Repair or Replace hole in mk4 wagon fuel tank

[TDi Newb]

My GF was driving my Jetta home from out of state this weekend and called me saying she'd only driven 100 miles since filling up and the low fuel light came on. I told her to get off the interstate as soon as she was able and she managed to get it stopped safely in a gas station. When she got out to check things she said there was a strong diesel smell and that she saw it on the ground. Thankfully she was able to use AAA to get it towed the rest of the way home (took 4 hours for a driver to show up though).

Long story short... there's what appears to be about a 2 inch split/crack in the fuel tank. I was hoping to repair it since I can't find any reasonable tanks for replacement. Any advice or suggestions would be appreciated.

 

[snakeye]

I don't think it would be very hard to repair. I would plastic weld it, roughen up the surface and smear epoxy over it.

 

[Hyde7278]

permatex makes a fuel tank repair kit

Permatex® Plastic Tank Repair Kit - Permatex

www.permatex.com

 

[Hyde7278]

There is 3 listings on car-part.com for tanks in Huntsville AL. prices are- $75.00, $100.000, and $125.00

Davis Foreign Auto Parts USA-AL(Hunstville) E-mail 256-859-0113

 

[TDi Newb]

Man. Y'all are awesome. I wouldn't have known to find the parts at Davis Foreign auto. I guess I'll give it the ol' college try on plastic welding and see how it goes then fall back on a replacement tank since there's a few local.

My original concern was that the wagon may be a different form factor than the sedan/golf, but I guess we'll find out should I have to go down that road.

 

[Mongler98]

Imo the tank has to come off for the repair... replace it.
Do not use a heat supply for a plastic repair.. but epoxies and what not can be a good solution but for something that's coming out... I'd find a junkyard replacment for the peace of mind.

 

[turbodieseldyke]

A puncture is repairable, but I wouldn't bother trying to fix a crack. Even if you weld it up, it's still broken inside, and will continue to expand.

Replace it, and if you have the time, inclination, and space in the shed, you can practice your repair skills on the old one, and keep it for a spare.

 

[TDi Newb]

From what I can tell it’s a puncture and not a crack. I got under there a little while ago and took a couple pictures.

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[U4ick]

permatex makes a fuel tank repair kit

Permatex® Plastic Tank Repair Kit - Permatex

www.permatex.com

NOT a plastic fuel tank repair kit.........a plastic tank repair kit.

 

[BobnOH]

My vote to just replace it with a gently used unit. Should not be too hard. I imagine you need the car fairly high to make it easy.
If you do attempt a repair, you need the thing real clean and dry.

 

[Hyde7278]

NOT a plastic fuel tank repair kit.........a plastic tank repair kit.

Got my products switched up. J-B Weld has what they call waterweld that will work on fuel tanks and it is a puddy it will even set under water

https://www.amazon.com/J-B-Weld-8277-White-Pack/dp/B000BRQ0TW/ref=asc_df_B000BRQ0TW/?tag=&linkCode=df0&hvadid=312147482150&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=1310322851379491089&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9017104&hvtargid=pla-382131634246&ref=&adgrpid=65039680554&th=1

We sell it where I work and have had many people use it on fuel tanks with out a problem.

 

[U4ick]

Got my products switched up. J-B Weld has what they call waterweld that will work on fuel tanks and it is a puddy it will even set under water

That's what I would use, get you back on the road in about an hour.

Until I had a good used tank in my possession and the time to swap it out. U pull it yards punch holes in their gas tanks.

That product would probably make a permanent fix, but it would bug me, I'd always be leaning over and looking.

 

[TDi Newb]

Borrowed a heat gun to shape the gash back down before plastic welding it back together and picked up some of the water weld to go over the top for piece of mind. Thanks for the suggestions. I’ll check out getting a replacement tank in the near future as well

 

[Mongler98]

btw ive used water weld and aluminum verion of that putty too. for both boats with MASSIVE long cracks in plastic hulls to AC lines in freezers..
that stuff is epic.. just PREP the crap out of the area with acetone and a scotch bright pad. then with some disposable gloves... rip off a marble or 2 sized chunk of the putty and make coils with your hand quickly and doing this and balling up rappidly should make some serious heat (from the chemical reaction) and this is the best way to mix it. "tin" the area with it by smearing it then working it into the area once happy witht he work... change gloves and use a slightly damp finger tip to work the are afor a few minutes to make a nice smooth surface... you can add things like a reinforced mesh if you want but for this job its not necessary.. trust me when i say this stuff works wonders. but the surface MUST be clean and prepped well. any oil or diesel on or in the hole will not work. aka the tank is coming off and flipping upside down.. unless you can jack up the car enough to get the fuel to not leak out and be able to be cleaned

 

[TDi Newb]

Thanks for the advice for the prep work. There's definitely no concerns about fuel being in the tank. From what I can tell she managed to drain the entire thing between it leaking out on the highway and being loaded and unloaded from a flatbed . I've got the car lifted up and plan to give it a go when I'm done. Will report back results.

 

[U4ick]

If it was my GF she'd have some "splain'en" to do!

 

[BobnOH]

If it was my GF she'd have some "splain'en" to do!

Good luck with that!

 

[TDi Newb]

If it was my GF she'd have some "splain'en" to do!

Considering she had to sit and wait 4 hours for AAA to show up with the tow truck and then ride 86 miles with the driver home at 1am... we just let the apology count and figure out how to fix it

 

[TDi Newb]

Just to follow up. I was able to heat weld the tank. Used a Lowe’s bucket to source some High Density Polyethylene (HDPE) plastic and added more plastic over the initial wound. Sanded it down and then coated the entire repair with JB Weld WaterWeld since it’s rated for 1300 psi including on diesel tanks. I filled the tank up to check for leaks and then filled it to the absolute brim on the full neck. For those who’ve been wondering what your tank holds…. It’s about 17.5 gallons. So far it’s holding well. I’ll be looking to make a skid plate to protect this from happening in the future. Anyone know someone who makes them?

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[Hyde7278]

looks like a good repair, glad you were able to get it back on the road