Leaking petrol tank

[Speedy]

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.

Originally Posted by Speedy

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...

[steveg]

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



Anybody used it before?

[Sid Squid]

Originally Posted by toffo

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.

Originally Posted by toffo

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.

Originally Posted by toffo

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 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]

Originally Posted by toffo

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.

Originally Posted by toffo

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.