CK35H Fuel tank collapsed

zarashep · Jan 10, 2012

The plastic fuel tank on my Kioti CK35 HST has collapsed, The tank top has become concave and it holds about half of the fuel it used to. The good news is that it does not leak. Has anyone heard of this? Can I pressurize it to pop it back to its original shape, or is a new tank in order?

TBDonnelly · Jan 10, 2012

My CK30 HST has a vented fuel cap. Is the fuel cap original? Check the bottom side of the fuel cap to see if it's become blocked. Does the tractor run normally or does it act like it's starving for fuel?

Don

Dmace · Jan 10, 2012

Plastic fuel tank? When did this start?

My 2006 CK20HST has a metal tank.

zarashep · Jan 10, 2012

The tractor runs fine. I lost the original cap but replaced it with a Kioti cap that I bought from the Kioti dealer.

zarashep · Jan 10, 2012

It started about a week ago and it got much worse today. It looks like a grey ABS-type material but I will scratch it with a knife tomorrow to be sure.

whiskywizard · Jan 10, 2012

Any un-vented tank can be collapsed easily by even a small pump. Regardless whether the tank is plastic or steel, a fuel lift pump or an injection pump is quite capable of collapsing it if it's not vented. I'll guess the new cap is not properly vented.

Re-expanding by inflating is not so easy and potentially very unsafe. You may have to replace it, or live with reduced fuel capacity.

VictorW · Jan 10, 2012

Dmace said:
Plastic fuel tank? When did this start?

My 2006 CK20HST has a metal tank.

My 2004 CK30hst has a gray plastic tank just in front of the firewall and behind the engine. It's never collapsed. The plastic is pretty heavy/thick. If you lost about half of the capacity, (4gallons), it must be really crushed down. I'd imagine the plastic wouldn't like coming back to it's original shape without cracking somewhere. I also think your cap isn't venting.

MotorSeven · Jan 10, 2012

VictorW said:
My 2004 CK30hst has a gray plastic tank just in front of the firewall and behind the engine. It's never collapsed. The plastic is pretty heavy/thick. If you lost about half of the capacity, (4gallons), it must be really crushed down. I'd imagine the plastic wouldn't like coming back to it's original shape without cracking somewhere. I also think your cap isn't venting.

Yep, not venting. My '08 DK40 has a plastic tank.