Leaking Tank

[retroboy]

My fuel tank has a leak, but not visible where from, I only found out cos I brimmed it for trip down south, it seems to be coming from top of tank & running down & dripping off rear edge. Any suggestions what to look for & where. Am I better off biting bullet & buying a new 1.

[Cate]

Could it be from the pipes that go to the two breather tanks in the front wheel arches? I understand this is a prime place for muck and dirt to accumulate and speed up the rusting and rotting processes.

[Plasticman]

Hi Wayne, Have you filled it so full before? I only ask because I filled one of my van full full during the fuel crisis and it leakwed a bit . this was a brand new tank a month before I bought the van , turned out to be one of the breather pipes not connected.

So it dont mean your tank is B8888d it could be plumbing
Mike

[Tex Ritter]

If it is the air cooled T25 the fuel tank has a deep valley where the hot air trunking sits along the top of the tank.

All the crud gets trapped here and just sits quietly rotting the top of the tank, also there are 4 small diameter breather pipes coming from the top of the tank which lead to both the expansion tanks under the wheel arches, the 8 rubber and the 4 steel pipes are prone to corrosion.

If the top of the tank is leaking when full then you'll have to remove the tank and either repair or replace it, along with all the breathers and grommets.

OR you could stop filling it right up...Doh!

Tex Ritter

[Hacksawbob]

water cooled used the same tank as the air, same problem air or water.

[Cruz]

The day we bought our early van we filled it with petrol. Imagine our horror when most of it ended up on the forcourt floor.

Our problem was the grommet around the filler pipe had perished. The large one(marked 7 on diagram) where the pipe enters the tank. Sadly early fuel tanks are discontinued so we needed to have a new one fitted plus a new filler neck. While Steve Shaw was at it he changed all the breather pipes to as frankly they were cream crackered. how the van had not gone up in flames remains a mystery.

A few weeks later we went away to the new forest via shropshire and could smell petrol. We just put it down to remnants from the old tank problem until we filled her up in shropshire and viola another wet forcourt. This time the grommets in the top of the tank where the breather pipes connect had split. Two grommet fixed it at 50p each and since then we have had no problems.

Try shoving your hand behind each wheel and feeling the top of the tank. Feel for a pipe entering the top of the tank at each side and there should be a grommet at it's base. Are the grommets secure as this may be the source of the leak - number 9, three areas marked red on diagram below

[colouredFunk]

Hey Shaun, I've got the same problem!

You reckon you can put that diagram up again, interested to know where the bits are


Thanks.

Kaan