Hole in new gas tank

I installed a new plastic gas tank in my 75 cj5 and have only ran 1 and 1/2 tanks of gas through it. I went wheeling yesterday and a limb punched a hole in the front side about a 1/4 of the way up on the tank. Is there anyway i can patch this hole and it hold? The hole is about the size of a dime.

 

My dad once patched a hole like that by taking the cap off a beer bottle to use as a washer, scraping some window putty off the window, and punching a bolt through it, then attaching it to the gas tank. I don't know all the other particulars because I was only 7 at the time.

I imagine you could do something similar using modern materials. But it will likely mean removing the tank to start repairs. I can see a bolt and two washers with some kind of fuel specific gasket material between each and the inside, and outside of the tank. Tighten the bolt to squeeze the washers and gaskets onto the tank and you're done.

 

I didn't think of that seems like it should work. Gess im going to remove it and head to napa and see what they got.

 

The junkyard uses a rubber squeeze plug for patching drain pans after they drain the engine oil and transmission fluid. If the hole is not too ragged, don't see why it wouldn't work with some RTV on it.

 

iF YOU CAN GET TO IT THROUGH THE FUEL SENDER ACCESS ON TOP, YOU MIGHT TRY A STAINLESS STEEL BOLT AND NUT WITH NYLON WASHERS,,,

 

Do ya have funds and time... most of us DO NOT? If so... suggest the following: Safely remove the remaining fuel from your damaged fuel tank. Remove the fuel sender and vent lines.. now, take your damaged fuel tank to a local Radiator repair facility... they will be able to repair this puncture.

Otherwise, we went with the stainless bolt, larger SST fender washers with rubber grommets (were from an old toilet unit repair bag..lol, I know what yall are thinking... only an ol Marine?) facing within and on the outside of the fuel cell... before placing all in position... used some Brake-Kleen to prepare the surface and then a small amount of Permatek on inside and outside... then the rubber grommets on inner and outside and squeeze the fender washers with the SST bolt/washer just enough to make a good secure repair... Oh... ensure to only use a SST bolt that is a few threads long enough to complete the install... I know this sounds in depth... but my friend just completed a similar repair on his fuel tank as well and all went well... but had to repair again due to the rubber grommets moving... thus the second time we utilized the Permatek-2 and the grommets were fine and the permatek on the bolt threads helped ensure a thorough seal thru-out! :AMC:

Good luck and please take some digital images for all to enjoy... sorry we were out West when we completed our repair... otherwise we would have visually documented as well... guess our fix was kinda in the rough and lucky we had between us everything we needed within our Jeep emergency fix/ repair boxes!

Gunner

 

If you use RTV sealer and a bottle cap to seal up the hole, make sure it (the RTV Sealer, not the bottle cap) is designed for use with gasoline. I learned this the hard way when I made a gasket for my sending unit with the other stuff. It ends up not working as a gasket and it comes apart, wanders around in your tank and plugs up your fuel lines.

In addition to Gunners suggestion of using Permatex, there's a product called Seal-All that works great. I carry a tube of this stuff all the time and I've used it succesfully for gas tank leaks several times. It's inexpensive and you can find it at almost any auto parts store. It also works with cracked motorcycle cases leaking oil, but that's a different story.
Wayne

 

You might try Shoe Goo. Dries to a hard, flexible seal, sticks to plastic very well, and is tough. May not dry when exposed to gas vapors though ... instructions imply that it is not soluble after curing.

 

its plastic right? id try and use a soldering iron with a flat tip and melt it back together. then wipe the inside with that seal-all stuff. it works good i use it alot

 

http://www.duckworksmagazine.com/06/howto/drain/index.htm

Here's an idea, no need to pull the tank. I've never tried this...just thinking ouside the box. I probably wouldn't want to do something like this long term.

Not sure where you would buy one, but you insert it from the outside and then it squeezes to make a seal. It would probably work if you were in a pinch.

-Chris

 

Thanks for the info guys. I ended up getting some felpro gasket material from napa and I had some stainless bolts and 2" washers with a 3/8" hole in them. I cut the gasket material the size of the washers the sending unit hole is smaller than a snuff can so I took a piece of stainless tie wire and wraped it around the threads on the bolt with 1 washer and gasket and fished the wire through the sending unit hole into the hole that needed repaired. Once I got the bolt threw the hole i removed the wire carefull to not let the bolt fall into the tank and put another gasket and washer on the out side with RTV sealer on both sides of the gasket and around the nut. I used a long enough bolt that i could hold the threads with a pair of channel locks while I tightend the nut with a openend wrench. I let it sit for about 2 days while I built a skid pan that completely covers the whole gas tank then installed both the tank and skidpan filled her up with gas and no leaks so far its had gas in it for about 3 days.