BTC

This may not be the best forum for this question, but I figured it might get more views here than in the fuel & ignition sub-forum. Feel free to move it if you're so inclined.

Long story short, I put my car in storage in October of 2000, pulled it out in 2006 or 2007 and started working on getting it running, at which point it needed new "everything", including a fuel tank.

This past weekend I finally got it out to drive after 17 years of "sitting". The first thing I did was take it to a gas station to "fill it up". The brand new Spectra fuel tank we put on it a few years ago appears to be leaking and as best we can tell it's where the filler neck enters the tank. This was the first time the tank had been filled up, but we have been putting gas in it over the last several years, five gallons at a time via gas can, without issues.

I've attached a couple pics that show the nature of the leak. The gas was running down the driver's side of the tank, dripping onto the exhaust shielding and exiting on the passenger side of the car. I have to admit that was the most awesome part of the "first drive". I almost wanted to drop a match, but that would have probably blown up the entire gas station, along with myself and several innocent bystanders.

The leak eventually stopped when the fuel level reached a certain point and I was able to drive the car, which was a lot of fun after having not driven it in such a long time. It seems to run & drive better than ever with the addition of Kooks headers, GMMG exhaust, Strano springs & Koni shocks.

Has anyone effectively fixed a leak like this with epoxy/JB Weld or other means? I would really like to avoid pulling and replacing/repairing the tank as it can be, or is, a huge PITA.

Chimera96

assuming the leak is not due to a poor fill hose connection and is from the "tank" itself.....you need to pull the tank and replace it.

If it is a metal tank it could be welded. IDK about "repairing" the plastic ones

Given the severity of the leak....gas and hot exhaust can turn the car into a fire pit

BTC

Based upon what we could tell from a visual inspection, it appeared to be leaking from around the fill tube where it enters the tank. Assuming we didn't crack a weld or something installing the tank, the neck just wasn't soldered/welded properly where it enters the tank.

I have no experience with JB Weld, but it does seem like one of its uses is to repair holes in gas tanks. I can only assume it would work filling in the seam around the fill tube, but I'm interested in all options. Epoxy might simply be a temporary solution.

Chimera96

temporary if it does hold at all. Even if it holds I would be concerned for how long

Tank may have had defective weld/solder, damaged in shipping or the hose clamp holding fill hose to tank could be lose

Didn't know the F-body tanks were metal. My B-body is plastic

BTC

Yeah, the tank is metal and the fill tube is just soldered/welded to the tank.

http://www.rockauto.com/en/moreinfo....035874&jsn=452

The tank has a three year warranty, but I'm pretty sure it's been longer than than since I bought it and put it on. It had never been filled beyond 3/4 prior to this past weekend.

JB Weld has a couple items that could potentially work.

https://www.jbweld.com/collections/w...xy-putty-stick
https://www.jbweld.com/products/j-b-weld-tankweld

Injuneer

The F-Body went to a larger (16.8 gal) plastic tank in 1999 model year, replacing the 15.5 gallon steel tank they had since 1982. My car has been sitting unused in the garage for several years. I'm concerned about corrosion in general, and particularly at the bottom/rear of the tank, where we welded a -10AN Connection for an outboard fuel pump. That was 17 years ago........

BTC

When we first got my car out of storage, one of the first things we identified that needed to be replaced was the fuel pump. I bought an aftermarket brand at AutoZone and it failed rather quickly. We pulled the tank and it was full of rust, which is what I attributed to the short life of the pump. I considered getting the factory tank lined, but ended up buying the tank that's on it right now, along with a new AC Delco pump and sending unit. If I were guessing, I would say the current tank has been on there at least five years, and probably longer. At this point, we've been messing with the car now for 10+ years. I should probably be hoping the new tank doesn't have any rust.

Any idea if the newer plastic tanks are a direct fit for the earlier models that came with the metal tanks. Any differences in the pumps, sending units etc.? I would assume there are probably some differences that would prevent it from simply being a direct swap.

Injuneer

The plastic tank probably "fits" in the available space, but GM made so many changes to the design that adapting it to the 93-97 pump, connections, and EVAP system seem like a swap would be difficult. One good thing... the plastic tank has a removable fill pipe, making that part easier. But as a result, brackets are different, plastic insert in the fender appears different, etc.

This describes the install of a plastic tank in a 1998 and it sounds difficult but doable. Has a picture of the 1999-2002 tank.

https://ls1tech.com/forums/fueling-i...-write-up.html

BTC

This is an old thread, but I just wanted to post a follow up. We did end up using JB Weld to repair the leaks in my tank. The welds around the fill tube were completely cracked, more than likely by us during the nightmarish install that is the gas tank on these things. We likely applied the JB Weld back in 2017, but I had avoided topping off the tank until Thanksgiving or Christmas of 2023. There were no apparent leaks, but I did drive the car quite bit right after filling up just to run some gas out of the tank to avoid or reduce prolonged exposure of the JB Weld to gasoline. So far, so good, I guess.