Hole in gas tank, how can I check???

[Texplorer]

Is there any sort of tool or machine that can check and see if there is a hole in my gas tank? From a full tank to 3/4 tank my gas is gone in a few miles and Im worried there is a hole in the top of the tank. I really dont want to drop the whole tank to check it and was just wondering if there was an easier way.

 

[dman726749]

run a lit match around it....you will find the leak

 

[spindlecone]

Your loseing 3/4 gals of gas in a few miles?
and you can see no leak

 

[Blee1099]

Just drop the tank and see if it leaks. Chances are your tank is fine. Hell I beat my truck more and haven't suffered any damage to my gas tank other than dents thru the skid plate.

 

[BeauJ]

It takes ten minutes to drop the tank with a friend and a jack. Or you could fill it up at a nearby station, go back home and set news paper down under the tank and check. I've always heard of people doing the newpaper though. You'd have to drop the tank to def. find the hole. Good luck.

 

[BigDakota]

Is there any sort of tool or machine that can check and see if there is a hole in my gas tank? From a full tank to 3/4 tank my gas is gone in a few miles and Im worried there is a hole in the top of the tank. I really dont want to drop the whole tank to check it and was just wondering if there was an easier way.

I would think that you could smell raw gas and see where gas has been leaking on the under part of the skidplate if it was leaking that bad.
Pull the dipstick and look for signs of fuel in your oil or take a wiff of your exhaust and see if it is running really,really rich in fuel content!

Have you refueled afterwards and noticed a major loss or did it just happen and your asking...Maybe your fuel guage/sensor is going bad.

 

[dogfriend]

96 is OBD 2 which means that it performs self tests of the fuel system to determine if it is leaking. If you had a leak, you should get a Check Engine light because it would fail the pressure test.

 

[Texplorer]

I have tried filling the tank completely and checking under for dripping fuel. Even filling the tank and parking on different angles to see if that would cause anything. I cant smell anything or see anything. I didnt want to drop the tank because everything is rusted and would have to prolly be cut off to drop it. I havent filled the tank up completely in a long time. I usually fill it up to 3/4 a tank cause everything seems fine from there. And when I say a few miles I mean roughly 15-20 miles, which is only a few when compared to a full tank. When you completely fill up the gauge goes past the F and I used to get 20 miles before the gauge even made it to the F. I havent got any sort of CEL light, does the OBD 2 check the entire fuel system from tank to motor? Any other ideas on why I get about 3 miles a gallon for my first 1/4 tank?

 

[dogfriend]

OBD 2 Leak test

 

[Texplorer]

Well from those diagrams and reading everything a leak somewhere in the fuel system is ruled out seeing as I dont have a CEL light. Thanks dogfriend. Now I have to find out what the problem is.

 

[MrShorty]

Have you actually filled up, driven 20 miles, and then refilled up to see just how much gas you are "losing?" Has your overall gas mileage changed?
In the absence of a visible leak, I wonder if something has changed in the fuel level sender or the wiring to the dash that has changed how it reports that top 3/4 tank. My BII (another 10 years older) doesn't consistently report gas level either. Sometimes I'll fill it up and it won't even reach the F and drop through that 1st quarter in 50 miles, other times I fill up and it goes above the F and takes 120 miles to drop through that 1st quarter. But I always end up 370-400 miles/tank and 21-23 mpg.

Like I said, I wonder if there really is gas being lost, or if soemthing has changed or is inconsistent in the way the gas gauge is reporting the fuel level in the tank.

 

[Texplorer]

Well thats a good idea. Ill top it off, drive till its hits 3/4 tank then top it off again and see how many gallons it used to get there. It should be rougly 6-7 gallons to get down to 3/4 tank correct? Because it fills it up past the F.

 

[CodePoet]

Could it be a symptom of a slowly failing sending unit? I don't trust the gagues on my vehciles very much though...

 

[dogfriend]

Never had this happen yet on the two Fords I have owned, but one common failure on Toyota trucks is that the float on the sender unit develops a "leak" and the float will "sink" giving erratic fuel gauge readings. Maybe this is a possibility?