Having trouble finding a 4-door Yukon fuel tank

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XJPhoenix

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Hi folks!

Got a bit of a problem here. I have a 1996 4-door GMC Yukon, it's 4wd, and pretty much bone stock. The metal ring that locks the sending unit in place was rotten, paper thin as were the lines. I got it repaired at a garage I trust, and they replaced the sending unit, fuel pump (I figured might as well replace it while it was all apart), and the fuel lines were replaced/repaired. After the repair, I filled the tank and went about my merry way.

The second fill-up was when the problem popped up. When I parked the truck, I found fuel spilling out, running down the sides of the tank. It turns out that the metal ring that locks the sending unit in place (the one that's a part of the fuel tank) on my tank was pretty rusty, and can't hold the sending unit tightly sealed. It's not something that can be replaced, the whole tank has to go. The big problem is that I can't seem to find a replacement tank for a 4-door Yukon or Tahoe. All the tanks I find are for 2-door units. There has to be replacement tanks out there, right?

My question is this; are fuel tanks from other trucks interchangable? Does a tank from a same year Suburban fit? Or a tank from a pick-up truck? I've searched, several different combinations of words to see if anyone has information on this, and either my search mojo is lacking, or it's a conspiracy by the Government to keep me in the dark.

Please help me, I'm pretty lost here and need your assistance.

Thank you for your time,

:)
 
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XJPhoenix

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Hello! Thanks for the quick response. I've checked Rock auto, they have four tanks listed and they're all for the 2-door version of the Yukons and Tahoes. I've also checked Summit Racing, and other on-line parts stores. Each has the same tank which appears to be the width of the frame-rails and is steel, while the stock tank I have is long and narrow and made f plastic.

The closest I've come is looking at the LMC truck catalogue, which has pictures of the 2-door tank, the Suburban tank, and the 4-door Yukon/Tahoe tank as seen on this page:

http://www.lmctruck.com/icatalog/csd/full.aspx?Page=87

Edit: also, I hope this question is in the proper section. It's late and I'm not at my best, this section seemed to fit the bill. If there's a better section for it, would a moderator be so kind as to move it for me, please?

Thanks!

:)
 

east302

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This isn't going to really help, but here are the part numbers which imply that a short wheelbase pickup does not use the same fuel tank as a four-door Yukon, despite having the same length wheelbase.

1996 Yukon 4-door: 12380267

1996 C1500, 26 gallon: 15019918
34 gallon: 15017934

Check for a salvage yard or maybe ask a dealer to do a nationwide parts search, maybe some dealer has one left in stock.

Car-part.com has a good search engine for local salvage yards.


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Thatfordguy

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Fuel tanks in salvage yards generally have holes drilled to drain the fuel.
 

sntrym

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I'd check for someone parting out a 'hoe or a Yukon. You might get lucky and find one in decent shape. Other than that it looks like that part number has been discontinued for awhile and is generally unavailable. You may have to get a fuel cell and customize the mount.
 

XJPhoenix

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Hey folks, thanks for the replys, I've found pretty much the same thing. Discontinued part, no aftermarket help, and being up here in salty, snowy Canada every salvage yard's finds have the same problem. I'm going to keep the tank at 3/4 full, and keep looking for a good parts truck, and keep searching the scrap yards.

When the weather gets warmer, I'll be measuring the tank and looking into potential swaps. But for now, looks like I'm SOL.

I've got a couple of ideas, some conventional, some kinda crazy, but I need to do research. One thought was to look for a plastic tank that has the same sending unit ring, cut it out, cut the old rusty ring out, and then weld/epoxy the new ring in. Obviously, this is probably a bad idea, and full of holes (pun intended), but it's just a thought. For now, the tank only leaks when brimmed, and I can just work around the problem.

Thanks folks!
 

east302

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You might call a few body shops. Surely, some of them have run into this issue before. That there are no aftermarket suppliers for these is strange.


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95Escahoe

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I had a similar issue on my 4dr 95 Tahoe, nobody makes a new tank for them anymore need to get one from a junkyard there plastic so it shouldn't be that hard to find one in good shape paid $100 for mine 3 years ago


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