View Full Version : Leaking petrol tank
Noticed a few days ago that i had a trail of dried petrol running down the left hand side of the frame.
After further investigation and lifting the tank up i noticed a small crack underneath the tank where a minute amount of petrol was leaking out.
I scraped away a bit of paint and poked around which caused the leak to get a whole lot worse, i had to get the tank off and drain the petrol out (not the easiest thing in the world to do without a on/off switch)
Anyway after further probing the tank has 3 holes in it, left handside bottom of tank near the seat.
What i want to know is;
Is this a common problem and has anyone else had this trouble.
Is it repairable and would anyone risk welding it.
Will i need a new tank
How much is a new tank
Also does anyone know where to get a replacement tank or has anyone got a yellow tank for sale
My bike is a naked 99 model.
How can a tank rust from the inside out so quickly
Thanks in advance.
Biker Biggles
18-06-06, 03:52 PM
There is a more common leak when the overflow pipe rusts through,but in your case I would get on Ebay and look for another tank.If it has rusted through in three places,I don't think it will stop there even if you could get it repaired.You can get one really cheap if you don't mind a small dent or two,but a smart one will set you back a bit.
Noticed a few days ago that i had a trail of dried petrol running down the left hand side of the frame.
After further investigation and lifting the tank up i noticed a small crack underneath the tank where a minute amount of petrol was leaking out.
I scraped away a bit of paint and poked around which caused the leak to get a whole lot worse, i had to get the tank off and drain the petrol out (not the easiest thing in the world to do without a on/off switch)
Anyway after further probing the tank has 3 holes in it, left handside bottom of tank near the seat.
What i want to know is;
Is this a common problem and has anyone else had this trouble. It had been known in the past but would not call it a common problem.
Is it repairable and would anyone risk welding it. It's a whole heap of effort to do this and more than likely not cost effective to do so.
Will i need a new tank Basically yes
How much is a new tank LOTS over £300 from Suzuki
Also does anyone know where to get a replacement tank or has anyone got a yellow tank for sale. Ebay is your best bet. I picked up one with the smallest dint in the side for £35
My bike is a naked 99 model. So you can do a search for an SV tank all the way up to and including 02
How can a tank rust from the inside out so quickly. It can happen. Just bad luck it's your tank. Rust spreads like the plague when it sets in
Thanks in advance. Your welcome
Hmmm, :-k
I've heard of people welding petrol tanks for cars,they just fill them with water before they start to weld.Avoiding the possibilities of fire/explosions.
thanks for speedy replies
Bloody hell 300 quid! but im off the road until i get it sorted.
Here is the place of the holes
http://i68.photobucket.com/albums/i7/taffytoffee_2006/DSCF1071.jpg
http://i68.photobucket.com/albums/i7/taffytoffee_2006/DSCF1072.jpg
BLIMEY!!!! :shock:
That looks like one of the 'lowest' points of the tank,also,the bike when parked,would lean to the left,making it EVEN lower!!!
I would say that is the result of Water sitting in the tank,it tends to sink to the bottom in fuel,causing it to rust.
Water is sometimes found in 'dirty' petrol station tanks,and when they get low on fuel,the pumps drag it up.
I still recon you could get that repaired,it's worth a phone around!!??
BLIMEY!!!! :shock:
That looks like one of the 'lowest' points of the tank,also,the bike when parked,would lean to the left,making it EVEN lower!!!
I would say that is the result of Water sitting in the tank,it tends to sink to the bottom in fuel,causing it to rust.
Water is sometimes found in 'dirty' petrol station tanks,and when they get low on fuel,the pumps drag it up.
I still recon you could get that repaired,it's worth a phone around!!??
Yeah you could be right speedy because when i drained the tank a fair amount of rusty coloured crap came out and formed globules in the fuel -water?- i was wondering wether water could have got in the tank through the filler cap but your explanation of the petrol pump situation could be correct.
I am going to take the tank to the bike shop tomorrow to see what they suggest and to see if they can possibly repair it.
Red ones
18-06-06, 08:16 PM
im off the road until i get it sorted.
Rubbish! Slap some Araldite over the area (and the same place on the opposite side of the tank for safe measure) This will give you at least another month for you to find a replacement tank! Worked many times for me!
Yeah you could be right speedy because when i drained the tank a fair amount of rusty coloured crap came out and formed globules in the fuel -water?- i was wondering wether water could have got in the tank through the filler cap but your explanation of the petrol pump situation could be correct.
Where I work,(Garage),we have a Petrol station,the tanks have to be 'cleaned' every so often.
The tanks are not supposed to be run low enough to suck the rubbish up!
Anyway,I recon I could weld that,and my welding is far from excellent!
So someone decent should easily be able to do it!
im off the road until i get it sorted.
Rubbish! Slap some Araldite over the area (and the same place on the opposite side of the tank for safe measure) This will give you at least another month for you to find a replacement tank! Worked many times for me!
