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]

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.

Originally Posted by toffo

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

[Speedy]

Hmmm,

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

[Speedy]

BLIMEY!!!!

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!!??

Originally Posted by Speedy

BLIMEY!!!!

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]

Originally Posted by toffo

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!

[Speedy]

Originally Posted by toffo

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!

Originally Posted by Red ones

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?