Pinholes in gas tank--Solder/braze/weld?? Attention welders!

[kxpower?]

Hey guys and gals, I have a leaky tank and need a little advice.

I discovered a while back my tank has the dreaded fairing mount bolt puncture, so I went and picked up a can of Red-Kote at Oreilly's and started prepping the tank. There were a few places with surface rust on the outside (inside is 99% rust lol), and I intend to re-paint anyway, so I grabbed a wire brush and went to town on the rusty spots. Well, as it turns out, there were about a dozen little (around 1mm diameter) holes that were hiding under the rust, all in a spot right next to the petcock.

So I'm thinking that since the red-kote only claims to seal holes up to 1 mm in diameter, it may or may not fix these holes. Plus the surface is just about perfectly prepped for welding or soldering since it's already brushed to bare metal. And I've washed the tank out and rinsed with acetone (and it's been open and drying for days), so there's not any concern with flammable vapors in the tank. I have access to a nice MIG/TIG machine, but all I've welded with it was exhausts and stuff, so a lot heavier steel than this tank.

So before I re-coat the tank, should I go ahead and solder or weld up these holes I can see and access, then use the red-kote, followed by fresh primer and paint?

For soldering, is regular lead electrical solder OK or is there another product to use? Or has anyone had luck using a wirefeed welder for this?

[alex.s]

buy a new gas tank.

[agentbad]

Wasn't there a recall for gas tanks?

[kxpower?]

Originally Posted by agentbad

Wasn't there a recall for gas tanks?

There was, I ran my VIN on the Kawi website and it said it wasn't part of the recall. Broke my heart lol.

EDIT: A little clicking around reveals the recall covered 04-07 models, mine are 88 and 92 model years.

[kxpower?]

Originally Posted by alex.s

buy a new gas tank.

Eh, I've got this tank and another and they should be good after a little repair, enough sealer for 2 tanks was about $30 versus at least $80-$100 (plus shipping a pretty bulky tank) off ebay.

And the second tank is in good enough shape that it should be worth a little bit of money once I fix the leaks.

[Panda]

Sounds like something you could TIG weld. I wouldn't listen to me though.

I'd buy a new tank too.

[Motofool]

Originally Posted by kxpower?

....is there another product to use? Or has anyone had luck using a wirefeed welder for this?

Jesse,

I have not seen tanks repaired with electrical welding, but I have seen successful repairs with gas torches using strips of steel (oxyacetylene welding) and even with irons using soft soldering or brazing.

[Asspire]

brazing will work, just need to find some one with the skill.

[crazymadbastard]

Originally Posted by kxpower?

There was, I ran my VIN on the Kawi website and it said it wasn't part of the recall. Broke my heart lol.

EDIT: A little clicking around reveals the recall covered 04-07 models, mine are 88 and 92 model years.

Hmm will keep that in mind if I get some dents and need the recall!

[brian12]

I had this problem as well. The first owner let the bike sit and the tank rusted out from the inside. It developed pin holes along the bottom side of the tank. I took it a radiator shop to have them seal the inside of the tank and it didn't work. I tried getting the crap out they put in so I could reseal myself but I didn't have any luck getting whatever they put in there out.

So, after checking a couple of places that refurb tanks, I decided the easiest bet was just buying a new one. By the time I had my tank shipped to one of those shops and had them work on it it would have cost about as much as a new one.