# Leaky fuel tank on a JD 2520.



## Josh in WNY (Sep 7, 2010)

I knew I had a slow leak on the fuel tank of my 2520, but I was hoping to nurse it through until spring when it would be warmer to work on (and I wouldn't need to clean snow out of the driveway). Well, went to feed the horse last night and found a pretty good size puddle. I repaired a leak on this 3 or 4 years ago using the metal epoxy stuff and it looks like it's leaking from the same spot again.

The tank is no longer available from JD and I haven't been able to find aftermarket ones at all. Also, other than this one spot, the tank seems in pretty good shape. I'm thinking that I'll pull the tank off and take it to someone to have a 'real' repair done to the hole, but I was also wondering about using a fuel tank liner kit like Red-Kote. Anyone have experience with these types of products?


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## stack em up (Mar 7, 2013)

A good welder should be able to repair it way better than any epoxy would. I’ve welded on a few tanks over the years, and in my much younger dumber days, I even welded the gas tank on a 77 Oliver. It’s not as scary as everyone thinks, just use common sense.


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## broadriverhay (Jun 13, 2014)

I had a fuel tank on a JD4000 that had a large rusted out area. I cut the area out with a jig saw and used the cutout piece as template to make the new piece. Welded in the new piece and saved about $400 .


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## Josh in WNY (Sep 7, 2010)

stack em up said:


> A good welder should be able to repair it way better than any epoxy would. I've welded on a few tanks over the years, and in my much younger dumber days, I even welded the gas tank on a 77 Oliver. It's not as scary as everyone thinks, just use common sense.


Thanks, Stack. I talked with my car mechanic (who does a lot of his own fabrication work for stuff) and he pointed me to a local radiator shop. I'm going to check with them to see if it's something they can do. I know they do the coatings inside the tank, so if they can fix it and get it coated, it might be the end of my leak problems (I hope).


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## mlappin (Jun 25, 2009)

I've welded more than a few fuel tanks on straight trucks, drain em, take em off and stick the steam cleaner wand in it till the steam doesn't stink like diesel or gas, then wire weld. I've also repaired gas tanks by using a 2 or 3 pound soldering iron and some sal ammoniac to properly tin the tank. Usually fuel tanks on tractors are thinner than the tanks on heavy trucks.


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## Farmerbrown2 (Sep 25, 2018)

We tried Red Cote on a Farmall C tank it would not stick it stuck to everything else but not the inside of the tank. I would not at all be afraid of welding on a diesel tank gas would take a little more precaution .


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## Josh in WNY (Sep 7, 2010)

mlappin said:


> I've welded more than a few fuel tanks on straight trucks, drain em, take em off and stick the steam cleaner wand in it till the steam doesn't stink like diesel or gas, then wire weld. I've also repaired gas tanks by using a 2 or 3 pound soldering iron and some sal ammoniac to properly tin the tank. Usually fuel tanks on tractors are thinner than the tanks on heavy trucks.


I don't have a steam cleaner myself, but I'm thinking the radiator shop might. Additionally, I can get two pieces of metal to stick together, but I am by no means a good enough welder to want to try and tackle this.



farmerbrown said:


> We tried Red Cote on a Farmall C tank it would not stick it stuck to everything else but not the inside of the tank. I would not at all be afraid of welding on a diesel tank gas would take a little more precaution .


I might call the guy that told me about them to see how his tank turned out. I'm also wondering if the radiator shop would have some kind of warranty on it.

My particular tractor is a gasoline engine.


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## mlappin (Jun 25, 2009)

Josh in WNY said:


> I don't have a steam cleaner myself, but I'm thinking the radiator shop might. Additionally, I can get two pieces of metal to stick together, but I am by no means a good enough welder to want to try and tackle this.


Gas tanks are tougher than diesel, gas seeps thru about anything.


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## rankrank1 (Mar 30, 2009)

Depending on the area of damage: I would not rule out brazing the damaged area as a repair as that could be the easier path of repair.

