Fuel Leak R33

[ThirtyThree]

Hi,

Just noticed my 33 has a bit of a fuel leak after being able to smell it in a big way every time I filled up

after having a look underneath I can see that it is actually laking as I can see where it appears to have been fuel running down the tank and over all the rear suspension bits.

Question is, is it common for these tanks to crack at all? Im thinking highly unlikely although just wanted a bit of a heads up before i start pulling stuff apart. at this point im thinking its coming from the top screw cap that you open to get to the fuel pump.

Any ideas/experiences?

cheers

[tridentt150v]

I'd check the rubber o ring out that the fuel pump is under, and easy say 20 minute fix.

Also check around the filler cap area, when they comply the cars they have to install an ADR approved cap, some compliance guys just cut and shut but don't reseal. Check if your cap etc will spin if you twist it? If it does its just sitting there and neads resealing. Use a product called Sikaflex and it will reseal the compliance cap to the original filler neck. Its a urethane based product, so have heaps of rags handy and clean up with WD40. Don't use it on your o ring etc because once its set, you'll never get it apart again.

[ThirtyThree]

thanks mate

i was suspecting that runnber o ring...

I do notice though on my fuel filler the neck isnt fixed it seems to flex around alot in that rubber housing etc..

[ThirtyThree]

Has anyone heard of fuel tanks cracking? thats my only stress at this point.. seals i can fix easy enough

[CARSICK]

Have you had any rear end damage prior to your ownership?

Thanks to Post #2 BTW. Good info!

[ThirtyThree]

Nah mate not that I know of. Have changed the O-ring and tightened it al up - will see how it goes

[-Dukes-]

Has anyone heard of fuel tanks cracking? thats my only stress at this point.. seals i can fix easy enough

Yeah, usually happens a) if a car has been off road and tank is slammed on roads of something b) as mentioned above if the car has been hit. c) older car

also I've heard of people drill holes in theirs by accident.

[Josh_TypeX]

Having the same problem. Checked the O-ring and sure enough that needed replacing. That got back the woosh sound when opening the tank, however the smell and leak remained. So I jacked up the car to check where it was leaking from (since the filler neck showed no signs of leaking) and it appears to be leaking from where the filler neck meets the tank. Any advice would be much appreciated.

Thanks, Josh

[tridentt150v]

If its not structurally damaged, if it is still solid, I'd just use some tank sealer putty. You can get that at Repco or whatever, will work easy, just smear it on and push/work it in around the critical area. Its made for quick repairs on fuel tanks.

If its flexing and looks like it will get worse, its a tank out job. There are shops around that will weld a tank up, I 've done it before myself, you drain it, let it dry out, find a diesel motor and start it up, feed the exhaust fumes into the tank with a hose and while it is running, weld the tank up [mig is best, but oxy will work as well, arc is too much for the thin metal of a tank unless your a genius welder]. The exhaust fumes stop any big bang, they are carbon monoxide/dioxide plus other stuff and stop or supress any flame. A petrol engine will also work, but its not quite as safe. I've heard of guys using CO2 bottles as well.

An alternative to that is someone with a big soldering iron and solder it up. I've never seen fuel fumes ignite off a hot soldering iron. But soldered joints are not as strong as weld, but they can be pretty strong, many solder repairs have lasted years on fuel tanks and radiators.

A word of caution, its not for the novice [practice on something else] or the faint hearted, so if you can't weld don't try it yourself.

The last alternative is another tank, but who's to say it won't happen again.

[Craved]

R33 fuel tanks are plastic

[philta]

84ULP is the part number a cpc fuel cap. i think they are about $20 from your local auto store.

replacing the cap reduced the smell of fuel on my car, but still *shhhhhhhhhhhh* on a hot day. fuel does evaporate at a very low temp so i dont worry about it too much, worst things is having highly compressed fumes in your car and getting a static spark when u are fueling up, so losing approx 20ml of fuel through a non tight cap isnt much of a waste/risk.

btw how many kms do u get out of a full tank?

Edited October 20, 2008 by philta