2002 Chevy Silverado Fuel Tank Repair

There's no liner to worry about, but sand the tank in the area first to remove the shiny surface so the patch material will stick.

My mother hit a huge piece of metal on the highway with her Grand Caravan. It tore off the rear heater hoses and punched a hole in the tank making a 3" x 1" cut two sides of a rectangle. It was up high enough that she only lost 3/4 tank of fuel. By leep-frogging it with my car, I nursed it home 7 miles with no coolant. Half way home, I crawled underneath, sanded the tank in the area, (metal tank), and built up a temporary patch with Mopar RTV gasket sealer, (the harder, better-sealing gray stuff). Never smelled any fumes from that point on.

While repairing the heater hoses at home, I decided the "temporary" patch was vulnerable to rocks, so I added a thin piece of tin over it. Decided the tin was vulnerable to corrosion so I added another layer of gasket sealer. That was 20 years ago!! It's still my dailer driver and has never had a sign of leaking. I always overfill the tank. I've even given up watching for a good used tank. The hole is WAY bigger than 1/8".

You might consider using RTV, (room temperature vulcanizing) gasket sealer, and for good measure, run a self-tapping bolt with a washer into the hole with it.

Not sure what rare elements your tank is made of, but for $700.00, you can get a half dozen good tanks from the salvage yards.

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