Leaky fueltank

NorBerg,

I am curious too.. I have not started doing any research as to if there is an epoxy that will cure on these tanks. Mine is leaking up around the filler, where the upper mount (with the nut) that holds the tank onto the frame is. The threads are stripped and the nut doesn't hold well, causing my tank to fall off the boss. When I punch it back on in between bumps, it must be chafing a hole.

Can this be fixed for less than $10??? Question of the day...

-Parsko

Try using the materials in the following posts from the defunct Holeshot web site. I have never had to do this myself.

Joe

I managed to wear a small hole in my gas tank where the rubber bushing slide into the gas tank slot. Can a patch the tank temporarily until I get a new one?

John

http://www.devcon.com/devconfamilyprodu ... 0&catid=37

Several folks on this forum have already used and recommend this product. Plastic Welder II. It can be had generally at a good "bearing house", call around. Devcon can mail the product to you directly but there may be a small "HazMat" fee attached given the nature of the product. It works plain and simple. Make sure you flush the tank with some laquer thinner (Home Depot etc.) to get rid of any petrochemical residuals. The area must be absolutely clean of any oils or gas residues. Abrade lightly with 220 grit. How big is the hole? I'm thinking if a small, thin piece of fiberglass mat embedded in the adhesive would help bridge the hole and provide more structural strength. We ripped the gas petcock out of ours and repaired it, 2.5 years of Hare Scrambles and doing fine!



The hole is very small. It drips enough gas to form a small puddle overnight. Unfortunately, it is in a very hard to get to spot.

John


John, once you get the tank off and "prep" it should be relatively straight forward.
The hole was created from the outside so access shouldn't be (I hope) acutely restricted for what you have to do. If the hole is a small as you say it is then this product will definitely help you. Ours had some splits due to the hardware being yanked out. I used a small hacksaw blade to clean the "cracks" and then just filled them in. I was really paranoid about getting it clean using Simple Green, alcohol then laquer thinner rinse. But what the heck, the results were worth it. This stuff just plain works, just prep it like I've suggested and you should be riding in 24 hrs. Good luck.

dkwok


Several folks on this forum have already used and recommend this product. Plastic Welder II.

sir,
my tank has some surface cracks on the right side, can tis be repaired by tis product?


The key word here is "application", take metal welding for instance. Some metals tolerate welding, some will need post weld heat treatment and others can't be welded at all because of a condition called embrittlement. This is from fatigue cracks which are diffuse and abundant, that part has to be replaced. With respect to your problem cracks can be the result of impact which could be likened to fatigue. The cracks also can come from aging of the plastic from long term attack by gas and thermal expansion/contraction from heating and cooling. "Plasticizers" within molded plastic applications are somewhat volatile and over time "dry out". So what I'm trying to say is the nature of these cracks has to be determined and whether Plastic Welder II in this case might be successful. This product will work under the right conditions, try and show the tank to a shop or person with some technical understanding of plastic and have them advise you whether this product could be of use. Sorry for the long post but as good as this product is you just can't apply it and hope for the best. Using the Devcon link, you could contact their engineering/customer service department
and describe your situation. They are very helpful folks and it could be a good opportunity for you. Good luck.

I had the same problem on my 2002 FE501E when it was nearly new, turns out a batch of tanks were made with the area around the gromment mounts too thin and were prone to leak. I discovered mine on the way to a two day ride, we stopped to fuel our bikes and gas started dripping on the trailer. I either had to fix it or turn around and drive 4-hours home. It was late and the only place that was open was Wal-Mart, belive it or not they carry a couple kinds of gas tank repair cement and one was for use with plastic tanks. I applied some, let it set overnight and it has never leaked since. I purchased a new tank just for a piece of mind, but that repair lasted for over a year.

i've just bought a fuel tank and some ***** had tried to drill new holes around the back for the fanny flaps to sit better. what a ***!

so i have a leak now!

will try some petrol resistant mastic. two tiny screws have 99% stopped it but there is a 'creep' stain which i know that i won't be happy about.

i wish i could remember which mastic it was that i used 20 years ago on my fuel tanks :? :?

regards

Taffy

Hi Taffy,

Here is a permanent fix!

www.devcon.com/devconfamilyproduct.cfm? ... 0&catid=37

Joe

thanks joe!

regards

Taffy

Plastic tanks can be welded. It was easy, i washed the tank out real well with hot water and soap, roughed up the repair area and broke out the heavy duty soldering iron. The trick for me was to put enough heat into the area around the repair to melt the tank and the filler rod to get good penetration into the crack. Once I was sure it was bonded well I let it cool then sanded the repair smooth. The only thing was the tank was green and the filler rod was white so the colors did not match, but it worked.

Roger