Why is this spewing gas?

[GrantD]

Hey everyone,

I got a chance to do some wrenching on the car today looking for the culprit to a few different problems but the most pertinent to my question was really bad gas mileage (worse than usual) I noticed my car smelled really gassy and my highway mileage has dropped from about 25 to about 15. This is a 200 in 1980 mustang. To my surprise once i finally got it started I noticed that this part was spraying gas at a pretty high rate. I'm pretty sure what I'm looking at is a fuel pump, please confirm this. Also could any of you tell me what would cause gas to start spraying out of here and also what options i have to fix it? the arrow is pointing to where the gas was coming out. Thanks a lot guys.

Grant

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[The Plankster Prankster]

thats definately your fuel pump. your best option is to drive to your nearest decent parts store and buy a new fuel pump. IIRC they are somewhere around 20-odd bucks
don't drive it until you fix it, as it is a serious fire hazard - if there's a spark, youre a fireball
shouldn't take more than about half an hour to fix it (for me, that includes finding the tools)
good luck--josh

 

[rbohm]

8) diaphram is leaking, replace your pump.

 

[Bort62]

Yup. If you are really lucky - it will siphon your tank dry in a parking lot.

Ask me how I know.

 

[mustang6]

Also check/change your oil after changing the fuel pump. Sometimes those diaphragms also leak fuel into the oil, diluting it at best- causing an explosion at worst. I've seen it happen, shooting the oil filler cap off so hard it dented the hood from the inside out.

 

[Harte3]

Yup. Leaking to the inside and not the outside at all caused my first rebuild at 148,000 miles. You are lucky it's leaking to the outside and you caught it right away.

 

[The Plankster Prankster]

yeah, i have a lawn tractor that blew a fuel pump - it was spewing gas out of the crankcase vent!! definately check out the oil!!!

 

[GrantD]

Thanks for all the advice so quickly i appreciate it. I made it to the parts store today and surprisingly they had that part in stock. My new problem however is trying to get the hard fuel line off of the old one. I tried a couple different wrenches etc. and they all looked like they were going to strip the nut so I backed off of it. Do I need to go buy those line wrenches? I soaked it with WD-40 a couple of times and I'm letting it sit over night. Any advice, tips, tricks, etc.? I assume heating a fuel line is a bad idea.

Thanks guys,

Grant

 

[Bort62]

I've never really been a big fan of flare wrenches. If they are that tight you might want to just chop it off and start over.

 

[FALCONAROUND]

The easies tway to get that fitting loose is to WHACK it FAST. A very fast hard hit with a decent fitting wrench will loosen it, and you'll be able to unscrew it with your finger tips.

If you twist it slowly you will twist the tube, or round off the head.

A metwrinch and or a line wrench is the BEST tool for that job.


FE

 

[The Plankster Prankster]

in my experience, the Vise Grip is the best tool for the job - but i've always started with someone else's stripped nut. use a REAL vise-grip - all imitations are crap, and it'll work great for you

 

[GrantD]

well the vise grips won this battle. More lessons learned, and more dollars saved. I figure working on your car is like saving money and getting free tools, it's great. As compared to paying someone else to do it. When i went to advance auto parts this morning looking to pick up vise grips and fuel line thinking that i wouldn't be able to reuse mine due to it being stripped, the guy at the count mistook me asking for hard fuel line for some rubber hosing he had on a spool in the back. Then when i repeated what i wanted he brought me over to some really expensive plastic stuff. just ridiculous. I ended up just reusing the old fuel line with the stripped nut. I figure I shouldn't have to take it off again for a long time. And if i do, I know where I left my visegrips.
The car is running great now, thanks guys.

Grant

 

[The Plankster Prankster]

just FYI, if you are looking for steel fuel line, you'll want to ask for brake line in the size you need, and they'll know exactly what you need. it appears that the store you used is run by people who don't work on cars themselves, and thus don't have a clue. i would recomend finding a store with more knowledgeable employees.
i could be wrong and it was just a new guy, but keep it in mind
glad you got it together

 

[mugsy]

To help with the rust and stuff next time put some anti-seize compound on the tube (between it and the nut) and some on the threads. DO NOT put any on the inside of the flare. I've twisted off more than my fair share of brake and fuel line.

tanx,
Mugsy 8)

 

[GrantD]

looks like a spoke a little too soon about not having to take it off for a long time. Yesterday morning I went to start my car and i hear this odd loud fast ticking. I open the hood and it's my fuel line rattling against my valve cover. I look down and the fuel pump I installed a couple days and at least 50 miles prior had actually broken at the base of it, one of the bolt tabs broke off and took just a little extra with it. So I brought it back to advance auto where I got it, and it's covered under the one year warranty, but now i'm stuck waiting for a fuel pump for a couple of days. when I installed the old one i just went about a quarter turn past snug. But the original ones did seem surprisingly easy to take out. Do you think there is anything that I did wrong here or was it just some weird fluke? I'll try being just a little bit easier on them next time.

Thanks guys.

Grant

 

[The Plankster Prankster]

i hope you realize that when you tighten the lines, youre supposed to hold the fitting in screws to with a wrench. doing so, there is no way you could have damaged it in the process, and even not doing so, i wouldn't expect that kind of damage. must have been a faulty pump - glad you caught it!!