Q45 Fuel Lines

[thirdq]

It seems when the fuel system is pressurized and the car is sitting (turned off after driving for some time) the gas is leaking in the trunk and the cabin - as I can smell it in there. When it smells, there is no Fizzzzz (pressure) when I take out the gas tank filler cap.

I just changed the "O" ring on the fuel pump. And it seems to be still smelly after having driven few miles and sitting parked. I did overtighten one nut and I think it is free now - meaninf the thread is gone [bad news will be the inside thread gone, good news will be the nut thread, which I should be able to replace easily. How would one fix inside the whole thread?]

This clearly seems to be related to the fuel lines - as there is no smell in and around engine - only in the trunk and the cabin.

The fuel rail hoses are new.

Thanks
Modified by thirdq at 8:40 PM 8/5/2005

[Jesda]

I assume this is a 90-96 Q45?

[thirdq]

92 standard.

[thirdq]

I checked the trunk this morning again after the car has been sitting all night - and the smell is there again [inside trunk].

Man o man, do not know where to go from here.

Could the filler neck be leaking?Could it be the hose where the metal fuel line switches to inside/outside the trunk?

Another question, can I seal the fule pump housing plate at the top with any sealant? (this is where the 6 or so hexnuts are tightened above the "O" ring"? this way I can atleast eliminate the pump housing seal to be the problem?

Thanks
Modified by thirdq at 9:11 PM 8/6/2005

[thirdq]

I sealed the fuel pump metal plate from the outside after bolting it down and the smell has is gone with the wind.

So it certainly coming from the fuel pump assembly - even after putting in a new O ring, it did not help. I talked with the Inifiniti tech when picking up the O ring and he mentioned some time rust wil not allow the sender to seal and they at times sand it down - but in my case there was no rust or anything, the bolts were tight when done ( I replaced the stripped out bolt) - however putting a "Gas friendly" bond on the outside and ontop grey RTV permatex seems to have cured the smell problem for now.

[thirdq]

Another update on this. Interestingly the smell did come back after a week.

Then I did the fuel pressure test and used the soap and water spray to see where it was coming from in the tank. The son of a gun wires coming from the fuel pump assembly were leaking [where the wires come out of hte metal plate]. Hence replacing the "O" ring and the clear RTV on the outside of the metal plate did not help that much.

Just in case anyone else in this boat - check your wires coming out of the fuel sending unit, this may be leaking as well and be the cause of your fuel smell in the trunk leading into the cabin.

[elwesso]

what did you do to fix it?

[thirdq]

The correct fix it to get a fuel pump assembly and replace the leaking one I have. While I locate a used one, I have put some Gas tank sealing goop on the wires coming out of the plate to see if that would seal it for now.

You can get a Gas resistant sealant at Autozone or the likes.