Sprint Plastic Fuel Tank

Discussion in 'Sprint & Trophy' started by mglemans86, Jan 3, 2019.

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  1. mglemans86

    mglemans86 New Member

    Dec 20, 2018
    18
    3
    Florida, USA
    I have a 2005 Sprint ST with a plastic tank. I'm on my third tank because ethanol seems to be attacking the tank and warping it. The Triump Mothership replaced the first 2 but at 13 years old I doubt they will do it again. Later ST's came with a steel tank. Will the steel tanks fit an 05.
     
  2. trudd

    trudd Member

    Oct 13, 2014
    36
    18
    Short answer is no.
    There are plenty of messages about it on the various forums.
     
  3. Sprinter

    Sprinter Kinigit

    Aug 17, 2014
    6,026
    1,000
    uk
    You can line your tank.
     
  4. deaks25

    deaks25 Well-Known Member

    May 21, 2018
    76
    68
    Birmingham, UK
    The tank on my 05 is perfect. I dump injector cleaner in with a full tank every 6 months or so, but otherwise, just petrol goes in the tank. I thought the only reason to drain the tank & flush with cleaners is to remove rusting from the inside, which the plastic tank mitigates?? Or am I not quite understanding something?
    The only annoying thing is my magnetic tank bag has been relegate to being a cargo-netted tailpack.
     
    • Like Like x 1
  5. Sprinter

    Sprinter Kinigit

    Aug 17, 2014
    6,026
    1,000
    uk
    These tanks expand when out of their location in the frame, without any other cause required.
     
  6. Davehgv

    Davehgv New Member

    Aug 4, 2020
    4
    3
    Burnley lancashire
    Hi, you say line your tank, what do you mean pal, cheers
     
  7. Sprinter

    Sprinter Kinigit

    Aug 17, 2014
    6,026
    1,000
    uk
    Stolen from Triumph Rat and @D'Ecosse


    The bubbles in my case were only around the bottom edge and actually in the 'filler' material that covers the exterior of the tank; once sanded/filled/sanded it was ready for paint and have had zero problems with any recurrence.

    1. Caswell kit, used whole quantity - 1/2 will get nowhere near covering it and even the full can is marginally just enough
    There is a LOT of surface area in that tank.

    2/3. Remove the filler assembly, the pump assembly and the Fuel Level Sensor.
    I masked the flller opening up, put a rubber bung in the sensor opening (on inside to protect the threads) and cut a cardboard 'cover' for the pump opening. But first mask off the sealing face of the pump opening regardless of fact you will be fitting the 'cover'
    It's much easier to use the pump plate opening to pour the epoxy in, which is not only more accessible to get it in, it also lets you see what you're doing as you swirl it around - and then just fit that 'cover' when you have it almost all done so you can get it up to the edge all around the pump opening.

    Preparation is the key - ensuring that the tank is absolutely clean inside.
    I used soapy water scrubbing it with Scotchbrite scouring pad then rinsed several times, then rinsed with alcohol to remove any trace of water (You can use a heat-gun or hairdryer to blow warm air in/around the inside of the tank) - let it dry at least overnight.
    Keep the product indoors at room temp for at least a day before you plan to do the job - it is EXTREMELY viscous when cold and is hard to mix and flow well. If it's cold in your garage overnight already, I would consider to have your tank inside and actually do the job in the house.
    Mix THOROUGHLY - it is really important that you scrape all the edges of the vessel while blending to ensure there is no unmixed filler in the product.
    Remember when flowing it, on that gen of tank you need to get all the way up into that area in the front where the mounts are.
    I actually used the red kit - makes it really easy to see your coverage.

    When it has partially cured (check the material left in your vessel) then remove the cover and trim around the edge of the pump plate opening with a Utility knife - it should cut with the blade when it is 'set' but still a little soft vs waiting till it completely hardened.


    https://www.triumphrat.net/threads/help-sealing-a-plastic-gas-tank.941150/
     
  8. Pegscraper

    Pegscraper Elite Member

    Jun 12, 2020
    2,936
    800
    Yorkshire
    I have a plastic tank on the 2010 Husaberg and other than slight vapour migration it's no bother. It looks and feels like a really dense polythene type plastic. What type is the Triumph tank?
     
  9. Triumphal385

    Triumphal385 Active Member

    Mar 23, 2020
    134
    43
    South East
    My 05 plastic tank is also fine. I've only had it for almost a year, mostly in lockdown. I've added Redex and now fuel stabiliser.
     
  10. Hubaxe

    Hubaxe Good moaning! aka Mr Wordsalad :)

    Mar 25, 2020
    1,692
    800
    Aix Les bains - French Alps
    Mine is also in perfect shape. I thing the way the bike was stored is very important a bike stored in a dark garage rather than outside will probably age in a better way?
     
  11. Davehgv

    Davehgv New Member

    Aug 4, 2020
    4
    3
    Burnley lancashire
     
  12. SgtSunshine

    SgtSunshine New Member

    Oct 3, 2020
    7
    3
    Milton Keynes
    Just noticed this:
    http://deformedfueltanks.com/
    This problem is not restricted to Triumph. The article focuses on Ducati, but mentions Triumph. It strengthens the arguments that say that Triumph should sort it out though.
     
  13. SgtSunshine

    SgtSunshine New Member

    Oct 3, 2020
    7
    3
    Milton Keynes
  14. SgtSunshine

    SgtSunshine New Member

    Oct 3, 2020
    7
    3
    Milton Keynes
    By the way, I am looking at getting a Sprint GT. Does anyone know if any of these ever had a plastic tank? I want to avoid them if so!
     
  15. Hubaxe

    Hubaxe Good moaning! aka Mr Wordsalad :)

    Mar 25, 2020
    1,692
    800
    Aix Les bains - French Alps
    I'm not sure the GT came with the plastic tank. I think they all came with a steel tank.
    The ST came with steel tank from 2008. The GT was sold in 2010.
     
  16. Aidan

    Aidan Well-Known Member

    Dec 31, 2018
    183
    93
    Essex
    As an aside, the USA seem to have much better consumer protection when vehicles are involved. I have a 2011 E350 diesel Mercedes. The OM642 engine fitted has a known fault with poor quality seals used in the oil cooler. To shorten warm-up times, the oil cooler assembly is buried deep in the V of the engine. The seals fail at around 80,000 miles (as mine did) and require stripping most of the engine to replace (a £1000 job). In the USA, Mercedes were made to replace the seals free of charge, but not here. I even wrote to Ferdinand Piech and told him what a piece of sh*t his engine was. Anyway, I now woudl never buy another Mercedes.

    ps. My Sprint GT has a steel tank - think all GTs do.

    pps look after your plastic tank by sticking to super grade (in UK) as this will have the least ethanol, especially as we are switching to E10 (10% ethanol).
     
  17. SgtSunshine

    SgtSunshine New Member

    Oct 3, 2020
    7
    3
    Milton Keynes
    Thanks for that Hubaxe & Aiden.
    I was looking at getting a GT last Autumn, but with all the restrictions, I left it until the Spring (also allowed me to save a bit more!) So, the current plan is to buy one in April.
    There don't seem to be that many of them about.
    I certainly don't want to buy one from a certain firm in Macclesfield have read such awful stories about them.
    Anyone know of the best place to look apart from Autotrader and MCN?
     
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