Fuel tank vandalism

[phantom309]

Truck was parked for the holidays behind the yard at work,.,.HAD a full tank of fuel,.
some cretin drilled a small hole and drained the fuel,..and spilled the last gallon or two onto the ground,.

Gasser fuel tanks the same??

Has anyone used a repair epoxy on a diesel tank with success?


AAARGHH!!

nick

[DmaxMaverick]

Bummer! Do you have comprehensive insurance? If so, it should cover vandalism. Property liability insurance should also cover it.

Otherwise, I wouldn't "patch" the tank. You can use a gasser tank, as the only difference is the sending unit.

[DieselDavy]

Nick,
Go to Auto Zone or other parts store and get a plug. (similar to the ones used in boat drains.) You may have to drill the hole out to fit the drain plug, but it works great. Once in the whole, you crank it tight and it SEALS! I've used it before even on the beginning of an edge of a tank. (not too far into the corner)
The patch kits won't work at all or for long.
Let us know how it works out.

[sctrailrider]

Depending on how big the hole is, I have used a screw & rubber washer to just screw it in, I have a tank that has been like that for about 10 yrs now....

[phantom309]

unfortunantly there won't be an insurance claim,. to many ramifications for rates later on,. if i,m going to make a claim its gonna be for the whole darn truck,.

now putting a boat bung in sounds interesting BUT the tank has an outer skin,. a plastic skin,.then the tin tank,.i'm going to try roughing around the hole with a dremel,.then gobbing it up and screwing a pan head sheet metal screw in,.then globbing it up over top of it,
Permetex makes a kit thingy, which i got today,.its drywall patch tape, with two part expoxy which u knead together then press it on,. not going to use the patching stuff just the epoxy,
IF i still have grief,. then the tank 'll come out,. up side down and it'll get soldered.

After some better detective work in the daylight,.we figure they thought the truck was a gasser,.. there is a huge lake of diesel thats seeped into the snow bank,.
Illegitimate, dung eating, rectal orifices!!!

Nick

[sctrailrider]

That 2 part putty stuff is what I used also, it is still there today covering the screw...

"A country boy can survive"

[mrwilecoyote]

They are not that much money aftermarket. I think I paid like 130$ for a new tank for my Dually from Advance with shop discount. It was pretty easy to change.

[trbankii]

I'd really hate to put in a new tank and have them come back...

[greatwhite]

trying to look for the silver lining:

On a more positive note, the hardest part of a tank change is already done.

The tank is dead empty.......:mad:

[phantom309]

I drug the truck in the shop sat afternoon,.
came back sunday lunchtime. It had thawed out and warmed up nicely and the floor was dry so,...
i used the 4 inch grinder and cut a 3x3" square out of the plastic outer cover,.
i then roughed up about a 2" square around the hole,.(about a 3/16ths hole)
I used a permatex repair kit, it had a nice lump of Mastic putty which is impervious to diesel or gas,.I used a punch and beveled the hole inwards(upwards??) a little, to stop the seeping of fuel,( yes even an empty tank,.).worked the putty into the hole and made a nice round shaped flat blob which covered the hole about 1/2 inch all the way around, the two part epoxy that is next needs to be mixed thoroughly, it smells and feels exactly like JB weld! spread it over the putty,and either side of it about an inch,.then layed in the fibreglass cloth and squished it into the epoxy,.then another coat of epoxy over the top of that squishing it into the fibreglass cloth too,
with the lefter over epoxy, i "glued" the plastic piece back in, using small bits of epoxy soaked rag to cover the gap,
I didn;t think that damn black goo was ever going to set,.i get using the little brush to push the drips back up,.
10 mins later it was good n tacky, so i went and got a 5 gal can of fuel,.
20 mins later the patch was almost dry to the touch so i poured the fuel in,.
hot wired the fuel pump thru the aldl connector,bled the filter ,. cranked it twice for about 30 secs each,. and the third try she kicked and lit off just fine,.
No leaks yet!!!

nick