Gas Tank Leak

[johnjan]

My Camry 94 Gas Tank starts leaking when I am filling with gas and just before the tank is filled up or the gas nozzle clicks shut.

Any suggestions?

[93celicaconv]

How significant is the leak? It is a steady stream of gas that dumps out, or do you just notice a fuel smell but never see the gas? Or is it something in between?

If not a major dump of gas when you fill up, I would recommend you refill your tank and get underneath the car soon afterwards to try to pinpoint the source of the leak. It could be a leak at one of the hose connections. It could be a leak at the seal where your fuel pump and sending unit access hatch is. If either of these, you don't need to replace the tank, just repair the source of the leak.

If the source of the leak is the tank body itself, you will need to replace the tank. You should be able to get a good tank yet from a salvage yard. You might be able to find an aftermarket tank available too.

[johnjan]

As soon as gas droplets fall on the ground behind the rear driver wheel inside, I back off on the gas filling nozzle. Usually by this time I have 55 Litres in the tank, so the leak seems to be near the top of the tank?

[93celicaconv]

I would still recommend you do an inspection. It is possible the leak is coming from the hatch seal where the fuel pump and fuel sending unit are accessed from (you should be able to remove the rear seat bottom to access this), or an EVAP line between the tank and your charcoal canister that sometimes gets liquid fuel in it during the filling process (perhaps part of the steel line rusted through), or it could be coming from an area where the tank was rubbing against the chassis of the car (which can happen if one of the rubber pads as come loose and fallen off).

Let us know what you find during your inspection.

[BMR]

Sounds to me like the tank fill-tube is rotted out like the one in this DIY thread:

Link to thread

The fill-tube a separate part; don't need to replace the tank. This problem pops up on the board once in a while, particularly for folks that live in climates where rusting is a severe problem.

[93celicaconv]

The fill tube would be a good area to inspect then. Good to know you don't have to replace the tank to repair a rusted fill tube. On Celica fuel tanks, the fuel fill nipple on the tank is integral with the tank and cannot be replaced on its own. On Camrys, they must have made this a repairable part. The difference is interesting.

[the_professional]

+1 on the fill tube, common camry issue depending on region.