It's a gas man! QUESTION (read on)

[Jims68]

OK, so for about a month, I've been smelling GAS (gasoline) in our garage. I know that on my one car the gas tanks are known for rusting out on top where they have a pad between the tank and trunk floor. So, I also was going to put new mufflers on it. OK.... I did the mufflers (Walker OEM type) and then I dropped the gas tank. No rust on top of tank... in fact I primed it 30+ years ago and looks like I sprayed it yesterday. So... I thought, while I have it down, I'll replace the two seals. The Sending Unit seal and the Grommet where the filler neck goes in. Although with a minimal pressure test before I replaced the seals, NO BUBBLES with a soapy solution. I give up.... I looked on the 318 Sweptline pickup and under it and no gas shown. OK... fast forward a couple days. I was looking for a ratcheting screwdriver and looked all over for it... I thought maybe it was under the seat in the Doge Truck. WHAM, I open the doors and PE YEW! I found the gas leak. It had a ever so slight crack on a bend in the tank, and before you ask, NO nothing was in contact with it... ever. I was looking at it and the gas was just ever so slowly weeping out. I pull the seat, gas tank rug cover and the rug under the seat and also the seat belts OUT. STILL wreaks of gas smell... I pull out the rubber mat along with the JUTE and now it doesn't smell (I don't think) in the cab. I repaired the "crack" which was maybe... MAYBE 1/8" with some solder and then I used JB WELD on top of the solder. Before I used the JB WELD I did a pressure test with soapy water and no bubbles.

SO.... My question is... has anyone had any luck getting a gas smell OUT of something? Yes, I Googled it and used baking soda, vinegar and HOT water to soak the seat belts in, but that didn't work and they still smell like Gasoline now. So... I have decided to replace the JUTE, and carpets under the seat and gas tank cover. But I hate to spend all the extra money on new seatbelts too.

[Wildergarten]

OK, so for about a month, I've been smelling GAS (gasoline) in our garage.

The only thing I can think of that isn't expensive takes time employing the law of partial pressures. Close it up and recirculate the air through a can of activated charcoal "getter" for weeks. You may need to bake out the charcoal from time to time.

Might work. Might not. You just might call Servepro or some such to see if they'll take compassion on you tellnig you what they do.

[Jims68]

Thanks for that suggestion, but the money I would "most likely" spend for having professional cleaning would be more than the $40(?) for new seat belts. UGH... I may just leave them sit out in the sun and weather for a while and maybe sprinkle baking soda on them. I already spent more than $50 for new Jute (Ebay) and carpet (Walmart). Oh well.... probably should drive it more often and I would've noticed the problem sooner!

[PwrWgnDrvr]

When I pumped gas for a summer 50 yrs ago, we used TIDE for everything - concrete pads around pumps, shop floor, restrooms. Still use it today for all that petro hell stink. Soak you're stuff in a bucket of water and heavy on the tide (powder) solution. Then run it through the washing machine. Let us know if that DOESN'T work.
And that crack - had that 40 yrs ago on my 70 W200 - it was almost "new" then. Seems to happen from slight wall flexing from pressure changes due to day/night temperatures and full/empty conditions.

[Jims68]

Never thought about it flexing... I bet that is why it cracked (ever so small as it was).

I'll give the detergent a try.

[Jims68]

Ok, so the truck is back together and I used powder detergent on the seat belts. We already had some other brand so I did not buy TIDE, but I guess I could've because we only use powder soap anyway. I wet the belts and sprinkled the soap powder on the belts and let the soap start to 'melt'. Then, I scrubbed each belt with a brush and did both sides this way. Then, I put them in the clothes washer and this helped 95% to get the smell out. They still had a whiff of gas smell, but you had to put your nose right on the belt to smell it. I then used Febreze liberally on each belt and that made the belts smell nice without a gas smell. I hope this "holds" the gas smell away, but if it comes back, I'll just spritz them again!

Thanks Terry for that idea!

[wally426ci]

Maybe lay them out in the sun for a nice weekend to see if that helps get rid of any residual?

[Jims68]

Maybe lay them out in the sun for a nice weekend to see if that helps get rid of any residual?

Thanks... I already did that (I forgot to add that part in my post above). I drove the truck today and I do NOT smell anything other than the new carpets. I think it's pretty much resolved. Drove it over to my parents... then the battery was dead when I went to start it. Yeah... I knew it was "going"... lucky he has a nice charger and I had a cup of coffee while waiting to bring up the juice. I will most likely have to put a new battery in it SOON!

[Hobcobble]

These days...... a decent battery will run you about $125.

