Fuel line leak at fuel pump S54

[cleanerPA]

I recently noticed that if I filled my tank and parked the car, the garage would smell like gasoline. I did some research and found several possible causes for the gas smell:

1. Carbon canister full or hoses associated with carbon canister start leaking
2. Fuel pump gasket leaking or retaining ring loose
3. Fuel lines coming out of fuel pump to the top of the gas tank were eaten by mice

Well, it was none of those:
The push-on, click-in fittings on the blue fuel hoses connecting to the fuel pump barbs are leaking. One much more than the other.

Randy- you mentioned using Hylomar to seal these hoses- can you elaborate? Do I just put a coating of Hylomar on the lower part of the barb and then push the hose back on?

I would like to avoid having to drop the fuel tank to replace these hoses, if at all possible.

My car has never been messed with, had to cut the carpet and insulation to get to the pump.

[Randy Forbes]

Answered your PM

[DimrBimmer]

Answered your PM

Can either one of you filter and paste that PM response here? Some of us might have similar issue and would be nice to have an answer.

Thanks!

[jajou318]

Can either one of you filter and paste that PM response here? Some of us might have similar issue and would be nice to have an answer.

Thanks!

Just wait till one of them runs for pres. We will get the info on wikileaks

[cleanerPA]

The gist of the PM is this:

The plastic nipple on the fuel pump has cracked. Randy told me that it's most likely the pump nipple, not the hose fitting that's leaking.

I'm going to go back in there and take a close look again. The good news is that the pump is much easier to replace. The bad news is that it's expensive. Looks like about a $450 fix for the pump, lock ring, lock ring tool and gasket.

[DimrBimmer]

The gist of the PM is this:

The plastic nipple on the fuel pump has cracked. Randy told me that it's most likely the pump nipple, not the hose fitting that's leaking.

I'm going to go back in there and take a close look again. The good news is that the pump is much easier to replace. The bad news is that it's expensive. Looks like about a $450 fix for the pump, lock ring, lock ring tool and gasket.

Thank you for the update, or I was about to hire Russian hacker to brake into your PM.

Good luck with the repairs. I get some gas/fumes smell inside my roadster sometimes. I have not driven it enough to identify where that is coming from. Considering it’s more fumes then gas, I do not think that my issue is remotely close to yours.

[cleanerPA]

Thank you for the update, or I was about to hire Russian hacker to brake into your PM.

Good luck with the repairs. I get some gas/fumes smell inside my roadster sometimes. I have not driven it enough to identify where that is coming from. Considering it’s more fumes then gas, I do not think that my issue is remotely close to yours.

My car had no gas smell on the inside, but it was noticeably bad when parked in the garage. The fume buildup overnight was serious. I siphoned out about a gallon from a full tank and that reduced the fumes considerably. When I accessed the fuel pump, there was a small puddle of gas sitting in the pump assembly. So if you get gas fumes, I'd look for evidence of a leak. Mine was evidence of gas leaking from the passenger side of the car near the gas filler on the underside of the car, side of the gas tank, with some marking on the exhaust pipe. That made me think fuel pump leak. If there was a leak on the driver's side, I'd be looking at the charcoal canister, fuel filter fittings, or one of the associated hoses first.

[Tim95M3]

I recently replaced the pump on my father's S54 roady for this same issue. Hairline cracks on the plastic nipples coming out of the pump. I've seen this on a few S54 cars now.

[cleanerPA]

If you look closely, the nipple on the high pressure side of the pump assembly is cracked, all the way down the fitting. I guess the vibration of the pump plus heat and fuel take it's toll on the plastic.
IMG-2191.jpgIMG-2194.jpg

The pump in my car is original, 102k miles and 17 years old. Guess it's not that bad of a lifespan, too bad you can't just buy the plastic part and not the actual fuel pump and everything else. $450 later, including the tool to remove the lockring and it's done. No leaks now.

I don't know why, but I could not siphon out fuel out of my car- it only allowed me to siphon about 1.5 gallons through the filler. How are you supposed to empty the fuel tank? I made a huge mess, spilled about 3 gallons of gasoline and avoided blowing up my house, but it wasn't good and scary as all heck.

[Vintage42]

... I don't know why, but I could not siphon out fuel out of my car- it only allowed me to siphon about 1.5 gallons through the filler. How are you supposed to empty the fuel tank?..

Fillers have anti-siphon features to prevent theft of gas. And most car's tanks do not have provision for draining from the bottom. So how did you empty your Z3 tank? Disconnect the fuel filter and run the fuel pump?

[cleanerPA]

Fillers have anti-siphon features to prevent theft of gas. And most car's tanks do not have provision for draining from the bottom. So how did you empty your Z3 tank? Disconnect the fuel filter and run the fuel pump?

I did it the stupid way- I didn’t think of running the fuel pump.

I just popped the seal to the fuel pump and let it dump out of the bottom. Not recommended, made a huge mess. I’m lucky I didn’t blow up my house. Lost about three gallons on the floor.


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