Oil tank leak band-aid

[Walt Fricke]

Overtightening of the oil tank plug damaged the threads in the tank. To fix this I brazed a copper fitting around the outside of the plug receptacle. A cast iron pipe plug with a magnet epoxied inside of it completed the job.

Well, I'm a better welder than brazer (and my welding is hardly polished). Eventually a small leak or leaks developed where the copper was not entirely brazed to the stock brass, or whatever it is.



Since only gravity is pushing oil drops through this, I'm thinking I can clean it (with the tank still full of oil), surround the joint with suitable goop, wrap something useful around that, and maybe secure it even more with a hose clamp around the rest. And perhaps that might just work for an indefinite while?

Sure, the right fix is to remove the tank, clean things well, and get on with doing a better brazing job. Or maybe someone knows of a thread insert which will work in this thin and soft material. And someday I will do just that. Not just now. In fact, I have a second tank whose stock threads are also buggered, and I can fix that up and swap. But not just now.

So what would the right goop be? I fear that wicking Loctite green won't wick up against the inevitable residual oil in the leak passage or passages. JB Weld? some other epoxy? RTV of one or another flavor? Curil T? Something else?

I am thinking of using the useful brown/orange self adhesive rubber sealing tape as the next level, but am open to any and all suggestions.

Walt

[EarlyPorsche]

I would put some solder in the joint then spray it off with brake clean and cover it in a two part epoxy from home depot. They come in two cans which are red and black. This will be a permanent fix. A friend of mine had the side of this engine block crack on his Jeep 258. Instead of replace it he used this epoxy to put it back together and its held for a long time.

[safe]

My tank developed a small, small hole that dripped oil out at about 1 drop every 5 seconds (when cold).
I emptied the tank and put some JB weld on the outside. It has held up a year now, should work for you also.