Rusted fuel tank repair

[Russell King]

A few weeks ago I had trouble with my L185 acting like it was running out of fuel. Added fuel tried to start= no go!
Took off fuel line into filter and no fuel came out of line. Blew air into line and it cleared blockage so I got it running.

A couple weeks go by and same deal.

I take tank off to drain and clean it out and find it has rust in the inside. Figure I would try Por 15 to see how it works. Several small holes appeared in the bottom during the cleaning process using Simple Green. So not much luck coming my way. Por 15 is thin and won't plug holes well, can work but too many steps for me.

Look for new tank and they are discontinued! Messicks has an aftermarket for way too much = $1000 (yes one thousand!).

Search internet and find Caswell Tank liner kits. They are 2 part epoxy kits that can be used for lining rusted tanks. The kits for small tanks are around $50.

Used the Caswell kit and it sealed all the holes. Installed tank and all seems well now.

Hopefully it will hold up and not give any further problems.



Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[CountryBumkin]

Glad you fixed it. For anyone else in this situation, check out Eastwood.com they have some great restoration products. I have bought from them many times.
http://search.eastwood.com/search?w=gas tank sealer kit

 

[L.C. Gray]

Have used the Eastwood kit several times with excellent results.

 

[Tooljunkie]

I did a small tank a while back, threw 20 3/8"nuts into tank and then strapped it to rear wheel of my kubota. Jacket it up and put it on stands. At idle picked a gear and let it tumble.

Didnt coat tank, but have done it in the past. Used the por 15 kit. Yup, a lot of steps but worth the trouble.

 

[007kubotaguy]

Hello Russell

If your repair does not workout , I have several fuel tanks for the L245/L185 Kubota's.
Good Luck Lance

 

[torch]

Duct tape on the outside of larger holes works well with POR-15.

 

[Russell King]

Hello Russell

If your repair does not workout , I have several fuel tanks for the L245/L185 Kubota's.
Good Luck Lance

Thanks for the offer I may go ahead and take you up on the offer. I'll send you a PM


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[Russell King]

Hello Russell

If your repair does not workout , I have several fuel tanks for the L245/L185 Kubota's.
Good Luck Lance

Well today I noticed a damp spot underneath the tractor so I assume that my tank has failed again after six years.

If @007kubotaguy has a used one then I will get it replaced with one from him (sent him a private message).

If he has none then I will have to fix it again.

 

[fried1765]

A few weeks ago I had trouble with my L185 acting like it was running out of fuel. Added fuel tried to start= no go!
Took off fuel line into filter and no fuel came out of line. Blew air into line and it cleared blockage so I got it running.

A couple weeks go by and same deal.

I take tank off to drain and clean it out and find it has rust in the inside. Figure I would try Por 15 to see how it works. Several small holes appeared in the bottom during the cleaning process using Simple Green. So not much luck coming my way. Por 15 is thin and won't plug holes well, can work but too many steps for me.

Look for new tank and they are discontinued! Messicks has an aftermarket for way too much = $1000 (yes one thousand!).

Search internet and find Caswell Tank liner kits. They are 2 part epoxy kits that can be used for lining rusted tanks. The kits for small tanks are around $50.

Used the Caswell kit and it sealed all the holes. Installed tank and all seems well now.

Hopefully it will hold up and not give any further problems.



Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Hopefully that "Caswell" kit included an acid wash, prior to using the epoxy.

 

[Russell King]

Got a fuel tank from #007Kubotaguy and replaced the old tank with that one.

Of course the old tank shutoff valve would not shut off the fuel 100% so had to make a little mess getting the old tank off. Got that all cleaned up but it was really not fun to remove a tank with fuel in it and leaking out. Kubota is nice enough to have a drain plug but it would simply dump the fuel onto the top of the transmission or steering box.

thanks to 007Kubotaguy for having the tank and selling it for a reasonable price.

problem solved again