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Hello folks, got a bit of a new issue now. After filling my tank about 2 days ago, I noticed occasionally I would smell gas. Was about to do the exhaust when I noticed fuel stains at the bottom front of the tank, drivers side, around the area where the seam between the bottom and top halves is. So my first thought is that the tank seams are leaking, but what is even more strange is that there is some fuel stains (and wet fuel) just above the seam, and farther back there are stains as though it is coming from up top somewhere. Since I did just fill the tank up a day or two ago, I suspect the fuel filler neck being leaky (or the seam between the fuel filler neck and the tank itself). I'll provide some pictures when I can. Thanks to anybody who can help!
Hello folks, got a bit of a new issue now. After filling my tank about 2 days ago, I noticed occasionally I would smell gas. Was about to do the exhaust when I noticed fuel stains at the bottom front of the tank, drivers side, around the area where the seam between the bottom and top halves is. So my first thought is that the tank seams are leaking, but what is even more strange is that there is some fuel stains (and wet fuel) just above the seam, and farther back there are stains as though it is coming from up top somewhere. Since I did just fill the tank up a day or two ago, I suspect the fuel filler neck being leaky (or the seam between the fuel filler neck and the tank itself). I'll provide some pictures when I can. Thanks to anybody who can help!
Nope, not at all. Partially why I am confused as well. The leak is very, very small. Over the course of 2 days there is hardly anything collected on the seam at all, no drips or anything, just hardly enough to get your fingers damp. And, it isn't water, its definitely fuel.
EDIT: Also, the area around the fuel filler neck is intact. No leakage there whatsoever.
Nope, not at all. Partially why I am confused as well. The leak is very, very small. Over the course of 2 days there is hardly anything collected on the seam at all, no drips or anything, just hardly enough to get your fingers damp. And, it isn't water, its definitely fuel.
EDIT: Also, the area around the fuel filler neck is intact. No leakage there whatsoever.
Alright, gonna revive this thread here for an update. Since I posted, the leak has gotten significantly larger and it quickly became apparent that it was not the seam leaking, or at least the seams aren't a major factor. Took the driver's side rear wheel off and took the fuel filler neck cover off, looked down the filler neck and where it connects to the tank looks just fine, no leaks. But, to my utter dismay, there appears to be a sequence of holes down closer to the seam that are leaking. There are obvious gas stains around them and when I felt around to make sure that it wasn't water (as it had just rained), it was not. I took a picture of the holes (circled in red).
My main dilemma now is how to fix this. I know the leak is coming from the rear of the tank, and taking the tank out would be impossible as the exhaust is rusty and the gas tank straps bolts are INCREDIBLY rusty, any attempt to take them off would result in... well lets just say, adios bolt. I know about an external spray sealant, similar to that of Flex Seal but resistant to petroleum and things. I believe it is called Permatex spray sealant. If anybody could provide information on some sort of spray sealant that is resistant to petroleum, please do.
How many miles do you have on your GS and the location? I'm curious. I would probably try the spray sealant and see if that would hold up. The worst case scenario, you probably have to bite the bullet and drop everything to replace the tank. Might get very expensive for what it is, and that's the only thing.
If that happens to mine, I'd just patch the leak by leak since mine is high mileage.
How many miles do you have on your GS and the location? I'm curious. I would probably try the spray sealant and see if that would hold up. The worst case scenario, you probably have to bite the bullet and drop everything to replace the tank. Might get very expensive for what it is, and that's the only thing.
If that happens to mine, I'd just patch the leak by leak since mine is high mileage.
I've got 152k on mine and I'm in the southern part of the Penn state. After further thought, I might go with a couple layers of protection. I've got two sticks of JB Weld SteelStik which will go on as the first layer (of course after cleaning the surface) then spray on some spray sealant, then maybe do another layer of something as preventive maintenance. Lets just say I'm not too confident it'll work, but that steelstik does wonders. It seals against exhaust pretty well, used it to patch a big gaping hole in the muffler to midpipe joint and so far it has held up, and exhaust gases escape a lot easier than gasoline does. I know I can't replace the tank by myself, it is just purely impossible with how rusted those bolts are. Besides, replacement tanks aren't even sold which means I'd need one from a junkyard which pretty much doesn't guarantee anything.
So, both good news and bad news. Sprayed some purple power onto the top area of the tank, and went to sand when I realized there is actually a rubber coating up top, and the holes I believed I had found were just rips in the rubber coating (strange?) and thanks to Purple Power, it started flaking off. Got all of it in the area off, noticed that the rubber that sat around the fuel filler neck end and press-plate smelled like gas also. If you look closely there appears to be a tab that is bent, indicating somebody was tinkering with this before.
The top red circle is the tab that appears to be bent. The rubber coating that was around the fuel filler neck stank like gasoline. After removal of the rubber coating, the smell of gasoline faded until I sprayed it down with water, uncovering the holes (two lower circles) of which then began to stink like gas. Going to let it dry and come back later today to sand some more and put SteelStik on it.
Hoping your patch job would hold up for a long time. I would only assume that those products went through numbers of strict testing done to be on the market. It might hold up for your car's lifetime. Keep us updated with results.
Hoping your patch job would hold up for a long time. I would only assume that those products went through numbers of strict testing done to be on the market. It might hold up for your car's lifetime. Keep us updated with results.
My patch job kind of has been going as planned so far. Finished up last night, cleaned area down then used one full stick of SteelStik (of which is advertised to resist gasoline and to patch fuel tanks up to 900 PSI and 300ish degrees Fahrenheit), then went online and tried to find if there was any of the Permatex spray sealant was available at any local shops. It literally vanished into thin air, nowhere to be seen. So, idiot me thinks it's a great idea to get impatient and I used Flex Seal over the SteelStik (SteelStik patched the holes anyway) just as an extra protective measure to prevent any MASSIVE leaks if they ever started. I was originally going to get the Permatex stuff but nobody had it so I didn't. Hopped on this morning to see if it was available, and suddenly then it's available everywhere. Coincidence? (The algorithms of the world wide web truly hate me)
So after I checked for the spray sealant, I noticed it never said it was resistant to gasoline. That's when I started seeing ads everywhere for PERMATEX SPRAY GASKET. Literally, spray gasket. turns out it can be used as a spray sealant or as a spray gasket (as the name suggests) AND it's resistant to gasoline. If the SteelStik fails or if there is a leak in another location, I'll buy the Permatex spray gasket, scrape up the old flex seal and spray it on. I will update probably in the next month or two or if the tank starts leaking. Wish me luck!
06-29-21, 07:28 PM
Leaky gas tank or fuel filler neck?
