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Plastic fuel tank melted

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Main Forum' started by T1 Terry, Jan 8, 2023.

  1. T1 Terry

    T1 Terry Active Member

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    After a few trips up and down our bush track to get in and out from the house, now the roads are flooded, has resulted in the exhaust pipe being force up against the plastic fuel tank, rubbed through the heat shield and melted a hole in the fuel tank.
    Did a Google search and found this stuff, "Dynasteel" brand Plastic fuel tank repair kit.
    Tried a piece cut off the sausage of the two parts on the epoxy putty, folded and twisted etc to mix it together, but it wouldn't stick because of the amount of fuel over the rear surface. Manged to jam a pea size bit in the more serious hole, bit where it was seeping out through the plastic I couldn't get the putty to stick of press into any of the holes.
    I found some "Stag" I had that i used many moons back to seal up the cases of my VW motor when I rebuilt it last time, forced some of that into the area and the fuel leak has stopped. turns out it takes 24 hrs for "Stag" to dry, so more repairs tomorrow and then wrap that part of the exhaust in heat shield tape in an effort to stop a repeat problem.

    T1 Terry
     
  2. Georgina Rudkus

    Georgina Rudkus Senior Member

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    The tank is made of a combination of "alloyed" nylon with the main component being polyethylene. There are no solvent component adhesives or epoxies that will "glue" polyethylene successful;y.

    Heat welding is the only successful method of joining polyethylene. With a tank of gasoline, that is not a viable option.

    Replacement is the only safe option.
     
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  3. Tombukt2

    Tombukt2 Senior Member

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    Can we not remove the fuel let it sit for a day foam it put foam in the tank but the rest of the fuel in the foam run out of the hole you've created and then you can polyethylene well the tank which is plastic welding I don't think that will be too violent with pretty much foamed out dead old fuel hell some of the gas we have today will barely burn and compression let alone out in the wild just kidding of course but it's not like it used to be. I was just curious about this One of my buddies blizilla down under does all kinds of crazy Toyoda mods
     
  4. pasadena_commut

    pasadena_commut Senior Member

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    Did it also burn through the rubber bladder inside? Fixing the outer tank (assuming that is even possible) without fixing the bladder is not actually a fix.
     
  5. T1 Terry

    T1 Terry Active Member

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    The Australian model doesn't have a bladder in the tank. The small plug of this 2 part epoxy putty stopped the bigger leak, the Stag has stopped the pin hole leaks and this morning I mixed about a golf ball size bit of the putty, that seems to have anchored to the Stag and the roughed up area around the melted bit, I taped up the pipe with heat wrap and all seems to be working fine at the moment. My wife and 76 yr old friend have headed off to Adelaide on a 200km plus round trip, so I guess I'll find out if it was a success or not .... I did cut the tin foil part of the heat shield (that had rubbed through) from the more rigid heat shield that protected the side of the tank and refitted that piece, so fingers crossed it was a successful repair ......
    With 760,000 kms on the clock now, it would be a cruel end to such a tough little machine if it caught fire ..... but that is unlikely, more the rather expensive fuel leaking out would cause such a smell inside and outside the car when she stops to shop, that I'll get a phone call to come pick them up with a trailer to bring the taxi Prius home.

    T1 Terry
     
  6. Tombukt2

    Tombukt2 Senior Member

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    Youv probably got it for time being..
     
  7. T1 Terry

    T1 Terry Active Member

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    It will be interesting just how long the patch lasts. I would have thought the pea sized bit jammed in the hole would have let go after sitting for 2 days if it was going to fail, but who knows really, I know Stag will remain petrol and oil proof over the long term, it used metho as a base so petrol and diesel have no effect on it.
    Back in the days I was rebuilding British bike motors and gearboxes and recovering fuel tanks that had pin prick rust holes, I'd mix Stag and metho to make a very thin liquid and paint the insides of the crank cases a coat every day till it built up a red coating inside and sloshed the same sort of mix all over the inside surfaces of the fuel tanks until is stopped appearing on the outside of the tank, then another few coats for good luck :lol: A wipe over with a metho soaked rag on the outside would clean off any that leaked through, and the oil leaks and fuel leaks were a thing of the past.

