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Interesting Conundrum.. leaking gas tank


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So I drove my 92 today for the first time in a while.  It previously would drip fuel from the top of the tank if I filled it completely.  It was by no means bad and I figure do had some time before getting it fixed.  I planned on doing it this spring.

 

Today I filled it to about 3/4 tank like I've always done and used it to haul some stuff.  It's been sitting in my garage now for about 12 hours and I've got a 2'x2' wet spot under the tank and I can see the fuel dripping.  The tank is soaked and I can see the fuel seaping down the side of it and the leaf spring perch is also soaked and dripping.

 

I put a couple foil pans under it to catch as much as possible but what options do I have with a leaking tank with prolly 10-12 gallons of gas in it?  I also can't do much as far as driving because we are about to get another good helping of snow over the next few days.

 

Edit: I think I already came up with my solution and feel kinda stupid now but I'm gonna try to syphon some out and fill the other vehicles.  Most are pretty full tho so we'll see how much I can get out.

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I've been in worse situations at 2am on a saturday:roflmao:, but that there really sucks. :doh:   you've got the right idea.  just drain it down as best you can.  Can you see the leaking area?  typically it's either the feul pump seal, the fill tube seal or the rust has gotten out of hand. :(

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Filler neck leak usually doesn't cause continuous dripping after a fill. If it is dripping when 3/4 full it is highly likely that it is going to be the fuel pump seal. Drain down to half a tank and see if the leak stops. If it does then the seal is probably the culprit.

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5 hours ago, Pete M said:

I've been in worse situations at 2am on a saturday:roflmao:, but that there really sucks. :doh:   you've got the right idea.  just drain it down as best you can.  Can you see the leaking area?  typically it's either the feul pump seal, the fill tube seal or the rust has gotten out of hand. :(

 

4 hours ago, Jeep Driver said:

Shouldn't be too difficult to get underneath with a flashlight and find where it's coming from. 

 

I looked around when I first found it was leaking a few months back and it seemed to be coming from the top of the tank but on the frame side so I really couldn't see anything.

 

This time, the entire driver's side and rear of the tank was completely soaked and steadily dripping.  It had even soaked the frame rail and it was dripping out of the front leaf spring mount.  I'm guessing it rusted through somewhere up top because the tank is pretty much covered in rust.

 

I got probably 9 gallons or so out of it so it should only have a couple left in it.  It stopped dripping so I'm no longer worried about gallons of gasoline spilling all over my garage.

 

I've got a new tank and straps on the way from Rock Auto, I will drop the tank soon and order any other parts I need.

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I had a similar sort of leak after cruising over a deer a couple years ago. I didn't initially notice after checking it over, but a friend pointed out the drip. It didn't seem like that big a leak so I wasn't super concerned, but upon closer inspection I saw a hairline crack running along the back end of the tank. My insurance paid for a new tank, $0 deductible because wildlife, but it was a six-month process for the body shop to figure out whether or not they were allowed to proceed and then track down a tank (Rock Auto, like seriously), and I'm pretty sure they fired the claims person who agreed to cover it instead of just writing off my 26-year-old 330,000-mile truck part-way trough the process. :/

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