1984 Ford Thunderbird fuel vent tube seal

Ma ran over a chunk of metal on the highway and put 2" by 3" hole in the side of a metal gas tank. After nursing it halfway home, one mile at a time, (it would have overheated from tearing off the heater hoses to the rear heater), I built up a patch with Mopar RTV sealer, (the gray stuff that gets a little harder and seals through any residue). Never smelled the fumes from then on.

While making hose repairs, I wanted to protect the "temporary patch" from rocks, so I covered it with a thin piece of tin. To protect that from rust and corrosion, I added another layer of RTV sealer. That temporary patch has been on there for over 15 years and has never leaked. It's still my daily driver. The tank has been over-filled many times.

I'm sure Ford and GM have the same RTV sealer with their own name on the tube. I just used the Mopar stuff because I was familiar with it. If it can hold up to that, I bet it would work to seal your tubes. Just be sure to remove any dirt and loose material. To remove it later, you'll have to cut it with a knife.

By the way, it works real good too for sealing arcing high voltage transformers in picture tube-type tvs!

Caradiodoc

See your friendly Chrysler dealer's parts department for part number 82300234 RTV Sealant. RTV stands for room temperature vulcanizing. It comes in a 3 oz tube on a blister pack card. It is also available in a caulking tube, but once opened, it will cure in the tube in a few weeks, so only buy that if you're going to use it all very soon. For what you're describing, one 3 oz tube sounds like it will be plenty.

There are a lot of other brands with a similar product that you can find at the parts stores. The only reason I used the Chrysler stuff is I had some with me for various emergency repairs, and I was very familiar with it.

The place where this stuff really works great is for resealing transmission pans. The Chrysler 4spds will drip fluid that runs across the lower pan flange for days. The more rubbery black RTV sealer will not bond if there is any of that oil residue on the surfaces, so parts must be perfectly clean and dry. The residue should still be cleaned off when using the gray sealer, but if you miss some, it will still bond and seal.

Caradiodoc