[DeTomaso] Vent to tank gas leak

B Hower b.hower3400 at yahoo.com
Wed May 19 15:46:13 EDT 2010


Thanks for the link Mike, I will check that out. 
 
Bud # 3400
 

--- On Wed, 5/19/10, mikeldrew at aol.com <mikeldrew at aol.com> wrote:


From: mikeldrew at aol.com <mikeldrew at aol.com>
Subject: Re: [DeTomaso] Vent to tank gas leak
To: b.hower3400 at yahoo.com, detomaso at realbig.com
Date: Wednesday, May 19, 2010, 7:22 PM


Bud wrote:
 
I have had a gas leak at the factory gas tank vent and thought it was due to
poor tension at rivets or bad gasket. SO I removed rivets, taped holes for 10/32
machine screws and inspected what looks to be a good gasket. Reinstalled and now
I still can't seem to find a way to get it to not leak--------appears to be
leaking around threads. Is there a better than stock gasket that would solve my
problem? Thanks for any thoughts you may share.

>>> I had the same problem; it drove me nuts.  Part of the problem lies 
from the fact that the tank vent is not exactly at the top of the tank; when you fill the tank it's partially submerged.  The guy who put my car together made the mistake of using RTV to 'seal' it, not realizing that RTV dissolves in gasoline.  So among other things I spent years plucking RTV out of my clogged fuel filters, and being very embarrassed every time I filled the tank, as my cue to stop pumping was when a gallon of gas poured out the bottom of the car all over my shoes.

To seal this thing properly, I got turned on to a product called Hylomar.  It's an RTV-like substance, comes in a small (somewhat expensive, i.e. $21 for 3 ounces) tube, and is totally impervious to fuel.  It's used in place of gaskets by several of the OEMs.  It's blue.

At the time I bought mine, it was rather difficult to find.  Doing a Google search, I now find that Permatex has started distributing it under its own label, in smaller quantites, and cheaper.  Here you go:

http://www.amazon.com/Permatex-85249-Hylomar-Universal-Dressing/dp/B0018PSATY

You may be able to order this stuff through your local parts store and save shipping charges etc.  They probably don't carry it in stock, but if they carry Permatex items generally, they can get you a tube if you provide the part number for it.

Use this stuff liberally (including around the threads) and your gas tank filler neck and vent leaks are over.

BTW if you haven't taken the time to replace your gas tank vent with one that incorporates a check valve, now is the time.  This is a simple, good safety modification that isn't very expensive.  I got mine from Precision Proformance; it cost $35.  It's actually a standard (cheap) Ford part with a custom adapter to enable it to be used on the Pantera tank.

Mike




      


More information about the DeTomaso mailing list