HOLES IN DIESEL TANKS

[nicky]

We have a small hole in the bottom of our 200 litre diesel tank (Westerly Oceanlord). The hole is in the side of the sump and is (just) accessible. It’s only 6 years old and there doesn’t appear to be a general rust problem.
To take the tank out is a nightmare (prior removal of engine, steering gear and goodness knows what else).
And we’re in France!
It’s now empty.
Has this happened to anyone else and does anyone know of an effective method of fixing the hole from the outside of the tank?

 

[david_bagshaw]

If you can get to it a temp repair can be drill the hole bigger, tap a thread, put in a bolt and sealant not forgetting a washer.
Loctite do an excellent thread sealer for fuel oil , B#£££y expensive , but worth every penny. bout £20 per bottle if I remember correctly.

Clean thread with spray carb cleaner etc before assembley
While waiting ......

Take a look at my site www.yachtman.co.uk

David

<P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1>Edited by david_bagshaw on Sat Jul 14 18:20:44 2001 (server time).</FONT></P>

 

[Sammy]

Sounds like my sort of trouble,
It depends on how much room there is around the area affected, if you can drill out the hole you can Tap or screw in a self tapping screw with some Calortite or other compound on it. If this is not possible then try some epoxy putty which will certainly work long enough to get you home.
Best of luck.

 

[Castletine]

Another 'get you home' method I heard of was to apply soap to the ruptured area. I haven't had to try it, but a friend of mine tells me that when the soap comes into contact with the fuel it hardens and forms a perfect seal!

 

[Guest]

I read some of the replies - Didn't like the suggestion of Epoxy Putty - the reason being - if surplus epoxy (anything) gets inside the tank and there is fuel there it will globulate this gives you an excellent "ball valve" effect when it eventually finds it's way into the works. I've had this trouble myself, ended up with a PAN PAN. To get you home go and buy a small plastic diesel tank and some gerry cans and install it in your aft cabin temporarily - I think you are going to need to replace the tank - bodging it won't work.

 

[Guest]

I agree with Bindatek. Go get a new tank, it might only be 6 yrs old but must have been sub-standard from new. You dont want to be thinking about the repair whilst out there in bad conditions.Anyway as anyone will tell you 1 drip of diesel can stink a boat out for days.