1998 Avensis Petrol Tank

[sainzy]

any ideas on how to trace a petrol leak on 1998 avensis saloon without stripping out!!

[gazza1286]

I've had problems previously with Toyota Petrol Tanks. The best advice if it is the tank itself is to poke around and scrape any damp patches. The leak with become apparent quite quickly if you do this. A permanent repair is by using two part Epoxy resin putty (available Halfords- £3-4). This will need something to hold onto so once you have found the hole be quite agressive in making it bigger.

It really is a permanent fix. I repaired a hole in my filler pipe and tank on my old Carina II and it lasted 3 years until I sold the car.

[peterc.lewis@blueyonder.co.uk]

Had a leak on my 1998 Estate.

Tried poking around with mirrors, lowering the tank etc. Drove me nuts and never cured the leak.

Had to bite the bullet in the end and take the tank off.

Buy a haynes manual. This will take you through depressurising the fuel system and how to get the tank off. A summary of which (DO NOT FOLLOW USE THE MANUAL) to give you an idea of time.

Be ready to cut off bolts from the exhaust , DO NOT use an angle grinder . Sparks and fumes leave greasy stains. I cut through the two bolts downline from the CAT as they wouldn't come undone.

Take the exhaust from here back. Took me just under two hours but a good half an hour was spent trying to find bolts that would loosen o what appear to be an original exhaust (to no avail). Obviously make sure you have some suitable replacements handy. Don't forget to put the gasket back (yes I know but I did and had to get back under one more time to replace it).

Loosen the straps , lower the tank and disconnect all the pipes and electrics. I found that a thick cardboard box laid on the ground helped me drag the car out with risking scraping it but a trolley board will do better I suppose.

I then took it well away from the car, removed the bodged putty patch I had ineffectively put on and wiped the tank dry. Tipped it and imediately spotted a small hole. Cleaned the area round the hole down to plain metal. Got some leak sealer and a small wood screw. Coated the screw with putty and screwed it in to the hole then put more leak sea;l to build up the repair. Let it dry and put the tank back on.

I did all this mostly on my own with some help from the wife to get it back on.

You need to ensure the car is secured and off the ground. If you can get it on a car lif then you'll be laughing as it'll be a lot easier to work on. If you do though you will need a couple of mates to lift the tank while you do the rather fiddly job of putting the tank on. Lying on your back using your feet and kness to hold it while you bolt it down works but is a real pain. Also down't work whn the tank is more than knee high over your head :D

In hind sight, if I had taken the exhaust off and lowered the front of the tank. Cleaned and dried it then looked with a torch and mirror I would probably have seen the leak without taking the tank off. As long as you do not use a wire brush to clean the tank (fire risk) you might get away without taking the tank off.

It is also possible to lower tha tank till it just rests lightly on the exhaust. Again with a torch and mirror I might have seen the leak.

Blindly slapping putty on where you thing the leak is just causes the leak to creep along the repair and is like trying to fix a hole in a fibreglass canoe.

As a further point, my leak initially looked like the seam was leaking and this just was not the case.

Good luck.

PS it took 9 hours in the end to do this. With car ramps, axle stands and a trolley jack. If I had to do it again I think I could do it in a lot less time now.

PPS Spray every bolt you can see with plusgas before you start. Then go off for a cup of tea and read the manual. I don't advise cider or lager at this point, wait till you finish.

Have fun.