Gas Leak

[KENTEVER]

Just got home and smelled gas strong looked around and its leaking where from the metal tube that goes from the petcock to the tank it so loose I can move it around. Im draining the gas now. Any ideas on a fix? Is this part welded? New tank? Thanx

[katoranger]

Is your tank metal or plastic? It sounds like you may need a new tank.

Allen

[KENTEVER]

Just got the tank off the metal tube on the bottom of the tank that the petcock goes into is cracked where it is welded to the tank. I should be able to get it rewelded.

[kens97sto171]

This happened to me at about 250 miles... Here is how I fixed it.

Drain the tank and clean the area off with a wire brush.. get all the paint off.

Take some 5 min curing epoxy.. make sure it is rated for some heat, and gasoline.

Spread it around and press it into the crack and you are putting pressure on the petcock. The idea is to open up the crack and get the epoxy down in the cracks.. then I just spread some more around the area, making sure to get some on the tank part, and the tube part. The breaking pressure of the epoxy was like 1500PSI.

After it dried, I took a stick of JB weld, and created a "mound" around the tube, The idea is to create a support structure around that tube connected to the flat part of the tank.

I think they crack like his because the petcock valve is so far from the tank.. that tube is pretty long, and the pressure put on it while turning the valve stresses the "weld".. it really looks more like copper soldering joint or a sweat joint than a true weld.

I have never had a leak since then.. and there is no real danger of messing it up.. if you had to remove that tube from the tank, it would need to be cut out and re welded anyway. Youcan still unscrew the petcock from the tube if you need to replace the petcock valve itself.

I can get you some pics if you want.... only tool me about an hour to do this fix.

Ken

[IronFist]

Take some 5 min curing epoxy.. make sure it is rated for some heat, and gasoline.


I'm a big fan of epoxy but never seen it rated for gas. Are you talking high heat gasket repair goop? Or is it like a Lepages 5 min clear epoxy? I got a different problem but your solution might help me too? Do you have a pic of the product? Available in canada? Thanks :D

[kens97sto171]

I got it at AutoZone.. It said it was rated for solvents, and I thought it mentioned gasoline... It was the kind with 2 syringes, that you squirt together and mix it... cures in 5 min. Really just wanted it to bond to the metal, there should be very little contact with the gas once it is cured.. Also the JB weld would have probably fixed it anyway... I just wanted a double layer of stuff... THe JB really made it nice and supported.

Here is a pic of the JB weld and epoxy.. I think this was the brand.
http://www.jbweld.net/products/jbstik.php

http://www.jbweld.net/img/jbstik_lrg.jpg

Here is the epoxy I used.. pretty sure it was this one, or one similar to it.. just make sure its water proof, and chemical resistant.
http://www.drillspot.com/products/284835/Devcon_I_T_W_21045_25ML_5_Min_Epoxy_Gel

http://www.drillspot.com/pimages/1397/139774_300.jpg


Here is a diagram of how I repaired it.. picture is better than the description I gave.. sorry all I had was MS Paint.. :roll:

http://i170.photobucket.com/albums/u268/kens97sto171/GasTankRepair.jpg


Hope this helps..
Ken

[KENTEVER]

Wow thank you very much yeah I figured I wasnt the only one that has had this problem look like a pretty weak point. Thanx very much for all the work with the diagram and everything. I will get the stuff and do it today ill let you know how it goes.

[IronFist]

Thank-you for your time Ken. Very cool post. I've got both in my tool kit on the bike, but they are different products. I will look for the chem resistant stuff more closely. Next time I'm in Canadian Tire I'll take a Pic of a product, liquid steel. Heat is supposed to harden it. Like JB, but stronger on hot things, like 40 year old muffler holes.

[Sidel]

What ever you do DO NOT ATTEMPT TO WELD AN UNPREPAIRED TANK. you dont want that thing going KaBOOOM in your face. Think safety first!

[IronFist]

I no slobber :lol:

I don't have a welder mig tig stick wire or A/O.

Just lots of epoxies,

[KENTEVER]

Ok did the fix but I used a different epoxy that said it was made for gas tanks looked like the same thing as the JB Weld stick but i thought it might work better. Put it all back together after letting it set overnight. It working good and its not leaking. Ill have to ride it a bit to see how it hold up. Thanx for the help. PS I love the "ride, fix, repeat" lol

[fatboy250]

Some may consider this a PREP item worthy of our prep tread. I used silicon on my petcock and tank on the 07-B tank when I was assembling it. I know it's not "made" for gasoline applications, but it has held up over 2500 miles and the 07-A tank about 15k miles.