I was going to use araldite but was told by someone that it would only last a couple of days if lucky!, anybody else know if araldite is used for this type of repair or is there some other resin type of fix available?
There is a repair paste you can get,made bty the same people who make 'Chemical Metal' it it good,BUT I've only used it on REALLY small holes.
Maybe worth a try if you can't get it repaired. :?
chazzyb
18-06-06, 09:17 PM
There is a repair paste you can get,made bty the same people who make 'Chemical Metal' it it good,BUT I've only used it on REALLY small holes.
Maybe worth a try if you can't get it repaired. :?
I've had a small leak in the tank of one of my bikes temporarily 'fixed' with Chemical Metal for 15 months now. It wasn't an abyss like that though...
I had a zxr tank opened & re welded back together when the internal breather pipe broke .
Got a classic bike mag & through a contact found in them got a new breather pipe fitted to tank .
They opened tank & re -welded for 30 quid !
Sorry don't have the number for the welder .
Then again don't know how much a 2nd hand tank for a sv is , if they are cheap then go for one .
Second hand tanks for a zxr were rare , paid 130 quid for one & guess what the breather pipe was knackered , got refund & had the original tank fixed .
Good luck getting it fixed
Cheers Steve
Thinking of trying this
http://i68.photobucket.com/albums/i7/taffytoffee_2006/991010.jpg
Anybody used it before?
Sid Squid
19-06-06, 07:47 AM
Is this a common problem and has anyone else had this trouble?Seen it several times, very possible the filler well drain pipe/hose is kinked or blocked, the well fills with water and when you open the cap it drops in the tank - thus you rarely if ever see that it's wet in there.
Is it repairable and would anyone risk welding it?Possibly, but if it's welded it'll need painting again - the finish will be ruined. There are other ways to fix it which I have used several times in complete confidence, but, due to the possibility of someone clueless cocking it up, I'm not discussing the process on a open web site.
How can a tank rust from the inside out so quickly?Not quickly at all - your bike is 7 years old, water in the fuel isn't at all unusual so it's had plenty of time to corrode. The problem is far worse with bikes that are unused for long periods, the water, being heavier than the fuel, sinks to the bottom of the tank and rusts it in exactly the places you've described. Bikes used constantly stir up the fuel and the problem is lessened.
I have just spent half hour collecting and pouring petrol from my tank to a bowl........
Same problem..... Noticed some crap down the side of my bike on Sunday.... Thought it was just a bit of bird crap... Anyhow.... Went out, filled the tank...
Got home two hours later. thought.......oooooh, strong petrol smell.
Thought nothing of it till next morning when I found petrol... Hmm, not good I thought.
Anyhow. tonight i thought I would have a look, so I did..... Lifted the tank, and the petrol started to flow... and then it got bigger and bigger as parts of the tank started to fall off!!!!!!! Now I have a hole around half the size of a 1pence piece!!!!! Can't belive it...............
You are not alone................
What I want to know, is what caused it??? It's in a well protected place, and mine contrary to yours is on the right side, away from the lean!!!!!!
Red Tank (99 also) needed ..................
Splosh...
Well splosh bad luck but at least im not alone!
A bloke at work welded my tank today and did a pretty good job of it. great i thought and i couldnt wait to get home and test it but after a few seconds of waiting the b*****d thing still leaks :x not much but it still leaks.
I am now thinking about something called Kreem that you put inside the tank and it recoats the inside.
But i think with the size of the hole in your tank it would be hopeless.
Going to the bike shop tomorrow to see what they suggest and to price up a new tank.
How did you drain yours? i ended up taking the fuel tap off mine.
As to what caused it, well apart from a production fault it can only be water collecting on the bottom of the tank , its weird that yours is on the right hand side though.
After countless attempts to fix the tank with leak fix i have given up and ordered a new tank.
Every time i fixed a leak in one place it would leak from another, splosh, mine also had a hole in the right side of the tank like yours.
Why this has happened can only be down to sitting water in the tank but on a 7 year old bike i think it is still crap.
I also have a 1957 BSA bantam and that tank has never leaked!!
For anybody who has the same problem a new tank is £239.20 plus vat.
I did consider buying one off ebay but the only one available was a blue one and the paint bloke wanted £150 to spray it the correct colour. Also i thought that maybe a similar age tank might have the same problem.
Getting it done next week so at least i will be able to go on the annual rideout!
i had a kawa tank welded years ago. It gave me a lot of problems, as i was going to yugoslavia after. The bike kept breaking down.
it turned out that it had rust in the tank which was clogging up the fuel tap/ system.
used a number of in line fuel filters to complete the trip after cleaning the tank.
if you have rust its worth having a fuel filter fitted.
Sid Squid
24-06-06, 03:44 PM
7 year old bike i think it is still crap.I don't think so, if it's had water in it for any amount of time it will rust. As my above post, there are circumstances where water will get in the tank, not an unknown problem.
Getting it done next week so at least i will be able to go on the annual rideout!Now you're talking - see you there.
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