What to do if you punch a hole in your fuel tank miles from nowhere

[T-One]

Burn your battery and use the molten lead to fix the hole....
No, that's a bad advise, it will work but it's quite toxic, use JB Weld or use your car batteries in series as a primitve DC welder.

 

[Dakota Houligans]

Most epoxy's and patch kids need the repair site to be clean and dry. Carry a candle or bar of soap. you can scrape it across the leak and usually plug it. Temporarily at least. Which will buy you enough time for an epoxy repair. Usually the faster an epoxy dries the weaker it is. I've also used panel bond (it is used to glue auto body panels together) to repair a few fuel tanks. 6 years later and they are still dry.

 

[systemdelete]

I keep a bar of old school dial soap in my rig for this actually. Used it once to get my old bronco home from Knoxville and it worked FAR better than I thought it should have.

 

[Smileyshaun]

take your personal belongings out and light a match , you wanted a new rig anyways

 

[Desert Runner]

Supposedly you can use a bar of ivory soap to temporarily seal a hole in your gas tank.

http://www.ttora.com/forum/59-newbie-tech/75551-ivory-soap-gas-tank.html

I saw this demonstrated on 4Wdrive action(down under)pun intended, on You-tube by the boys in Australia. They were way way back in the bush, miles from any help. They had to apply a new coat of soap quite often, but it worked.

I believe it was Graham Hills vehicle that suffered a fuel tank leak.

 

[Boostpowered]

In a pinch you can jam a plastic bag or piece of umbrella or even a stick in punctured hole. It may not completely stop the leak but it will give you a few more miles than if it were just an open leaking hole. T rex tape to hold the bag etc in and as extra seal is good idea. If your gas tank is plastic jb weld wont stick right and you will leak, plus you will be waiting 24 hrs to cure. Flex seal wont adhere to fuel soaked anything that stuff is glorified plastidip for tool handles, at the very least get some good 100mph tape like t rex tape and cover the hole with multiple patches.

 

[Horse Soldier]

Had a chunk of concrete put a hole on my 68 fast back mustang fuel tank. Walked to a gas station and bought a 1 pack of bubble gum, 5 gallon gas can with gas and then had the 2 women with me chew the gum and plugged the hole. Summer of 1991 in pearl city Hawaii.

 

[Chadlyb]

Had a chunk of concrete put a hole on my 68 fast back mustang fuel tank. Walked to a gas station and bought a 1 pack of bubble gum, 5 gallon gas can with gas and then had the 2 women with me chew the gum and plugged the hole. Summer of 1991 in pearl city Hawaii.

HubbaBubba it is....like it.

 

[madcratebuilder]

I carry JB weld fuel tank repair and then found a much better product. Plug 'n Dike well stop small leaks and plug large holes. I carry 2 tins of the premix.

 

[T.Shack]

This is all great info. So I will be looking up the plug 'n dike.

 

[Horse Soldier]

Burn your battery and use the molten lead to fix the hole....
No, that's a bad advise, it will work but it's quite toxic, use JB Weld or use your car batteries in series as a primitve DC welder.

Not to throw ice water on a person in a hot shower but you will need to remove the fuel tank and purge the tank of fuel to prevent fire or worse before wielding on a fuel tank.

 

[Lunch Box]

I've used this:



with mixed effects. Sure, it fixes gas tanks, radiators, oil pans, etc., just fine, but when I tried it on my wife, it didn't even stop her yapping for more than 4 seconds at a time... Waste of money.

 

[jeep670]

with mixed effects. Sure, it fixes gas tanks, radiators, oil pans, etc., just fine, but when I tried it on my wife, it didn't even stop her yapping for more than 4 seconds at a time... Waste of money.

Hahahaha. You may need to use multiple packs for that.
I heard installing a subwoofer under their seat quiets them down. [emoji1787]

 

[systemdelete]

Not to throw ice water on a person in a hot shower but you will need to remove the fuel tank and purge the tank of fuel to prevent fire or worse before wielding on a fuel tank.

You don't have to remove them, just drain well and fill with inert gas. Exhaust from another running vehicle will work in a pinch, trailside. But welding rarely works on newer plastic tanks. :)

 

[Lunch Box]

Hahahaha. You may need to use multiple packs for that.
I heard installing a subwoofer under their seat quiets them down. [emoji1787]

I did. It's that giant oilburner under the hood. No luck. ;-)

 

[BlueLineOverland]

They make an epoxy that is most of the time kept by the register at your local parts store. You mix the two componets and it hardens like steel. I used this when I was building lowriders and would drag through the gas tank....(GO AHEAD AND JOKE) lol but anyway that was a must have. I've drug a half dollar size hole and fixed it no problem. It also held for months hahaha

 

[madcratebuilder]

"Plug n Dike" seals gas and oil while it's draining from the hole. The JB needs to have a clean dry surface.

 

[Boostpowered]

If were talking a temporary solution and a roundish hole just grab some marine grade rubber plugs and use them if its a long cut or scrape use some plastic bag stuffed in crack with flex tape or t-rex tape holding it in . Long term you will want to remove and replace the tank or repair it the right way, wash it out with water really well then weld it if its metal if plastic you just melt material into the hole/ heat the area and smooth it out fill with water again and look for leaks then if no leak drain it and let dry for a few days before reinstalling and filling with fuel.

 

[58-fc170]

All good ideas in this thread. But I still prefer to have two tanks on a vehicle. Build them out of 1/8 inch plate with shut off valves and then travel the off road with little worry.