fuel line leak or gas tank leak... need some debate

[sebazztard]

so i hastily put up my car for sale because of a fuel leak which i determined to be a tank issue, and on the s14 is a pain in the nuts to take out, and im going through some s***, and i dont have any extra time to drop the tank and fix/replace. sounds crazy but i need a daily driver, im in a super pinch.

symptoms:

GAS EVERYWHERE.

my gauge reads near empty which has always been accurate. the leak is coming from above the seam when you look at it from under the car, on the passenger side. ive always thought that when you turn the key off, the fuel would stop, but perhaps being under pressure i may have a broken rubber line somewhere, hidden from a visual inspection. will a line leak for hours, literally.. or do you think my tank is garbage? it just doesnt make sense to me. im starting to think my line is bad now, but is it possible to leak for that long with the car turned off? its a steady drip, then slowly stops.

i understand that is pressurized, and my cap is off as well when i did these tests.

clifnotes... leaking from above seam in tank, gauge reads empty.

[OutToWinPAHC]

You have time to post and ask for opinions but no time to fix it, and want to spend cash on a cheap daily..... Get a tank, start wrenching and get back on the road.

[sebazztard]

no offense but that wasnt really helpful. its 1030 at night and the car isnt on my property. i work 6 days a week and i had today off and was at it all day to try to find the leak, but it wouldnt stop and i couldnt see where it was coming from.

posting a question only takes a few minutes.

[OutToWinPAHC]

Well you do have options. Find the leak first.

[sebazztard]

lol i know that, did you even read what i wrote? if you did a honest opinion on what is going on would be helpful.

[sebazztard]

i think im going to replace the rubber lines from the pump tomorrow in the am before work, it doesnt make sense to be leaking from above when my gauge is on e.

[OutToWinPAHC]

I read your post. Its just another it does this what do I do thread, with a story of why you can't diagnose your issue. If you knew what the damn problem was we could help. IE line compression fittings, new tank, gasket, tank patch.

So far you have said I have a fuel leak and think its the tank or a line, please discuss. Aka I have a problem and want to ask before I diagnose.

[sebazztard]

lol, whatever man, i was just asking for some help. thanks mod. might as well lock the thread too considering its just another one of those members asking a question.

[sebazztard]

bah disregard that last msg. i understand you get a lof these questions, just been an extremely stressfull week, and to top it off i have this leak i cant see where its coming from. i put on the thread all i know, and i figured it was the tank, but the gauge is on e and the leak is coming from above the tank where i cant see, only makes sense at this point its the line. you can delete this thread if you want, just wanted some opinions on what could be the issue, not the ones you gave :P

carry on.

[simmode1]

I just went thru this ordeal myself. My leak continued spilling fuel whether the car was on or off. It was kinda easy to see what was leaking once you get you head under the car. For me, I could see from the placement of the puddle that it couldn't have been my lines that were leaking. I eventually did confirm that it was in fact the tank that was leaking. But the leak was in a position that I couldn't see from underneath the car.

I didn't have time to deal with that bullshizz but I did have excess cash to throw around. So I dropped it off at a shop the Saturday before Labor day, meaning they would get around to looking at it until that Tuesday. By Wednesday, the shop called me with a total qute and by Friday the car was ready for pickup. Total damage in parts and labor: $539. Just about what I was expecting to spend on it and easily worth my convenience.

The leak was coming from an approximately 3 inch hairline crack on the upper front of my fuel tank. There was no way you'd be able to see it until the tank was out of the car. Even then, you had to be right on top of the crack to see it. The price for the work might have been more if the shop wasn't able to find me a use tank, but their labor was good, cheap and fast.

[sebazztard]

i actually thought of you when i got under my car today. i read your post a bit ago, i couldnt belive how much more bs it is on the s14 than the s13. im gonna pull the fuel pump fuse tomorrow and run a couple tests, i hope its not the tank. on top of a crazy x, taking all my stuff out of my apartment, and now my car i dont know how much more i can take.

[simmode1]

I feel ya man. This happened to me as I was moving to a new apartment and breaking up with my GF. Pretty stressful. My only saving grace was that I had my ever faithful S13 to pick up the slack.

But the bad thing about my S13? The windshield wipers stopped working and now Texas wants to get rain and thunderstorms everyday for like 3 weeks straight.

