepped and rusty. A friend just applied the SealAll and it sealed it up within 10 minutes. 2 years later it was still leak free.

[maplemkr1]

The most amazing fuel tank repair I ever saw was with SealAll. Didn't matter that the affected area was wet with dripping fuel or the fact that it was unprepped and rusty. A friend just applied the SealAll and it sealed it up within 10 minutes. 2 years later it was still leak free.

I had worked in one new and used car dealership htat used Seallall which we purchased at Abuchon Hardware stores here in New England. You could put the car up on the lift, tank leaking , take what we call an acid brush (stiff small heavy hair paint brush) brush it on the dripping leaking tank. Waited 10 to 20 minutes, put on another coat , wait , another coat and next day the car was driven to an auction 250 miles away. Stuff works good!

[wistoy]

This kind of repair stops the leak, but how safe is it in a wreck? I would recomend a new tank. But how safe are our homes in a wreck anyway?

[caldaq]

Something I used when I was 16 (40 now) was a water softened bar of soap pressed to the leak leaving the whole bar on the leak it makes a fair patch until you can do a more perminate repair.

[bufbooth]

Since the gas tank is inside of the frame, a major structural breach of the

frame would have to occur, which probably would rip through any gas tank

since the accident would have to be a major hit, and probably a T-bone hit.

If for somehow the gas tank took a hit on a less serious accident, and

got crushed, gasoline probably would be forced out through the vent hose

or leak around the rubber hose. Another possibility is that if the hit

did break loose the patch, it might of saved the tank from spliting.

There is a lot of IFs and possibilities.

Dennis...

[Fred3]

I loaned my chevy caprice wagon (125k mile at the time) to a friend for a 500 mile round trip. He called me at 7 that evening and was kind of shaken up... he had run over a piece of steel on the freeway which make a loud noise... he pulled into a Shell station... there was a hole punched into the gas tank. Lots of remorse.

I went out into my shop and grabbed some JB weld, some screws and wood wedges (I was a Navy Machinist Mate back in the day) to stop the leak. Jumped into the guys honda civic and met him. We backed the station wagon onto a curb in a hotel parking lot to get access to the bottom of the tank. I used a screw and washer to cram a piece of cotton rag into the leak, then filled the tank... it did drip but was clear of the exhaust and any heat source. I drove home (about 1.5 hours) and put it up on a ramp... used JB weld to fix it. I used JB Weld and a piece of wire screen and a screw/washer.

It held tight until I sold the car for a dollar to a guy in BAD need of a family car. It had 270k miles on it by then.

Fred3