Fuel leak

[CJ]

It was with some surprise that I managed to get 72 litres of fuel into the GX's fuel tank earlier today, following a discussion with the manager about pump calibration etc, I went back out to car and noticed a pool of fuel under the car. I drove the short journey home and jacked up the car, theres a fairly consistant flow (a collection of drips rather than a trickle) from the front of the fuel tank as I write.

The fuel filler neck assembly checks out, no leaks. I checked the top of the fuel pump and while theres a small bit of fuel around the general area, theres nothing significant. No obvious leaks on the flow and return pipes (as far as I can see) but I can only see so much of the lines.

The workshop manual in thin on the ground in terms of the fuel supply, theres reference to a vapour hose (section 13-B2) which is in the general area of the leak (front RHS of tank), does anyone know its purpose?

How I managed to put an extra 12 lites of fuel into the tank is anyones guess (and feel free to), before I go down the route of draining the tank and removing it for futher diagnosis, can anyone suggest a possible cause?

CJ

[colm_mcm]

|There are 2 rubber hoses on the drivers side of the fuel tank, one is the filler, the other is the breather pipe, from what I remember from taking the one out of the GR, it's secured with a sort of spring clip.

Is there some sort of breather valve?

sorry, not much help, but I guess it's something to do with the breather, they can rot from the inside out.

[CJ]

|There are 2 rubber hoses on the drivers side of the fuel tank, one is the filler, the other is the breather pipe, from what I remember from taking the one out of the GR, it's secured with a sort of spring clip.

Is there some sort of breather valve?

If you're talking about the rubber sections of the fuel filler neck and breather pipe as they connect to the rear of the fuel tank, they both check out - no leaks. The leak is coming from above the tank at the front, I can't help but think that this vapour hose is the cause.

CJ

[colm_mcm]

You said there was a small amount of fuel under the back seat area, that's unusual, mightn't be the best way to go about it, but could you fill some more petrol and keep an eye on where the hoses join the pump?

[CJ]

Emergency averted, I decided to call Paul Nolan for advice on his weekend off, he said the fuel was coming from the breather (vapour) pipe as per my original thought. Solution was to siphon off about 7L of fuel which stopped the leak (I reckon the tank lost another 2 - 3L while the leak was in progress), I'll keep an eye on it over the next few days for reoccurance

What gets me is that I've filled FTO fuel tanks to the brim hundreds of times without any ill effect, in this case, the fuel didn't back up the filler pipe as expected but fed off to some unknown part of the fuel tank, I'd be interested to know if anyone has an explanation for this behavior.

CJ

P.S - I can confirm that Topaz E5 tastes poxy (nearly as bad as Beamish in fact *).

* /awaits Corkonian backlash

[mcgon1979]

LOL @ E5 taste comment

[Kace]

That's amazing that you got another 12 litres into the car, above the capacity of the 60l tank

I (like you) prefer to minimize the number of times I visit the pumps by filling up to the Max on every visit. Don't think I've ever managed anything near 70l

[Dragonheart]

P.S - I can confirm that Topaz E5 tastes poxy (nearly as bad as Beamish in fact *).

* /awaits Corkonian backlash

Thats what I think of Guinness funnily enough.

Messing, Beamish is pretty dire you're right and I'm a stout drinker.

[Bernard]

I'm a stout drinker.

As opposed to a drinker of stout

[Dragonheart]

That too Bernard.

[colm_mcm]

Was down home today, took a pic of the fuel tank off the GR, might be useful to see what's where:



Brought the filler pipe, breather pipe, and that white valve back with me if you're stuck for them.

[CJ]

Whats the white valve at the rear middle section of the tank, was there a breather pipe attached to it?

CJ

[colm_mcm]

there's a charcoal cannister up front behind the drivers wing, I presume it's connected to this valve. Can't rightly remember.