Petrol Tank Leak

Post by **MColes** » Tue Jun 30, 2009 12:30 pm

You change the axle, change the engine and then the gearbox. You take the car on a long run to the national and it runs perfect, no problems at all. You think you have finally got a reliable car....you'd be wrong.

After two days of being parked up not moving after coming back from the national my car has decided to leak petrol from around the sump plug at the bottom of the petrol tank

Post by **MColes** » Tue Jun 30, 2009 4:39 pm

The leak isn't much but is constant so I have now drained the tank.

I bought some 'Petro Patch' and going to give that a try tomorrow

Post by **bmcecosse** » Tue Jun 30, 2009 4:55 pm

Waste of time/money ! If the tank is leaking - it needs another tank - end of story.

Post by **MColes** » Tue Jun 30, 2009 5:01 pm

Well I have got the stuff now and have all the time in the world now I'm off from uni for the summer so I'm going to give it a go.

Post by **d_harris** » Tue Jun 30, 2009 5:07 pm

is it actually leaking at the plug, or around the plug?

Post by **MColes** » Tue Jun 30, 2009 5:08 pm

Around the plug

Post by **8009STEVE** » Tue Jun 30, 2009 5:32 pm

If the tank is leaking - it needs another tank - end of story

Not so. I have welded many tanks

Waste of time/money

Not so. I have repaired tanks by using petro patch

Tue Jun 30, 2009 5:48 pm

sorry I have my saftey head on but...

welding a petrol tank even an old one that has been empty for a long time is dangerous and should only really be tackled by a proffesional ... you are a long time dead etc etc

Post by **d_harris** » Tue Jun 30, 2009 6:36 pm

The most difficult thing with welding a tank is to make sure you don't get any holes!

Best thing to do is to flush the tank through numerous times with water first

Post by **LouiseM** » Tue Jun 30, 2009 6:53 pm

Try plugging it with some of your mum's pasta first. That should do the trick

Post by **MColes** » Tue Jun 30, 2009 6:55 pm

Oh please don't remind me

Post by **kris3801** » Tue Jun 30, 2009 7:19 pm

MColes wrote:Oh please don't remind me

That pasta was NASTY!!! no wonder there was a funny smell in the tent

:lol:

Post by **bmcecosse** » Tue Jun 30, 2009 11:06 pm

And I too have welded up apetrol tank in the past - to make it smaller for competition use. But welding up a rusty tank that has started to go into holes - is just not a sensible thing to do when tanks are available at reasonable cost - a lot less than the £150 I had to pay for a new TR7 tank! the ptro patch may work for a few days/weeks/months even - and then one day it leaks, catches fire - and bang goes your car ! Is it worth the risk ? I certainly don't think so! But carry on - it's your car/life at risk.

Post by **MColes** » Tue Jun 30, 2009 11:37 pm

Surely they couldn't sell such things if they didn't work and had the potential to kill you?

Post by **bmcecosse** » Wed Jul 01, 2009 7:15 am

It will be fine - as a 'get you home' fix. Just not a repair that you can trust - or expect to last very long.

Post by **8009STEVE** » Wed Jul 01, 2009 9:14 am

My safety tip for welding a petrol tank. I run a hose from the exhaust into the tank. This not only flushes out petrol vapour, but also fills the tank with an inert gas.
Petro patch can be used as a permanant repair.

Post by **bmcecosse** » Wed Jul 01, 2009 10:54 pm

I think depends on your idea of 'permananent'!

Post by **katy** » Thu Jul 02, 2009 3:46 pm

I've heard that if it's only a small leak, rubbing it with a bar of hand soap will stop it up - temporarily.
Never tried it myself, but some friends say it does work.

Post by **bmcecosse** » Thu Jul 02, 2009 11:38 pm

Hmm - so would chewing gum ! But for how long!!

Post by **MColes** » Fri Jul 03, 2009 9:41 pm

Well the tank has been patched and the petrol back in the tank.

Guess I'll just have to see how long the repair lasts