sajack

We have had our LS430 for 12 years now. It has 128,000 miles on the odo. We love the car and intend to keep it until we are too old to drive. It is used around town and mainly for short trips since we also have an LS500.
Since it’s 22 years old I am wondering if maybe I should replace the gas tank. I have always bought 91 octane non-ethanol gas, but can’t help but wonder what the inside of the tank looks like.
I’m afraid that the injectors will eventually become clogged.
Have any of you replaced your LS430’s gas tank or is it cost prohibitive and not worth the trouble?

erse

I've never heard of routine gas tank replacement being recommended on any old vehicle. If you're worried about what's at the bottom of the tank best way forward is to always top off your tank and keep it above the half full mark. Even that's probably overkill as you would need to get really low on fuel for the pump to start picking up any sediment that may have accumulated over the years. Another option would be draining the tank but honestly I think that, just like prophylactically changing the tank, would be a waste of money. If it were me I would keep that cash on hand for any number of other issues that might be more likely to present themselves on an older vehicle. My inexpert opinion!

YoshiMan

I pulled the gas tank in my 1975 Cadillac a few years ago when I was installing an EFI system, and even after almost 50 years of use, the inside of the tank looked brand new.

I wouldn't be concerned with it unless it's compromised in some form or another.

V8_Fan

I wouldn’t bother. As long as you buy top tier gas and don’t run the tank super low. Fuel filter should take care of anything. For the LX/landcruiser, I’ve seen ppl in Afghanistan filter dirty diesel through a t-shirt into their Landcruiser.

JaySco

Agreed. I pulled the tank in my 1965 Falcon due to rust holes. Rusted from the outside, inside was still spotless.

BBE4300

The only time I have ever had any work done on a gas tank would be when they rusted out and needed patching up... But this was on another car from 1997.

Haven't heard of gas tank replacement as a service item, but i just learnt recently that fuel tank gas caps are. we wrench on them everytime we buy fuel. this totally shattered my universe, lol

Needless to say, I went ahead and put new fuel tank gas gaps on all my cars. Feels good

V8_Fan

If your gas cap fails the emission test due to leak, quick and dirty trick to try is to flip the o-ring inside out. I’ve replaced my gas cap once around 180k mi

BBE4300

That's pretty smart, not going to lie.

StanVanDam

What you should be more concerned about is:
* upper long metal fuel pipe assembly 77201-50080, known to cause fuel filler to click off prematurely (which mine does at some stations)
* lower short rubber hose connecting fuel pipe to fuel tank, 77213-50020 (known to fail and leak, mine has a slow leak if fuel tank is filled past half). New clamps are 90460-37003, may be able to reuse old clamps.
* fuel cap gasket 77316-16010, cheap enough if flipping it inside-out doesn't work for you. Buying a whole new cap is wasteful but not that expensive and comes with a new gasket also.

I have all 4 parts on standby in my box of spare parts, definitely doing the first 2 after winter is over. Note there are no CELs or DTCs when you have issues with those first 2 items.

It is very unnecessary to preemptively drop and replace the fuel tank, unless you put a fibre optic borescope down the tank and visually confirm contamination. Buying Top Tier certified fuel should prevent this issue. However, if you do replace the fuel tank, absolutely ensure that you replace the fuel overfill check valve 77390-50020 and gasket 77177-33010. You likely do NOT need to replace the protective cover 77393-42010, it seems extremely solid, Without dropping the tank (which is not an average DIY job), the easiest way to replace these items is to remove the rear seats and cut through the bottom of the car exactly where the valve is. You'll save a lot of hassle if you change that overfill valve and gasket while your tank is already dropped.

CELSI0R

I'm of the opinion, if it isn't broken or isn't breaking, don't fix it

Sounds like you've taken great care of your car, your gas hasn't had ethanol, and it's only 128k miles

Your gas tank is probably better than most other LS 430s on the road