I wonder if anyone can help. I have a hole in my petrol tank and wonder if i could bung it up with something so I don't have to either have to have it replace it or get a large bill from my mechanic.
Plastic Padding 'Leak Fix'. Designed for the job. I've never used it, so can't offer any opinion as to it's effectiveness. In any case I think I would only regard it as a temporary measure. Depending on the car, it might be relatively easy to replace with a good tank from a breakers. Mike.
================ 'Petropatch' from most car accessory shops will make a reasonable repair but regard it as a temporary measure only. Replace the tank with new or good second hand or replace the car!
================ Petrol tanks can be welded but it's rarely worthwhile because a replacement tank would probably cost less than a good repair.
As far as patching with 'Petropatch' is concerned - it certainly is a bodge by present day standards. But 'Petropatch' has been in use for many years (more than 40 years as far as I can remember) and I think that car fires directly attributable to its use are very rare. It was marketed as a reliable repair in the days when spares were less readily available than they are today, so it's still useful as a temporary repair. Better a patched tank than a leaking tank!
I had this problem a few years back on my old Orion and wanted to do a quick repair till I could get a replacement tank, but when I started to clean the area I discovered the hole thing was perforated and it was onlly the muck and rust that was stopping it leak more, so you may find that you have to repair the hole bottom of your tank.
Oddly enough I'm not. If you no nothing about a fuel tank and just assume it's got to hold fuel then patching it would seem to be quite reasonable. The fact that it needs some crash worthyness as well and a petropatch will fail to give that is probably lost on most people, including a reasonable number of competent mechanics.
PC Paul ( snipped-for-privacy@home.com) gurgled happily, sounding much like they were saying :
Not really.
There's quite a lot of specialised commercial products to clamp magnets round your fuel line, or put a kiddies windmill in the intake tract, or put non-stick goop in the oil, too.
Does that mean they're not "totally harebrained ideas"
Ok here's my experience of fixing a petrol tank! I'm NOT suggesting anyone do this btw! I had a oldish bmw and removing the tank is a helluva job as it straddles the transmisssion tunnel and entails all sorts of things like removing the exhaust etc. Anyway I could clearly see where the SMALL holes was and it was due to corrosion. I disconnected the battery, and thoroughly cleaned the area with a fine-BRASS-wire brush. NB NOT a steel wired one or any ferrous wires of any wire than will may cause a spark. This list of nono's may well include emery papers (I don't know) - I wasn't sure so didn't try it. Needless so say the tank was drained to below the level of the hole! After that, I used a well-mixed coat of araldite. After 24 hrs setting two other layers. NO PAINT on top. This allowed anyone in the future to clearly see the "bodge".
This was an emergency repair only and 1 month later I go hold of a new tank and fitted it (sigh).
A couple of things... First of all DO NOT weld the tank. This needs to be done by someone who knows that he is doing. The tank will probably have to be removed from the vehicle anyway - and filled with water to remove the vapour. It's the petrol vapour that is particularly dangerous ie It can explode! The vapour will remain there - EVEN IN AN EMPTY TANK. That's not to say a full tank is safe of course - it may well catch fire - then explode. So don't weld it!
Second (as someone has already said), the bodge fix while probably perfectly adequate (if done well) from preventing a leak (as the petrol tank pressure is not that high and if the hole is near the top, is not under great pressure from the weight of fuel), is NOT safe from an impact point of view. This is probably where the real danger lays. A slight bang/buckle and that patch could (probably will) fracture or come off completley - and then it's highly dangerous. The only real safe solution is get a new tank.
I hope this description will not put-off people posting what may well be "dumb" questions". We can all learn from things like this. Hopfully the OP will have in this case.
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