fuel tank - metal or plastic

[monkeydave]

does my 2004 1.0 facelift yaris have a metal or plastic fuel tank

i would assume plastic but not sure

 

thanks

[Cyker]

AFAIK all the Mk1s use metal fuel tanks.

[monkeydave]

16 minutes ago, Cyker said:

AFAIK all the Mk1s use metal fuel tanks.

thanks for your reply

that is a shame i was hoping for plastic

[Cyker]

What're you trying to do out of curiosity?

[monkeydave]

2 hours ago, Cyker said:

What're you trying to do out of curiosity?

plastic tank = no rust on old car

[Mjolinor]

Plastic, old car = knackered, brittle, cracked and no mending it. 🙂

I would take rusty steel over old plastic 100 % of the time with no exceptions.

[Cyker]

To be honest, rust isn't an issue I hear of regarding the Yaris Mk1 fuel tanks, they're pretty well sealed. In my brother's one the subframes had far worse rust problems, the fuel tank didn't even come into it!  

 

[Rhymes with Paris]

I agree with the above, the rest of the rear underside will rust out before the tank.

Unless previous owners have been fastidious in regular rust proofing it.

Fingers crossed yours is still good.

[monkeydave]

just checked it and it is plastic

[Stevie J]

I have a feeling the early Jap built ones from 1999 - 2001 had a metal tank and the later french built ones had a plastic tank. I know when I had my Mk1 (1999 T reg) it had more of a problem with the filler pipe between the tank and the filler flap rusting through and having to be replaced by the time the car was about 11 years old. Perhaps the filler necks were better protected from road spray from the rear wheel on the French built Mk1, but the Jap built early Mk1 had no protection at all and was highly likely to corrode through - both the filler pipe and the breather pipe that ran up along side it to the filler flap. Mine rusted through right at the top of the wheel arch where all the mud collected round it.

[Cyker]

23 hours ago, monkeydave said:

just checked it and it is plastic

Huh, interesting!

Both of my Mk1s had metal tanks but they were made in Japan... maybe the jappy ones have metal tanks but the french ones plastic...?

[monkeydave]

1 hour ago, Cyker said:

Huh, interesting!

Both of my Mk1s had metal tanks but they were made in Japan... maybe the jappy ones have metal tanks but the french ones plastic...?

its def plastic and it is a french 04 yaris

[TonyHSD]

Plastic its better imo. No corrosion issues. 

[Rhymes with Paris]

1 hour ago, TonyHSD said:

Plastic its better imo. No corrosion issues. 

I get that Tony, but I do think about how most plastics get brittle with age,or is this just when exposed to UV light?

Which of course a fuel tank would not be, under the car, so may be better.

The only metal tank I had that rusted through was a very funnily shaped one on a 1966 ford Anglia van with windows in the side.

Still,in those days you could go to the ford parts dept, and still come out with your arms and legs intact.

 

[Parts-King]

The only trouble we ever had with fuel tanks was the old Verso models, like a rusty bucket, useless. Never get any trouble with plastic ones ever. However the fuel filler necks are metal and they can pin hole with rust 

[APS]

Our Jap built 2004 Tsport had metal tank and a rusty filler tube. No problems with the tank (or the rest of the car) and the filler neck never actually punctured. It just looked crusty. I think I extended its life by cleaning it up and painting it with POR15.

[Rhymes with Paris]

That's useful, I'll get someone to look at the filler tube on the next MOT, due fairly soon.

[APS]

1 hour ago, Rhymes with Paris said:

That's useful, I'll get someone to look at the filler tube on the next MOT, due fairly soon.

FYI - a new filler tube from Toyota is about £250, but the build quality seems apocalyptically good. I can only assume they have seen the errors of their ways and improved it. An aftermarket tube is about £80 last time I checked. I'd go with the Toyota one. If only just to see if in 100 years from now there is a pile of rust with a shiny, like-new filler tube on top.

[Stevie J]

3 hours ago, Rhymes with Paris said:

That's useful, I'll get someone to look at the filler tube on the next MOT, due fairly soon.

You'll know when it's rusted through because you will smell petrol fumes around the vicinity of that area of the car, and also, when you come to refuel the car and remove the filler cap, there will be no hiss of vacuum being released due to the tank and filler neck no longer being sealed. Usually the rusty hole will be right at the top of the pipe, and affects the breather pipe just as badly, if not worse - that was the case on my car, it was the breather pipe that had a massive rust hole in it at the point where it turned and joined into the main fill pipe just under the filler flap housing.

[lani100]

French builts have plastic tanks, Japanese built are metal.