1st car,88 maxima,gas tank leak questions?

[retrorich77]

just got it,has some sort of a gas tank leak,pours gas out of the bottom of the car when the key is in the on position,(im guessing thats when the pumps prime,my brothers vw sciroccos fuel pump primes when the key is in the on position).the guy i picked it up from said something about it was a rubber hose,the hose looks to be on the right side in the middle,infront of the rear axle(if nissans have a rear axle beam).ill post some pictures up of the car,and of the leak area for some clarity.any help on this would be greatly appreciated.thanks-Richy

[mtcookson]

Definitely sounds like a pressure line or return line leak. Hopefully its a rubber hose as there should also be some steel lines that can rust and cause leaks. The rubber lines will come right out of the fuel pump cover. I haven't messed with a 2nd gen so I don't know how they do the gas tank on them. You can either access it from inside the car, likely by removing the seat, or you'll have to drop the gas tank. If its the rubber line, you can go to an auto parts store and get the proper length and just replace it. If its not the rubber line it'll be the steel line and if its that you'll probably have to pull one off of another Maxima. It'd be possible to get multiple pieces of the line (basically just steel brake line) and you can piece together a line to the front of the car.

[retrorich77]

i spoke with the father of the lady who gifted it to me,he said its a rubber fuel line.when my brother pulled the battery out of his scirocco for me to test it,when i would turn the key to on,it would just pour gas out of the bottom of the car,not like a hard rain,but it did drip quick.it cranks and the fuel pump primes so i know its fine,just have to find where the leak is from.where are the jacking points on this car? for right now i jacked it from the rocker,but my brother said thats usually not a good idea,since it crushes the rockers,he said there should be jacking points on the rear axle beam(if it has one),or somewhere upfront near the control arms.ill try and get a better look,maybe snap a picture of where the leak is coming from.whats the gas mileage like on these cars?ThanksRichy

[mtcookson]

Sorry for the delay. I definitely wouldn't jack it up on the rocker but as for the best place to do that I'll have to find my manual and find out for you.

As for gas mileage, if its running pretty decent you should be able to do mid 20's pretty easily. I've had my 3rd gen over 30 before and with the turbo setup as high as 29.5, without a tune, on all highway driving. They can definitely get some good gas mileage but need to be maintained pretty well to pull it off.