Fuel tank leak

[Chevracer87]

Well after returning from the MV show today I noticed the brand new fuel tank I installed on the Deuce was dripping. At first I thought I forgot to tighten the drain plug but after further inspection the leak was coming from the flange the drain plug threads into. I drained the fuel, pulled the tank and ground the rivets off the flange that holds it to the tank. At that point I found out there was no sealant or gasket used between the flange and the tank. The tank must have been built on a Friday is the only thing I can figure. I ended up using black rtv and bolted it back together with 4 bolts instead of just the two rivets that it originally had. Hopefully I got it fixed. I'll know tomorrow after the rtv dries.

 

[Jeepsinker]

Steel tank?

 

[Chevracer87]

Yep steel tank

 

[Jeepsinker]

You would do well to look into finding an aluminum tank from an a3. The steel tank will rust again eventually. There is no question that rust particles do damage our injector pumps.

 

[rustystud]

You can also coat the inside with a good protectant from "Eastwood" or any number of restoration supply houses. With that your tank should outlast you !

 

[porkysplace]

Don't count on RTV to hold up to fuel .

 

[73m819]

As a long temp fix, fiber glass the offending area, when I got my m819 (2004), the tank was full of crap, had it steam cleaned, ended up with a LOT of pin holes, needed to move the truck to its new AO, so as a "fast, TEMP fix" I cleaned the outside bottom of tank to bare metal, then fiber glassed it with three layers of mat. The idea was as soon as I could I would replace the tank, well being it was not leaking, the replacement fell down (way down) on the to do list.

Since we are on leaky fuel tanks, to help to keep the rust down which means keeping moisture out of the tank, KEEP the tank as full as you can, the more inside metal exposed to the air, the more area for condensation moisture in the tank.

 

[marchplumber]

Don't count on RVT to hold up to fuel .

Exactly what is RVT?

God bless,
Tony

 

[porkysplace]

Exactly what is RVT?

God bless,
Tony

2 letters backwards , fixed now.

 

[Chevracer87]

Well it's been 3 days now without a drip. I used black RTV because I thought it was resistant to fuels. If the RTV breaks down and the tank starts leaking again what sealant should I use? I removed that flange off the old tank just to see what sealant was used and it almost looks like a white pipe dope.

 

[rosco]

Locate the pin hole, and solder it. I once had an M43 with a tank full of pin holes. I took it out, steamed it good, turned it upside down & put a dollup of solder on each hole and its still running today (30 years later). There is no quick fix. It takes time and patience, but the repair is very doable. The steel tanks are tin coated (a major component of solder), making it very easy to solder. Welding will burn that tin coating. making it worthless in a short while.

 

[Jeepsinker]

Well it's been 3 days now without a drip. I used black RTV because I thought it was resistant to fuels. If the RTV breaks down and the tank starts leaking again what sealant should I use? I removed that flange off the old tank just to see what sealant was used and it almost looks like a white pipe dope.

I would use Rectorseal. Nothing gets through that stuff. Should be in the plumbing section at a hardware store.

 

[bonedoc]

I had my tank start seeping recently at the front seam. I got a good take out from Kublo's and did a Por-15 tank seal on it. It is very time consuming to do properly but seems to of worked very well. Then I refinished the out side of the tank, painted it with Rapco primer and 3 coats of Rapco 34079 green. I'll get some pics of the inside with the sealant on and post those.