Split Gas Tank and Muffler

[hippiehomemaker]

Sooo I had an accident this week, I hit a piece of metal in the roadway (there was no way to miss it, I was in the middle lane, cars around me and behind me). It split my gas tank wide open and my muffler.

Progressive wants to total loss it without even sending it to a repair shop. That's another story. I am considering keeping it. I am going to upload a few photos, let me know what you guys think? She's at 198K, I know she needs her motor mounts replaced soon. Otherwise she is the best little car. We are fairly handy but I'm not even sure if this job would be beyond us. Any help is greatly appreciated. If we do have to give her up, I'm getting another Vibe.

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[andrewclaus]

I'll try attaching the service manual procedure for replacing the tank on an '03 Corolla, which is fairly close to the Vibe.

I'd be really careful around the old plastic gas fittings. Some are probably brittle. Any O rings reused will probably leak. With that in mind, I'd give it a try with a salvaged tank, but expect failure. You don't have too much to lose.

From recent experience, the exhaust work is fairly easy and parts are cheap and plentiful. You'll have to drop most of the exhaust to get to the tank anyway. If you do the exhaust work, pay extra for OEM gaskets.

w140001.pdf

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[tpollauf]

That sucks about this incident happening. The main reason these insurance companies are quick to "total" a vehicle is because of the astronomical amount of $$$ labor needed to make repairs. Plus, like Andy pointed out, fittings & gaskets that haven't been touched in 20+ years MAY NOT come out clean or be in a reusable state! Seeing how you would be providing all the labor, and maybe work at a "snails pace" to assure being extra careful, I would definitely carry out this repair and keep this Vibe on the road! Keep us posted s to what you end up doing. If you don't end up fixing it, let us know here on GenVibe and maybe someone here will buy it off you.