2010 Prius leak at gas tank

I haven’t had a chance to lift the car yet to examine where my leak is, but curiosity is killing me and I am wondering if any of you have had a similar leak and know what it may be that is leaking. I imagine maybe a rubber hose or something. It seems to leak when driving. It is 100 degrees out which could be a factor. It has been days since a fill up so any gas leaking after a fill up would have been evaporated days ago.

Have any of you pulled a gas tank on a 2010 or similar? I have access to a vehicle lift if needed. I can’t tell where if is coming from but I imagine it may be running down the back of the tank from higher up than where the gas is in the video, which is a view from the passenger side.

I couldn’t find anything similar, just posts of smelling gas and warnings that gas is flammable and it needs to be fixed ASAP. True. I will be sure to post more info for fellow do it yourselfers once I get it fixed.

 

84,000 miles. It has been days since a fillup so I don’t think it is related to getting gas. I don’t top off my tank and that kind of gas leak would have evaporated days ago. I took this video when I found the leak after a drive. It is 100 degrees out so that could be a contributor, but not the issue of why it is leaking.

 

It seems that every problem I have has been had by thousands of others, but if this is something rare than all the more reason for my to document the cause once I fix it.

 

I’ve worn out Google looking for something, and didn’t find anything that looked similar to my issue. I’ll probably take another stab at it soon.

I read the recall yesterday and it looked to be an issue after fillup, with a full tank. My problem exists even days after fill up, with a half empty tank.

Since I have no engine code for a vacuum leak, I assume gas is coming out under high pressure only, which would explain why air is not leaking in, which I assume would throw a code. I’m not a fuel system expert, so just guessing till I take it apart.

 

https://attachments.priuschat.com/attachment-files/2017/01/118015_2010_Toyota_Prius_Repair_Manual_-_Fuel_Tank_and_Pump.pdf

 

Just posting additional info as time allows, so those searching this in the future will have the same info I do. I don’t expect to repair this till next week due to being on July 4th vacation right now.

 

This may not be a random age/defect related failure. I did run over a tire shred a few days ago. I didn’t believe it was a factor till I saw it did impact the tank area. Although I’m not sure a minor impact from a rubber tire piece in the road should cause a leak, it may have made an existing unknown leak a bit worse.

 

I don’t know that it isn’t leaking all the time, but I do believe it is leaking more as driven and I assume under pressure. I don’t think the high impact resin is cracked, just don’t believe they could be designed that weak. My guess would be either the rubber hose circled in yellow or the fuel line in the red circle. I found this photo on eBay. For $225 I can have a used tank shipped to me, but I don’t expect I’ll need it. It is held tight with two metal straps, and the tank has cushions on top where it is held tight to the car, so I am starting to think again that running over the tire shred on the highway had nothing to do with the leak unless the tank actually did crack (doubtful), because it should be too tight to move enough to break a line or damage a connector. You never know though. Time will tell.

 

Will do

 

Unbelievable... It was the tire shred I ran over that led to a pinhole leak in the tank, and as expected I am not the first to have this exact same issue. Someone else posted on here about a pinhole fuel tank leak after their wife ran over a rubber tire shred. What a poor design by Toyota to have a tank so susceptible to leaks, unprotected from road debris beneath the car where the tank is essentially a skid plate for any road debris.

 

For those that have had the issue and getting a pinhole leak 100% of the times we’ve run over a tire shred it doesn’t seem so rare. Thankfully running over tires shreds is.

I wondered if steel from the tire actually punctured the tank, but my research pointed to pinhole leaks being very common in HDPE without being punctured. So just an issue with the plastic used.

For my Corvettes I always opened then at the fuel pump, pumped out the gas and dried the remaining bit with a rag. I can do that under the rear seat in the Prius for a temp patch fix if I don’t just replace the tank immediately. I’m leaning toward a replacement tank off a parts car though.

 

For what it’s worth, JB Weld I’ve learned is not something that bonds to a couple particular plastics, and HDPE is one so those that have tried to do temporary patches to fuel tanks with it seem to be unsuccessful. Some I saw cleaned the gas out and melted the plastic or melted a patch, with various success. Superglue and baking soda seems to work well temporarily, but I think replacement is the way to go. If I have to open the tank and dry it then that time is better spent just replacing the tank. I may try the superglue and baking soda trick with gas still in the tank simply to keep more gas from leaking as I wait for a replacement tank. I don’t expect it to work with gas still in the tank. Looks like my older Prius will get some miles until a replacement tank gets shipped.