Badly leaking fuel tank

GingerPuss · Mar 21, 2009

Hi folks,

After boasting to my brother that my SWB S3 is more reliable than his Merc.. it has gone from having a slight whiff of petrol to ****ing it out as I drive down the road. I had a look underneath and the inner wall of the tank looks shot through with corrosion (pics below):

http://www.ukscience.org/tank

..So it looks like I will need to put in a new tank!

My question here is.. obviously I don't intend puffing away on a Marlboro while dropping the leaking (still 20% of fuel remaining) tank and fitting the new one.... but the job looks deceptively easy (which worries me). Looks like all I have to do is undo sender wire, filler/breather pipes and fuel line connection from under the drivers seat and then the row of nuts on either side of the tank to drop it down. BUT.. is it really that easy ??

Can anyone who has done this before offer me any advice before I start?

Cheers

Mseries3 · Mar 21, 2009

They can be a bastard and require the sill taking off... But it is possible to do it as you said Btw There is a drain plug, I would recommend draining the tank before you take it out

brnocz · Mar 21, 2009

i did the tank on mine with no problems as the last person stated drain the tank first, also use a trolly jack to support the tank when undoing the bolts,replacement is just as easy, and if you have some paint give it a few coates before fitting

109party · Mar 21, 2009

on mine i took it off but i blooming wish i had spent the time to drain it as when you take it off it weighs alot more on ya head than u think

90truckcab · Mar 21, 2009

yeah , they are easy once you have done it !
as you say disconnect fuel line,
take off sender unit
filler pipe and expansion breather off
undo all bolts inc brackets, let down weight of tank on small jack
remove ally sill, then the steel section sill behind that and the tank will drop forewards, easy
the refitting is the reverse of the above,
easy

Dopey · Mar 21, 2009

I went and fitted a stainless steel one, will last forever now, one less thing to worry about

109party · Mar 21, 2009

see ya being nice n gentle dopey you can stack em higher than that

Dopey · Mar 21, 2009

I don't like to have too much wear on the front tyres, and light steering makes it a breeze to steer (providing the front wheels are on the road!!) the good thing is a euro pallet fits in exactly!!! a good thing to know

GingerPuss · Mar 22, 2009

Thanks for all the advice guys... didn't know the sill would have to come off as well... lots of fun with the WD40 and skinless knuckles to be had me thinks.

Dopey.. your braking must be fun with half a builder's yard of bricks in the back !!

Mseries3 · Mar 22, 2009

GingerPuss said:
Dopey.. your braking must be fun with half a builder's yard of bricks in the back !!

Apparently they drive amazing with heavy weighs in the back

Maybe that is why mine drives so well if my.... Not better not say that

Dopey - Where did you get the stainless tank from and how much if you don't mind be asking?

90truckcab · Mar 22, 2009

Mseries3 said:
Apparently they drive amazing with heavy weighs in the back Maybe that is why mine drives so well if my.... Not better not say that

Dopey - Where did you get the stainless tank from and how much if you don't mind be asking?

been out this morning with the generator , compressor and snapon box piled in the back and a 4 full rolls of armoured cable, the handling was great , if yers look the back is slightly higher than the fron any way , if your on coil springs, measure the gaps unloaded of the springs eg 30mm between coils, then load it till its down to 15mm between coils and its well balanced, will drive just fine, same with leaf springs, measure between axle and top of spring, then half it,

oooh a stainless tank? where from again? i likes the sounds of that , were it made special or off the shelf ?

got my series2 completely stripped now, am looking for a twin tank set up , were thinking down the stainless line too.

Mseries3 · Mar 22, 2009

Aye, I know someone who back in the day had a Ex-Mod LWB Series 1... Said it drove like a fooking dream when he had massive concrete posts in the back

90truckcab · Mar 22, 2009

Mseries3 said:
Aye, I know someone who back in the day had a Ex-Mod LWB Series 1... Said it drove like a fooking dream when he had massive concrete posts in the back

yeah , they certainly do, am still trying to find a stainless tank, u found one yet?

bloody google letting me down again!

Mseries3 · Mar 22, 2009

Nope not found one yet....

90truckcab · Mar 22, 2009

thers a few sites but no prices? grrr

Davec · Mar 22, 2009

GingerPuss said:
Thanks for all the advice guys... didn't know the sill would have to come off as well... lots of fun with the WD40 and skinless knuckles to be had me thinks.

Dopey.. your braking must be fun with half a builder's yard of bricks in the back !!

Pretty sure you don't need to take the sill off, but I can see it would make life easier. Can't be sure as I haven't had sills on mine for years, but I'm sure I've done it with the sills in place.
It's not a technically difficult job, but can be a right pig to do, especially if the tank or outrigger have suffered off road damage!

90truckcab · Mar 22, 2009

Davec said:
Pretty sure you don't need to take the sill off, but I can see it would make life easier. Can't be sure as I haven't had sills on mine for years, but I'm sure I've done it with the sills in place.
It's not a technically difficult job, but can be a right pig to do, especially if the tank or outrigger have suffered off road damage!

thers easy enough to do yes, but its the actual metal sill section thats to the bulkhead not the alluminium outer sill that has to come off, to give you the room to tilt the tank foreward , its worse on a 90 as the outriggers and radius arm mountings are at an angle to the chassis and the tank sits on top of them, i have no sills either as they dont last too long off road ! as long as the tank will drop out its easy , if its been dented or pushed up at any point its a bit tricky

Graham I W · Mar 22, 2009

Hi people, new member and first post. Regards the leaking fuel tank, I had one with same disease many years ago,the told me how to make a temporary fix, it was so easy I did not believe her. Take a bar of soap and rub it over the holed area until you get some build up of saop. it only took a few minutes for the leak to stop was maybe 3-4 weeks before I got round to fixing the tank but I only did it the once. Might be worth a try if the hole is not to big mine was about 2-3 mm and several of them.

Graham

90truckcab · Mar 22, 2009

Graham I W said:
Hi people, new member and first post. Regards the leaking fuel tank, I had one with same disease many years ago,the told me how to make a temporary fix, it was so easy I did not believe her. Take a bar of soap and rub it over the holed area until you get some build up of saop. it only took a few minutes for the leak to stop was maybe 3-4 weeks before I got round to fixing the tank but I only did it the once. Might be worth a try if the hole is not to big mine was about 2-3 mm and several of them.

Graham

welcome to LZ

amazing? i presume it worked , so do you use the soap dry, if so how well does it stick to the tank, did the metal need cleaning or roughing up before soaping? i had a kit once were like a 2part filler, that stuck a petrol tank for a week till i could get another fitted, were quite expensive too if i remember

Sean · Mar 22, 2009

damit or dam-it is what you need

Badly leaking fuel tank

Active Member

Well-Known Member

New Member

Well-Known Member

Well-Known Member

Well-Known Member

Well-Known Member

Well-Known Member

Active Member

Well-Known Member

Well-Known Member

Well-Known Member

Well-Known Member

Well-Known Member

Well-Known Member

New Member

Well-Known Member

Active Member

Well-Known Member

Banned

Similar threads