Technical Tips > Post 84
C4 1987 and the Smell of Leaking Fuel.
Vettech:
Well 12 months ago upon returning from getting a Pink slip, she blew the coolant into passenger footwell.
All that and the Power Steer pump overhauled, it's once again time for a pink slip.
Whilst the car is still running like a dog, all systems checked out fine YESTERDAY.
Started up today, reverse up and out of the garage, hang on! What's that puddle on the garage floor, roughly under #5 cylinder?
A quick paddle in the puddle and a feel and sniff of the reddish fluid confirmed fresh fuel, but from where ?
The fuel lines are down the RH side, up the front of the engine, into the fuel rail, towards the rear into the LH rail, then to the front, thence via the return line.
Matching leak with car/engine confirms its about pot 5 or 7, at a quick guess its an injector or fuel rail....
But I have no choice but to proceed to get it pink slipped (booked time safety check). I quickly moved the fire extinguisher from rear storage to the passenger seat, but trip to Minto all good and she passed, at this point the Mechanic and I had a concerted look for the culprit, which in the bad light appears to he a tiny rubber hose at the engine rear approx under the Dizzy.
I would have been absolutely dissapointed if the problem was in an easy to access position, at this point in life, I don't really have copious spare quanties of AB- transmission fluid (blood) to spare, and these sharp tight contorted spaces always ends in blood letting.
So car now home, it did not burn, but could have easily if only I could find the lighter !.
Thats all for now - time for research and cold amber beverage.
billc:
Hi Vettech. check and make sure it is fuel, My 89, RHD has a small dia coolant line that runs from near the heater box at the firewall up behind the engine to the inlet manifold next to the dissy. underneath the fuel rail . If you run pink coolant it could be mistaken for fuel , if it is a coolant leak from the hose ,good luck getting to the hose clamp , not a job I'm looking forward to on mine.
Bill Crealy
Vettech:
Message.
Vettech:
Appologies, I got my facts a little confused, the fuel pressure line enters the RH fuel rail which has balance tubes at each end to the LH rail, ergo the fuel flows equally into both rails giving equal fuel pressure to all eight (8) injectors.
However sitting in the middle of the rear balance tube is the fuel pressure regulator, and under spring and vacumm control it bypasses fuel back to the tank and maintains 38~40 psi in the rails. (Or there abouts)
Thank you Bill for your observations. Once upon a time I loved the smell of naphalm in the morning, now days I cant stand the smell of fuel. Comes from wearing a younger mans cloths and owning a souped up Austin c/w warnerford manifold and twin 1&3/4" S.U 's.
People hated them, but once understood, setup & alligned they worked great.
Back to the story, upon a closer inspection, contrary to my Mechanic, the fuel is coming out of the thin metal fuel line at the rear of the LH rail, which feeds the ninth (9) injector - Yes thats correct - "the Ninth Injector". ie. The cold start injector.
Refer to the pic I posted, tube is 101, and has an "O'ring" at each end - o'ring 104 at this point appears tobe the culprit. I was dreading removing the Regulator, which requires pulling the manifold apart to get access underneath, maybe I can pull the Dizzy and have enough access to fix it, the Dizzy is not sitting correctly 90° across the engine, so needs tobe pulled and re-aligned anyway - two birds!..
Vettech:
One thing I did note when I started her up, she ran like a dog, in fact worse than before, I could hear sparking HT, then I remembered, I'd removed leads 1 & 2 from the Dizzy for a better view, the car still ran, #2 going nowhere, whilst 1 was jumping a 1/2" gap to the manifold - anyway I need to fix the fuel issue first - then the timing & ignition.
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