John

[thedodgeman69]

I have seen several swepty cab gas tanks with cracks in them. About half way down on the side facing the seat. I tried repairing one with JB weld, but the gas dissolved it. Then I tried soldering it. It didn't stick. I ended up taking the tank out and filling it with water. Cleaned the cracked areas. Then welded it up. Drained the water out. Let it dry for a day in the hot Nevada sun and reinstalled. That was almost 20 years ago. Hasn't leaked a drop since. Repaired a couple others that way. In fact, I have one with cracks waiting for me to repair.

[Wildergarten]

I have seen several swepty cab gas tanks with cracks in them. About half way down on the side facing the seat. I tried repairing one with JB weld, but the gas dissolved it. Then I tried soldering it. It didn't stick. I ended up taking the tank out and filling it with water. Cleaned the cracked areas. Then welded it up. Drained the water out. Let it dry for a day in the hot Nevada sun and reinstalled. That was almost 20 years ago. Hasn't leaked a drop since. Repaired a couple others that way. In fact, I have one with cracks waiting for me to repair.

I had a crack in the exact same location with one truck I had, and took the same steps: epoxy wouldn't stick, and solder wouldn't wet properly. Didn't try brazing as the surface was by then a mess, nor welding as I only had oxy-acetylene and thought that my prior attempt with lead-tin would only cause bigger problems when it got hotter. Good to know that it worked for you, as I have an 18-gallon tank on which to try it. What process did you use, MIG, TIG, gas???

[thedodgeman69]

Mig with Flux core wire I think.

[Wildergarten]

Mig with Flux core wire I think.

Pretty light metal for flux core wire. You're a better welder than me if you didn't just blow a hole lined with bird sh##.

One wonders why so many tanks crack there; it's a really weird spot. One would think if the metal there was so stressed in that area as to crack in the first place that the crack would reappear in the region sustaining the weld shrinkage stress along it's edge. Good on you for making it work.

[Jims68]

I have seen several swepty cab gas tanks with cracks in them. About half way down on the side facing the seat. I tried repairing one with JB weld, but the gas dissolved it. Then I tried soldering it. It didn't stick. I ended up taking the tank out and filling it with water. Cleaned the cracked areas. Then welded it up. Drained the water out. Let it dry for a day in the hot Nevada sun and reinstalled. That was almost 20 years ago. Hasn't leaked a drop since. Repaired a couple others that way. In fact, I have one with cracks waiting for me to repair.

You mean you welded it with water IN the tank? How would it get hot enough? I did manage to get my solder to melt onto the tank, and then I used JB Weld on top of it. NOW... today with a Google search, I see that JB Weld does make a epoxy especially for gas tanks. But that isn't the one I used. I just used the "normal" stuff.

https://www.jbweld.com/product/j-b-weld-tankweld

[Wildergarten]

You mean you welded it with water IN the tank? How would it get hot enough?

By doing the weld on top with a small head space to the water below. It's the standard method for welding on tanks that have had fuel in them and may still have internal fumes otherwise capable of turnig the process into a candidate for a Darwin Award.

[Jims68]

You mean you welded it with water IN the tank? How would it get hot enough?

By doing the weld on top with a small head space to the water below. It's the standard method for welding on tanks that have had fuel in them and may still have internal fumes otherwise capable of turnig the process into a candidate for a Darwin Award.

Yeah... well, I think I'll pass on that and see how my solder holds up It stuck to the tank really well and so did the JB Weld on top of it. So... time will tell.

[Wildergarten]

Yeah... well, I think I'll pass on that and see how my solder holds up It stuck to the tank really well and so did the JB Weld on top of it. So... time will tell.

I wasn't trying to advise you to do something; I was merely explaining the process and its rationale.

[PwrWgnDrvr]

Yeah... well, I think I'll pass on that and see how my solder holds up It stuck to the tank really well and so did the JB Weld on top of it. So... time will tell.

I wasn't trying to advise you to do something; I was merely explaining the process and its rationale.

That was the rational thing to do.

[Jims68]

Yeah... well, I think I'll pass on that and see how my solder holds up It stuck to the tank really well and so did the JB Weld on top of it. So... time will tell.

I wasn't trying to advise you to do something; I was merely explaining the process and its rationale.

Oh, I understood that you weren't advising me to try it! No worries!! I had tried to fix an antique motorcycle tank that had been empty for probably... 40+ years and it kept blowing off with big WOOOFFFS coming out of the tank. After I had one of the inner side panels off, I found that the tank still had "powder" of OLD GAS inside and that was what was causing the 'blow offs'. I was not really in danger (I don't think) but it was enough for me to not do that again. So, after all that what I went through, I finally took it to someone and they soldered it all up for me.

[Wildergarten]

Oh, I understood that you weren't advising me to try it! No worries!!

No offense was taken, I just take working on gas tanks with heat very seriously.
You won't see me joking about it unless it is so labeled.
It's the engineer in me. I really don't want to own the consequences of a misunderstanding.