    T1 Terry
     
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  8. Tombukt2

    Tombukt2 Senior Member

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    Triumph days
     
  9. T1 Terry

    T1 Terry Active Member

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    BSA and Matchless were the worst, but my Nortons weren't far behind in the external oil cooler stakes ....... usually passed off as sweat from all the horsepower or a special feature that cooled the oil before it fell on the ground or all over the rear tyre .... most exciting when leaning that bit harder into the corner because you misjudge the entry speed :lol:

    Well, as far as the leaking fuel tank, all good so far, even handled the goat track to the house and back out, so for the moment it seems to have worked .... if it was going to shake out or loose, the road to the track or the track itself would have it well loosened by now .....

    T1 Terry
     
  10. Tombukt2

    Tombukt2 Senior Member

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    Well it's good to know that Gen 2's from across the pond don't have the stupid bladder and the gas tank so there is hope to be able to fit a normal gas tank to a Gen 2 and be able to drive I don't care about lights being on it doesn't matter in my state but at least the car will work The bladder thing sounds like a bad idea from day one hence it wasn't allowed in the Aus. It's funny how some of that stuff works
     
  11. T1 Terry

    T1 Terry Active Member

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    There are plenty of Vehicle Dismantlers (we call them wreckers) with Gen2 vehicles that would have the plastic tank you need, it's just the freight might be a bit of a shock if the freight people charge as much to move parts from here to the USA as they charge from the USA to here. Our fuel lines use those click-lock couplings, so if the US bladder type use a different connection method, you might need to get a section of the fuel supply and return pipes as well ..... no idea if the fuel pumps swap over or even if the fuel pump comes out of the Australian version, so there is that part to consider as well.

    T1 Terry
     
  12. MCCOHENS

    MCCOHENS Member

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    There is a 2 part adhesive that will bond poly. I think it was 3M. Use it on my kayaks and it really does stick to that stuff.
     
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  13. T1 Terry

    T1 Terry Active Member

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    Something I hadn't thought about until last night, Stag is dissolved by metho, metho is actually ethanol and that is what they add to E10 petrol and that is what the Prius runs on ....... it's only 10% ethanol as the name suggests, so I guess it's a wait and see thing .... the top layer of the epoxy putty is attached to the thick layer of Stag I plastered over the pinholes in the plastic caused by the tank melting and the built up pressure inside the tank due to the heat we are suffering now full on summer has arrived .... going from 9*C to 40*C is a big jump, no progressive warm up through spring this yr due to the Antarctic winds the were sent over Australia for over 6 mths, best we get used to it, the weather is never going to be predictable like it was in the past ......

    T1 Terry
     
  14. ChapmanF

    ChapmanF Senior Member

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    I don't know if Stag is a product I can look up here. When I read "metho", I think "methanol", which is distinct from ethanol (ethanol has one more C and two more H, and doesn't get turned into formic acid in the liver). But maybe "metho" is a regular term in your part of the world for something else?
     
  15. T1 Terry

    T1 Terry Active Member

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    Its full name is metholated spirits and in the early days the govt mandated an amount of methanol be added with the excuse it was a bittering agent to discourage drinking it to avoid the alcohol tax. Sadly, those that needed cheap easy to get booze would still drink it mixed with what ever to make it taste better.
    Methanol causes blindness if consumed so these poor soles ended up blind and have destroyed livers.
    The govt had to change the mandated methanol content when someone took them to court regarding deliberately blinding people in an attempt to stop alcohol tax avoidance, and the govt lost, so now they use something else to make it taste bad, but it's still known as metho or metholated spirits as it is used for the same original designed purpose, as a cleaner and as a fuel for metho stoves .....
    It is also excellent for absorbing water from petrol and carries it through the system to be burnt in the combustion process ....

    Thus ends my talk on the metho origins :lol:

    T1 Terry
     
  16. ChapmanF

    ChapmanF Senior Member

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    Ah, so roughly what we call "denatured alcohol" around here, for fueling stoves, dissolving shellac, &c.
     
  17. T1 Terry

    T1 Terry Active Member

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    Sounds like the same stuff, we also have a product called White Spirit, I've never used it. It is much like turpentine or turps as it is generally referred to in Aust, the difference being, white spirit is a petroleum distillate while Turps is made from the sap of the turpentine tree, a common native tree along the east coast. Not the choice wood for the BBQ, the smell makes anything cooked over it inedible :lol: Mostly used as oil based house paint thinners.

    T1 Terry