Noticed a steady drip coming from rear tank. Unable to see anything because of skid plate. Unable to get bolts loose on skid plate so pulling bed. Just pulled the bed off. Rear tank is covered in 1/4 of oil and dirt. It looks wet all around. Front tank is dry with no oily grime. I will cut bolts holding skid plate and get this out of the way then start scraping the tank to try to get to where I can see the hole. Just curious about patching holes. Any recommendations? I used something called Marine-tex once on a 4-wheeler tank in an emergency and it was dry and running again within 12 hours. Patched with gas still in tank.

 

Forgot to mention this is '84 f250 w/ 6.9.
I was inside writing this and my son said to look at truck. I looked out window and spotted a buzzard sitting on limb of large white oak, 25 feet over top of truck. Another landed further out the limb and they both sat looking up and down. I called myself barely alive because this truck has been through a lot, but I think I can scare the scavengers off a little longer with some helpful advice from anyone with experience. And I don't mean advice on taking care of the vultures!!

 

I extracted these two posts from Alan's thread and created a new one with them.

It's not nice to hijack someone else's thread with your own problems, please don't do that.

 

New tanks arent very expensive. If you can't afford a new one, I'd just run off of the front tank until you can.

 

If you can get all the crap off. Jiggle the tank to slosh the fuel. You will see a wet spot pop up or maybe even the hole. Jb weld makes a gas tank repair putty. I worked it up and ground it in the area with my thumb. It was good to go in an hour or so.

If you have a hole or a area getting soft a new tank can be bought for about 120 givw or take a few.

 

I agree, get a new tank if you want to use it. And be careful, the skid plate is what holds the tank in place. Those tanks are heavy when they are full of fuel. I would get some sort of jack/pieces of wood under the skidplate before I cut the bolts loose.

 

Ok to hijacking. Sorry for that. I looked at LMC and was not sure about match for diesel tank. Where do you find parts?

 

Shipping will be high on a fuel tank so it may be cheaper to buy local.

 

A new tank would be best. Where in NC? Check out NPD near Charlotte or our other sponsors.

NPD - Restoring American History | Mustang Parts | Camaro Parts | Chevelle Parts | Ford Truck Parts | T-Bird Parts | Firebird Parts

 

I am about an hour northeast of Charlotte. Statesville is 30 miles due west from me on I-40. I checked NPD and it showed no match. I will do some other searching with local connections. Thanks for the lead. I purchased a new radiator thru a store that a body shop employee referred me to and was given a great price. Maybe I will have similar luck with a little digging. I wonder if there is any difference in a diesel tank than a gas tank?

 

Any decent parts store should be able to order the tank for you...

 

Called NPD in Charlotte. They have a 19 gal rear tank in stock. They sell for $94.55. I guess I will go on a road trip. I was not able to find on their website but they were able to help over the phone.

 

Autozone has them for $123.99.

 

Continuing to evaluate the leak. I removed the bed and found what looks like a breather line coming from top of tank. The plastic end was completely covered with sludge. When I pulled the cap off the line it made a sucking noise making me believe this was not clear to vent like it should. Since fuel is leaking from tank, this would create a vacuum if air is not coming in.

 

I have removed the fuel line cap with the two lines and gage terminal (sending unit/pickup), drained 15 gallons from the tank, and dropped the tank. I was able to get all nuts loose using an impact wrench and vice grips on rounded nuts. I did not know these tanks were aluminum. I am in the process of cleaning tank to see if there are any visible signs of punctures, cracks or cap seal problems. The seal on the sending unit (looks like an o-ring) does not look good and makes me wonder if leak is occurring here.