Fortunately, got the s14 out of the shop right in the nick of time.

[sebazztard]

ha almost same story, but we JUST got this place, when she decided to leave, along with my stuff as well.

crazy about the wipers, been there myself too.

[mRodiek]

I didnt read everyones novels listed above but you should be able to tell where the gas is leaking based on where tthere are clean shiny places under the car lol when I replaced my hardlines fuel leaked all over tthe underbody and took all the grunge & crap off.

[sebazztard]

novels lol. its all good, i cant see where its coming from thats the only issue. im 100% its the lines at this point, gonna get at that tomorrow and chime back in case if anyone else goes through this problem. its not that i cant see the leak, i cant see where its coming from because its buried into the abyss, which leads me to the lines considering how much fuel is in the tank, which is way below where the leak is coming from.

[sebazztard]

so armed with rational thinking, and some fuel line i went back to the car today to replace the lines. it was a combination of the 2 lines that had problems, not just 1. thank god, time to get b****es.

[simmode1]

[JVille240sx]

sebazztard, I am having the same problem with my 95 240sx se. Its driving me crazy because of all the BS that you have to remove to get to the tank. Could you tell me where did the fuel lines leak from and how you got to them if they were on top of the tank without removing them? Did you get to them from the access panel for the fuel pump?

Thanks for the help

[hbpignosePA]

i dont get how a s14 is that hard to drop the tank.

for the s13 its 2 straps

undo the wiring, the soft lines, and maybe take off the rear exhaust

done

i had to redo my hardlines this past spring

it was a pain in the d!ck

[C3Sierra_S2000]

i dont get how a s14 is that hard to drop the tank.

For the S14 you have to drop the exhaust, disconnect the driveshaft, the parking brake cables, unbolt the rear calipers, disconnect your rear suspension, drop the subframe, undo the filler tubes, disconnect the fuel pump / sender harness, undo the two tank straps, drop the tank.

It sounds like a lot and I suppose it is but I could get it done in an afternoon.

[2FoetySx]

i have an s13, and tonight i found a black hose that was leaking petrol. i looked at the parts surrounding the leak and almost started crying... Then i found the lil hole in the trunk that allows me to change the hoses without dropping the tank. I feel like im in heaven. Good luck dude... just concentrate

[Hoffman5982]

I think that at some point in the past two years he either got it fixed or gave up and sold it...

[simmode1]

Oh... thanks for the bump! I was trying to remember how long ago it was that I replaced my tank since the new used one is leaking again in a different spot now...

2 years out of a used tank. Moral of the story: Be sure to spend extra for a new tank, I guess? I'll sell this car before I do that sh*t again though...

[sebazztard]

haha .. ya that car is long gone. this brought up some memorys... damn. since sold the s14, bought an s13 daily driver and a z32 summer car

[gtd65]

Heck, I've got to do the same troubleshooting rotine for our 240SX......

Be great if it is just a hose

[gtd65]

haha .. ya that car is long gone. this brought up some memorys... damn. since sold the s14, bought an s13 daily driver and a z32 summer car

Was it the hoses or the gas tank in your case then?

I had a look under the car today after starting it up - gas leaking down towards the passenger side from the front of the tank.

The list of parts to be removed just to get the tank out beggars belief!!!

Removed the rear seat expecting an access plate but no joy - only an air-bag controller......

Is the access via that box shaped hump in the trunk?

[Cgeigert]

If you buy a 240 and it has a gas leak first thing to check would be fuel pump o-ring. Sometimes people change fuel pump and leave those off.

[sebazztard]

i lost interest in this car long before the gas line issue, it was just another fussy b**** i had to get rid of in my life if i had more time and interest and care of the car, i would have taken the required steps into dropping the tank, but i had just as much interest for the s14 as i do for razor blade lube. the fuel pump o ring is great advice, i actually didnt even check to see if that was the problem, even tho i didnt take the pump out, i did replace all the lines and still had a problem. there was one line that was unaccesable in the trunk i suspect was the issue, but who knows.

[gtd65]

Took some pics of my car today and found this...



It would be nice if I was wrong - but does this look pretty much like a crack in the tank to you guys?

[Cgeigert]

I see what you see