Help! Overfilling tank caused later gas leak?

[neofeudal]

Hello! I filled up my 1973 88" Series 3 more than I should have earlier today...gas did not overflow at the time, but after parking it, a bit of a puddle is developing under the tank.

Is this a common issue if one fills it too much? I think the stem was filled, fromt he tank to the gas inlet, and figure maybe that is designed to leak, or has a leak?

The tank was almost empty when I filled it up, and this was my first fill-up with this Rover (just brought it home from the garage).

Anybody else have experience with this?

I piled some dirt on the gas leak and will check in the AM to see if the fuel level actually went down any.

Any thoughts appreciated!!!

[ArlowCT]

Sounds like you have a loose filler hose/vent hose where they connect to the tank. They should both have hose clamps on them. Pull the passenger seat bottom and back. That should allow you to see the top of the tank and figure out where the leak is from. Inspect the clamps and hoses and replace as needed. This area should not show any leaks, I fill my truck up to the cap all the time on long trips to gain the extra mileage and have no leaks.

[disco2hse]

Either that or the foam pad around the base of the filler pipe has caused corrosion on the top of the tank around the pipe.

In each of this case and the previous, you would smell the petrol in the cab.

Otherwise it may have come out around the sender cover plate.

Check around the fuel tank drain plug on the bottom to see if there is any sign of wetness there.

Finally, when it gets hot and I overfill my side tank, the petrol sometimes gets squirted up the breather tube and dribbles out past the cap. In such cases it ends up on the ground. it is obvious where it has come from because there are dribble stains down the side of the body. I know, I need a new cap but round tuits are hard to find.

[NC_Mule]

My filler hose was rotten, it didn't have any holes but if I filled up the tank gas would weep thru and pool on the ground.
I would check yours.

[neofeudal]

Well, I pulled the plate behind the seat and the tube was fine there. Then I pulled the seat and looked at the top of the tank. That was dry. My fuel level is down to 3/4, so sounds like a holed fuel tank. Would you all concur with this? And if so, is there a wise way to patch it, or do I need a new one? Thanks everybody!!!

[disco2hse]

Cool. So it was not an overfilled situation.

Possibly a split seam or similar.

Drain the tank into a bucket and filter that into a fuel tin (you will be surprised at how much crud ends up in there). Whip out the tank and have it pressure tested and repaired. The cost should be minimal.

You should only need a new one if it is consistently rusty throughout or it has been repaired a number of times before (so that you are now repairing the patches). Generally, that is not likely.