Gen 2.5 Fuel Tank cracked

mr_ed

mr_ed

Toolbag
**FIXED! See bottom**

**PROBLEM BACK! See bottom**

So my '98 Gen 2.5 developed a crack in it's fuel tank. Long story short I dropped the skid plate and tried the cheap-route, "apply even while it's wet," magic gas tank fix. Lasted 10 minutes. Drained and dropped the tank and applied JB Weld and let it set overnight. Lasted long enough for me to get way up into the Olympic mountains before it started leaking again. Drained and dropped a second time, and tried actually welding it (not to worry, I filled it with water :snorkel: so I'm still among the living) which didn't work cuz I suck at welding sheet metal, so I used some high-quality fuel tank repair epoxy. This lasted long enough for me to get up into the Mt. Hood National Forest before it started leaking again. So I'm done with pipe-dream tank repairs and am on the prowl for a new (used) tank.

My question it, will a tank from a Gen2 fit into a Gen2.5?? I've checked on oemmitsubishiparts.com and the part # is different from a 1998 to a 1997 and older, but that doesn't necessarily mean that it won't fit. My wife has a 97 LS and from what I can tell just from looking at it they appear the same.

Just curious if anybody knows for sure. Real Monteros are hard enough to come by in the wrecking yards up here around Portland OR (ones that aren't a dang "sport") and the Gen2.5's are scarce as hen's teeth.

Thanks for any help. I really want to get this fixed for sure and for certain. I can't take it anywhere until then cuz I'm paranoid someone'll toss a cig butt under there and suddenly :Wow1::Wow1:

Cheers,

Ed
 
Last edited:
Toasty

Toasty

Looking for that thing i just had in my hand...
All gen 2 tanks will bolt up and be the same shape, the difference is how they vent their pressure. You have the type with the little cap looking things, the older ones have some hardlines and a canister I think. Either way, take what you can get for now if you find one cheap because late model tanks are hard to come by. I just changed mine by the way, not cracked but crushed :)
 
mr_ed

mr_ed

Toolbag
Just to tie this little thread off so if anybody else down the road has this same question (threads where someone has a problem that resembles mine, but the thread fizzles out just short of a solution or useable info are what grinds my gears)...

I found a Gen 2 in a junkyard about a hundred miles away, so I took a gamble and zipped over on the Vstrom to see about it. Turns out that the gas tank out of this 1995 Montero LS was IDENTICAL to the tank in my Gen 2.5, despite all the OEM parts websites showing different Mitsu part numbers. The vents were the same. Not saying you're wrong, Toasty, someone may have swapped the tank on that '95 with one like mine...who knows. It was plug and play.

Now I can relax and quit looking over my shoulder expecting to see Micheal Bay and a film crew lurking at a safe distance.....:campfire:
 
M

ManfromSnowyRiver

Explorer
Honestly I tried to patch one a couple of times many years ago with similar results. Once you got a hole, you got a hole. Which thankfully takes a lot of abuse, and can be prevented with a good skid plate.
 
mr_ed

mr_ed

Toolbag
Unless I had to cross 600+ mile filling station-less expanses on the reg (which I don't), I don't think I'd want that tank simply because of how demoralizing it would be when I filled it up haha...


Sent from my toaster using Tapatalk
 
mr_ed

mr_ed

Toolbag
So here I sit, 1 year later, and my nice "new" used tank seems to have developed a leak...IN THE EXACT SAME SPOT! Somewhat pissed right now. I haven't dropped the tank/skidplate yet to verify the leak spot, but what I can see from looking between the tank and plate, it seems to be the exact same spot the original tank cracked at.

I'm really miffed. There's at least an inch, maybe a tad more between the bottom of the tank and the skidplate, no rocks jammed in there, and the skidplate isn't dented or contacting down there. Neither was the tank hard to install, so there shouldn't be any abnormal stresses causing a stress point.

Unfortunately, I now live on Kodiak Island up in Alaska, where I believe I have the ONLY gen2/2.5 (driving or not), and shipping anything larger than a birthday card costs your firstborn, so I think I may have to get creative fixing this one haha.


Sent while on the toilet using Tapatalk
 
mr_ed

mr_ed

Toolbag
That's my plan. I'm an aircraft mechanic so I'm thinking along the lines of a stainless sheetmetal patch, riveted and all bedded down with some b-1/2 fuel cell sealant.

What bothers me is WHY did it crack. Did I just get unlucky, or is there something funky with mine that somehow creates a stress point on my fuel tank?


Sent while on the toilet using Tapatalk
 
BOPOH

BOPOH

Explorer
maybe you are just unlucky, my tank is squashed that fuel gauge is not even working but no leaks. I was aircraft mechanic too but in USMC :)
 
BOPOH

BOPOH

Explorer
I've worked on pretty much all USMC rotary and fixed birds, mostly F/A-18D but i didn't do any airframe work, just life support systems: O2 systems, parachutes, pyro, survival gear. Although in some cases i had to deal with every component of the aircraft, especially in "rescue" missions - lol fun times
 
mr_ed

mr_ed

Toolbag
BOPOH said:
I've worked on pretty much all USMC rotary and fixed birds, mostly F/A-18D but i didn't do any airframe work, just life support systems: O2 systems, parachutes, pyro, survival gear. Although in some cases i had to deal with every component of the aircraft, especially in "rescue" missions - lol fun times
Click to expand...

Right on! Yeah my rate does airframe, powerplant, flight controls, hydraulics, etc. I don't really mess with avionics (different specialty) and our rescue swimmers handle all the survival and life support.


Sent while on the toilet using Tapatalk
 
mr_ed

mr_ed

Toolbag
Figured out my (new) leak. Bad washer on the drain plug. New crush washer from napa and no leaky so far!

Sure was a relief to not have another crack!


Sent while on the toilet using Tapatalk
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Forum statistics

Threads
186,159
Messages
2,882,667
Members
225,984
Latest member
taunger

Members online

Total: 391 (members: 5, guests: 386)
Top