Do be careful on insuring you get the tank free of vapors. best way I always heard was run a pipe or heat resistant hose from the exhaust pipe of an old running engine to the empty gas tank. You will not want to use a modern engine to do this since the air coming out the exhaust pipe on a modern engine is sometimes cleaner than the air going into it. But an old gas tractor, or an old gas car from the 1970's or before, or even a riding lawnmower engine should do the trick. Older engines emit enough hydrocarbons to combine with the vapors in the empty tank to convert to something harmless from a vapor flashpoint perspective or eliminate them entirely through evaporation..


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## Farmineer95 (Aug 11, 2014)

If you are using a wire welder you can purge the tank with your shielding gas.


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## woodland (May 23, 2016)

Farmineer95 said:


> If you are using a wire welder you can purge the tank with your shielding gas.


CO2 is what we use and it's cheap after washing it out. Had to weld a crack in our 4430 fuel tank just using the MIG.


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## luke strawwalker (Jul 31, 2014)

Farmineer95 said:


> If you are using a wire welder you can purge the tank with your shielding gas.


Yep, three things are required for ignition/explosion... fuel source (vapors), oxygen (oxidizer), and an ignition source (heat/spark/flame). So long as you only have any two of the three, all is well... That's why you could land a probe on Titan next to a lake of liquid natural gas and not blow up... no oxygen.

When I worked for United Gas Pipeline, we watched them welding up OPERATING gas pipelines, when they had to make the crossover deeper underneath a drainage canal that was being deepened. They welded the new crossover to the outside of the pipeline, then sent a machine into the pipe to cut out the wall of the existing pipe inside the weld circumference of the new pipe, using an oxy-acetylene torch. Meanwhile the gas simply flowed around the machine and on through the existing pipeline. The machine was moved to the other end of the new crossover and did the same thing to the other end. Now the gas could flow straight through the existing pipe, or down through the new deeper crossover. Then another machine was sent in to weld a plate "plug" across the inside of the pipe just past where the new crossover was welded on. That then forced all the gas flow through the new crossover. Then the plugged off section of existing pipe in the middle was drilled and nitrogen pumped in to purge the existing gas out the other end through a second purge fitting. Once purged, the old existing pipe was then cut out, leaving the new deeper crossover to take its place. The ends were then capped.

So long as you didn't have any burn-throughs... all is well-- no air, so even with the sparks/flames of the welder and torch, no explosion.

Later! OL J R


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## Josh in WNY (Sep 7, 2010)

luke strawwalker said:


> Yep, three things are required for ignition/explosion... fuel source (vapors), oxygen (oxidizer), and an ignition source (heat/spark/flame). So long as you only have any two of the three, all is well... That's why you could land a probe on Titan next to a lake of liquid natural gas and not blow up... no oxygen.
> 
> When I worked for United Gas Pipeline, we watched them welding up OPERATING gas pipelines, when they had to make the crossover deeper underneath a drainage canal that was being deepened. They welded the new crossover to the outside of the pipeline, then sent a machine into the pipe to cut out the wall of the existing pipe inside the weld circumference of the new pipe, using an oxy-acetylene torch. Meanwhile the gas simply flowed around the machine and on through the existing pipeline. The machine was moved to the other end of the new crossover and did the same thing to the other end. Now the gas could flow straight through the existing pipe, or down through the new deeper crossover. Then another machine was sent in to weld a plate "plug" across the inside of the pipe just past where the new crossover was welded on. That then forced all the gas flow through the new crossover. Then the plugged off section of existing pipe in the middle was drilled and nitrogen pumped in to purge the existing gas out the other end through a second purge fitting. Once purged, the old existing pipe was then cut out, leaving the new deeper crossover to take its place. The ends were then capped.
> 
> ...


That is a great demonstration of the concept... but I would still want to be a long way off while it was being done, ya know, just in case.

I've held off on pulling the tank since the snow has set in here and it turns out the leak isn't the one I patched earlier, but is further up the side of the tank. I'm suspecting one of the tank straps has a hole in under it. I can keep just over 1/4 tank it it for now. I know I'm running the risk of water in the gas, but I hate dealing with our old diesels in the cold, even with block heaters.


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