FUEL TANK REPAIRS

[Matt Braddish]

Filled up with fuel earlier in the month only to get the continual smell of fuel around the Landy over the next few days. Then I noticed a drip coming from the bottom of the tank around the drain plug. I tried the easist of possibilities..........tighten up the drian plug, but this was already tight enough. not wishibg to lose all the fuel, I siphoned it into some tanks that I had and put it in my Saab. yesterday I managed to undo the drain plug with the help of a pole on the end of my wrench and drained the remaining fuel off. Never rely on the fuel gauge, it was reading empty and another 3 gallons came out the drain, fortunately I was prepared with empty containers to hand!
I was suprised at how much rust was sitting in the bottom of the tank, and after cleaning around the whole drain plug area, I have found a couple of tiny holes. I don't know if anyone has ever used 'Quik Steel' but that is what I am going to use to repair the tank. I just hope it is as good as it claims to be. I will let you know!

[landdani]

wish you luck.
My car has some hols in the body and I don`t know how to close them.
perhaps a tissu parts will do the work

[Larosto]

Hi Matt,

I dont`t know wether quick-steel is able to do this job alone. I would try quick-steel for closing the holes, and after drying I would put some sealpack over it for sealing. Sealpack is a kind of silicone,which isn`t destroyed by petrol or oil, and it keeps flexible. I`ve made very good expirience with it.

wish you the best

Horst

[map1275]

You may well find there's more problems between the outer protection plate and the actual fuel tank.

You might be better to remove the sender and take a look inside.

All the tank glues are only a patch repair. You will be looking at a new tank.

I just bought a new Britpart replacement which was a total piece of junk. I'm presently trying to find a genuine item.

[Matt Braddish]

Well Its been in place for a couple of days now and it seems to have cured the leak. I think I was lucky in that I was able to put it in both sides of the holes, ie through the drain plug. It really is one of those products that seems to work and as Horst says, the replacements are rubbish and made of 'Bacofoil' so I think this is the better of the two evils and it only cost me '4 quid'.

[firemanshort]

My Stage One fuel tank started leaking one day, too. It was always damp around the drain plug. But, one day after some serious beating on the rear cross member on an unrelated repair, it started to drip - and then pick up speed over the next few days.

I found that the tank was torn or had a hole in it between the protective outer skin and the tank. This was mentioned above.



I replaced my tank with a Paddocks sourced Britpart tank. It seemed ok to me - not as heavily constructed as the original but it fit properly.


My most serious problem now is that I have the opposite fuel gauge problem. I bought a new sender and float with the new tank. Now my dash needle reads 1/8 a tank and the tank is empty - at least too empty to keep driving. (Ask me how I found that out.)

Longer story about the whole tank is herehttp://gunsandrovers.yuku.com/topic/4823?page=1.

[choc-ice]

My Stage 1 had a new tank fitted just before I bought it, no idea of the manufacturer but it's alright except for the gauge being miles out - when the tank is full the gauge goes just over half way, then goes to Empty after around 70 miles of town driving.

Assuming it's a standard 15 gallon tank even around town at 12mpg I should get 180 miles to a tank, but I just can't drive for long with the needle pointing so low. It's heavy to push

[disco2hse]

The sender is not that difficult to adjust. When the tank is empty set the sender so that the gauge reads empty by undoing it from the top of the tank, take it out and bend the arm. Put it bank in and check the gauge. If it is not in the right place, adjust it again until it is.

Assuming the tank is 60 litres, put in 30 litres of petrol and check the gauge again. Adjust if required. Do the same with a full tank.

[Kiwistage1V8]

My stage 1 tank has a slight seep in it too.

Not looking forward to doing it, sounds like a right shit of a job.

[Larry]

Check the orientation of the float when you put back the sender, it can foul on the baffle and side of tank if not in exactly the correct place leading to incorrect readings.

Mine wouldn't go above 1/4, moved the sender round a few degrees and it now has full travel.

[choc-ice]

Thanks guys!

Errrr, how do I get to the sender? It's a 109 station wagon

[disco2hse]

Should be a plate in the centre of the floor in the back. Take out the plate and under that is the access to the sender. If not, guess you'd have to drop it out.

[stirlsilver]

Ah this brings back memories... when I actually did have a fuel tank.

I only had the car for about a month before noticing that there was a fuel leak in the 60L tank (the car had a 60L & 200L tank). Back then, my friend and I had no experience what so ever, we pulled the tank out and went to all the hassle of patching it with silicone.

When we finished and fitted it back on the car we took a look at the tube and it read something like "Excess can be easily removed with methylated spirits or mineral turpentine"... oh man we weren't happy. After that, I just threw out the 60L tank and ran on the 200L one.

[Bsfaxle]

Add half a cup of methanol or methylated spirits to a full tank of petrol(60 odd litres) every 9 months, if you don't dewater the tank 6 monthly, using the bung. If you do dewater on a regular basis add meths every 16 months.
My tank is rust free (torch inspection through sender hole) after 12 years.
Stitch in time saves nine !