I am so frustrated so I apologize for the tone. I just worked a long week to come home and find out that my son was run off the road and caught the left side of the shield on the ground and ripped a hole in the fuel tank at the connection point. This is on a 95 volvo 850 turbo sedan. It is my understanding that there is a recall on the shields or tanks for something regarding the length of shield and the way it is connected. My belief is that the shields were too long and the connection was bad because this could happen.

Well, it happened and my contention is that the shield should not have been extended to catch the ground and where it was connected, it should never have been so secure that it would rip a hole in the tank. It should not have been connected to the tank.

Clarification please, should this be eligible for the recall and if not, can I make the hole larger and a true circle and put an expanding bung plug in it. This is his first car and I expected some damage but not destruction.

Thanks, glad to get that off my chest....boy do I need a beer or two (or more).... I sure like the smiles by the way.

 

Here Are the recalls for the 95 850---> 1995 Volvo 850 Recalls, Defects, & Problems

The one your referring to is the first one but sorry to say it has to do with the heat sheild attachment points and leaking at those points.

 

It is leaking at the connection point from when the shield caught the ground and pulled the connection partially out of the tank.
I read somewhere that somebody had the repair done and part of the repair was to trim the heat shield which leads me to believe that it shouldn't extend far enough to catch the ground but then again, these vehicles aren't suvs either.

 

I'm not sure when the recall was, but you should call your local Volvo dealership and ask about that. If it was me I wouldnt want to patch that up I would just get it replaced.

 

If it ends up being at my time and expense, I would rather make the hole a clean 1 inch or smaller and screw something into it. It is fairly high on the tank. I'm looking for a quick easy fix since the closest Volvo dealer is over 2 hours away in Tulsa unless there is one 60 miles away in Joplin but they have problems of their own. What a mess that was driving through.

It's almost a clean 1/4 circle with a slight 1/2 inch tear beneath. I can almost push it back in but it pushes back out.

 

I picked up some jb waterweld. Now I need to find a plastic style pop in plug of 1 inch size. If I find that, I'll carefully remove the remaining piece , clean up with solvent, rough up, and plug patch and see how it does for now.....I still need to call volvo but I want it drive-able. I found a tank local for $50 but I would have to pull it probably and it would still be subject to recall, would need to be cleaned, and parts swapped I suppose and re-installed. There was a time that I actually enjoyed working on cars but that ship has sailed. Now it's strictly out of necessity. I like working on old wood working machinery but that's just me.

 

That's the same story I got from my Daughter when she totaled my 960. I still think she was texting. Anyway, I really would not bother with Volvo, calling them about a recall on a 16 year old car. On top of that it was a problem due to an accident. Don't frustrate yourself any further.

On another note, I have taught my daughter, wife and others... NEVER LEAVE THE ROAD WITHOUT CONTACT. You can total your car and they will simply drive off.

 

Good point but depending on where the contact is, you could end up with the blame and get a ticket. Honestly, I doubt they ran him off the road. He said he was trying to merge and they came from the far lane to the right lane at the point his merge lane ended. I'm guessing that you or I would have had better results due to experience.

Anyways, I need to find a plastic pop in plug of some sort and use it in conjunction with the jb weld. I could put jb alone as a blob over it but would rather make it look like it belonged. I think worse case I may still have a slight drip but right now, the fuel dumps out.

I also need to get a left front fender where he ended up slid against a tree.

 

I threw in some random grammatically incorrect breaks just to make the conclusion easier to read. I apologize in advance.


I did what no reputable mechanic would do. I carefully cut out the rest of the plastic mounting section for the shield and tried to install a 1 inch nylon plug but it was too small. I then took a galvanized 1 inch electrical plug for knockouts and it was slightly too big.

Also, the gibs that lock it in are kind of short for this application. I took my dremel with a sanding drum and increased the size of the hole until I could knock the plug in with a hammer but not by hand. I also tapered the inside of the hole to make it more the thickness of an electrical box.

Then I (all this after popping out my makeshift plug)put some jb water weld along the little gibs, it won't do much but it will help. I would have uses an poly o-ring but I don't think the plug would have gone in. Besides, I just thought of that and I don't have one anyways. After popping in the plug, I carefully sculpted a patch over it for good measure. Nice thing about the water weld is if you keep your fingers wet, you can sculpt it pretty smooth.

Then I sprayed some duplicolor bumper black spray that I had laying around from a samurai project. You can't tell there was a hole cept for lack of the plastic nipple that was there. Last step was to bend and pound the shield back up and out of the way. It can hang and I think it will be o.k. for a good long time.

I crack myself up with this repair.


By the way, this was not volvos fault but I'll still shoot for the new gas tank. The shield wasn't too low at all. I'm not sure how he caught the shield but I'm just glad he didn't get hurt or worse. Afterall, I bought a big old heavy volvo for a reason.

 

Good job man. If I could I would buy you a beer.

 

I once repaired a hole in a steel fuel tank with a self tapping screw, some fuel tank putty and a washer. Held for a few years, till I sold the car in fact.
These sort of repairs either work right away, or never seal, so if it seals, well done!

 

I think I spent 20 times more time thinking about the repair than actually doing it. It took all of 10 to 15 minutes.

Let's all drink a beer!!!

Cheers!!