leaking fuel tank

87rxturbo · Post by **87rxturbo** » Sun Feb 20, 2011 11:09 pm

Everytime i pull up all i can smell is fuel,and when i looked under the car there was a small wet patch of petrol under the car.I decided to jack it up and remove the diff brace and tank,but from what i could see all the fuel lines looked ok,however there seems to be a wetpatch at the bottom of the tank.After having a quick look i couldnt really find where or if it has a hole,unless its cracked or rusted along the seems.
My question,is do these tanks tend to rust,or could it be something else? Maybe i should just replece the tank,anyone have any ideas ,or even a spare tank laying around! The car is a 87 rx turbo,cheers.

steptoe · Post by **steptoe** » Mon Feb 21, 2011 9:49 am

It is gonna depend on its life really. Not too hard to remove to inspect. There is the fatter line to the pump and small smaller lines up the the vapour chamber inside the RHS of the boot just near inside the filler. Likely to stuff the clamps so prepare to get some small hose clamps say from a tractor specialist place, they are like 8mm closed. Leave DOJs of rear axles connected but just drop the diff from its hanger _CAREFUL diff does not fall on you or your body. EASIER though to unscrew and prise up the tacky black gunk sealed inspection plate access hole from in the boot to pull the sender unit out and have a peek inside an empty tank in sunlight. I found some rusty crap in mine, pulled it out, treated it with acid _ BURNS EYES AND SKIN TOO , washed out with neutralising carb soda and lotsa water. Subareck in Adelaide somewhere may be good for new tank or advice, or member rising sun steve

sven '2' · Post by **sven '2'** » Mon Feb 21, 2011 10:45 pm

20+ year old car - with Adelaide's crap fuel, probably rusted thru and is weeping.

If after checking the hoses as suggested, and if that is not the cause, just buy a secondhand tank - U-Pull-It or Subawreck as mentioned is a good start. There is a wrecker on South Rd, Richmond that has built quite a stock of Ls...not sure of prices but.

You need only an EFI tank - no need to hunt an RX specific one (better not to disclose this!)

steptoe · Post by **steptoe** » Tue Feb 22, 2011 12:28 pm

Thare's another good wanted item I tossed :(i

Post by **yarney** » Tue Feb 22, 2011 5:17 pm

I had a club member come and show me his fuel tank from a 97 Forester.
He said it was leaking but couldn't find it either till he took the tank out. He had a lot of dirt on top of the main section of the tank. There is a dip in the middle and there it was rusted through from the outside i have never seen that before.
The car had crossed the deserts at least 8 times in it's life and over time all that bull-dust stuck up there, he had put a dint in the bottom of the tank when offroading and it cracked the tar looking stuff on the top of the tank. With a crack in it and the dirt build up then getting wet it started to rust.

Jan

87rxturbo · Post by **87rxturbo** » Sat Feb 26, 2011 7:35 pm

Thanks everyone for their inputs,found out my tank had a small repair on it on it previously from the blob of solder/putty or whatever they used,so must have had a previous leak besides the main wet patch.Ended up seeing the boys at Subawreck at Parahillls after checking out the northern u pullit and the boys at Richmond,$85 well spent i reckon,hopefully saves me going up in flames,bit of a clean,all looked good,in she went ,fuel and away we go! Think i may keep the old 1 just as an emergency spare in case mine ever gets spiked or torn,have realised that the fuel enjected tanks arent quiet as common as the carby versions.

spike · Post by **spike** » Sat Feb 26, 2011 9:01 pm

efi tanks are the same as carb tanks EXCEPT!! the thing that bolts in, sender unit and such

i have one here that will be going into a 2wd carby tank

steptoe · Post by **steptoe** » Sun Feb 27, 2011 12:10 am

do the efi tanks have the anti swirl baffles that the efo tanks have to separate them from carby tanks? There is like baffles around the pick up from memory, 12mm outlet too eh?

Gannon · Post by **Gannon** » Sun Feb 27, 2011 7:11 am

Im pretty sure that all the tanks have baffles. Otherwise fuel would slosh from side to side whenever you went round a corner or stopped suddenly.

Yes the EFI tank has a larger outlet to supply the EFI pump.