Leaks Gas Inside-outside FIXED

[Rhubey]

Hello all. If you have a moment to help an unknowledged Legacy owner, I would be very thankful.

 

I have a 91 LegacyLS. 181k. I have owned it for 4 years, and have had almost nothing but love from it.

 

I found I have a gas leak. It started smelling a few weeks ago, then yesterday it reeked to the point of problematic. It is not at the neck of the gas tank like what seems to be the common problem. When I lift up my back seat, I can Kinda see the leak. (?) It is on the drivers side, my tank is on the passenger side.

 

It is possibly 2 leaks from 2 hoses. I have searched and found lots of threads about leaks, but do not know the proper terms for car parts and locations, so my searching ability is limited.

 

It looks as though there are 3 shielded hoses there. What are they exactly? Do they all have gas in them? Is it crazy difficult to replace gas lines? Are gas lines one long hose front to back? Or are they in sections for easy replacement?

 

Could I have a fuel line that is connected to something close by like a pump that is simply coming loose and gas is running along the lines?

 

How dangerous is it to drive? It streams fuel quite a bit while the car is running, but seems to taper off quickly as soon as the car is off. Will I explode if my drives are under 5 miles?

 

Does anyone have suggestions, please? I have someone who will work on my car free if it's not super dangerous genius stuff, but I would hate to go to a garage and get overcharged for things simply because I am female with no background knowledge.

 

Thank you kindly. Please help me learn.

[J A Blazer]

This is serious. You should not drive this car. Have it taken by flat-bed tow-truck to a competent mechanic immediately.

[nipper]

Hello all. If you have a moment to help an unknowledged Legacy owner, I would be very thankful.

 

I have a 91 LegacyLS. 181k. I have owned it for 4 years, and have had almost nothing but love from it.

 

I found I have a gas leak. It started smelling a few weeks ago, then yesterday it reeked to the point of problematic. It is not at the neck of the gas tank like what seems to be the common problem. When I lift up my back seat, I can Kinda see the leak. (?) It is on the drivers side, my tank is on the passenger side.

 

It is possibly 2 leaks from 2 hoses. I have searched and found lots of threads about leaks, but do not know the proper terms for car parts and locations, so my searching ability is limited.

 

It looks as though there are 3 shielded hoses there. What are they exactly? Do they all have gas in them? Is it crazy difficult to replace gas lines? Are gas lines one long hose front to back? Or are they in sections for easy replacement?

 

Could I have a fuel line that is connected to something close by like a pump that is simply coming loose and gas is running along the lines?

 

How dangerous is it to drive? It streams fuel quite a bit while the car is running, but seems to taper off quickly as soon as the car is off. Will I explode if my drives are under 5 miles?

 

Does anyone have suggestions, please? I have someone who will work on my car free if it's not super dangerous genius stuff, but I would hate to go to a garage and get overcharged for things simply because I am female with no background knowledge.

 

Thank you kindly. Please help me learn.

 

im not familiar with this, but the three gaslines are

fuel from pump to engine

fuel from engine to tank

Vapor line

 

If its just a fuel leak, like a rotted hose, anyone can fix it, but dont drive the car. Have all the hoses replaced balck there. There is an outside chance that it is a rotted line, but thats repairable too

 

nipper

[jon38iowa]

This is serious. You should not drive this car. Have it taken by flat-bed tow-truck to a competent mechanic immediately.

 

I agree; I have seen a few burn victims from auto fires; Please have it taken on flat bed trailer to your mechanic!

John:headbang:

[tcspeer]

Have your freind remove the cover over the fuel pump and check and make sure the line that has the clamp that can be tighten is tight, it should be the middle one, the other two should be fine. I agree with other dont drive it like this.

Hello all. If you have a moment to help an unknowledged Legacy owner, I would be very thankful.

 

I have a 91 LegacyLS. 181k. I have owned it for 4 years, and have had almost nothing but love from it.

 

I found I have a gas leak. It started smelling a few weeks ago, then yesterday it reeked to the point of problematic. It is not at the neck of the gas tank like what seems to be the common problem. When I lift up my back seat, I can Kinda see the leak. (?) It is on the drivers side, my tank is on the passenger side.

 

It is possibly 2 leaks from 2 hoses. I have searched and found lots of threads about leaks, but do not know the proper terms for car parts and locations, so my searching ability is limited.

 

It looks as though there are 3 shielded hoses there. What are they exactly? Do they all have gas in them? Is it crazy difficult to replace gas lines? Are gas lines one long hose front to back? Or are they in sections for easy replacement?

 

Could I have a fuel line that is connected to something close by like a pump that is simply coming loose and gas is running along the lines?

 

How dangerous is it to drive? It streams fuel quite a bit while the car is running, but seems to taper off quickly as soon as the car is off. Will I explode if my drives are under 5 miles?

 

Does anyone have suggestions, please? I have someone who will work on my car free if it's not super dangerous genius stuff, but I would hate to go to a garage and get overcharged for things simply because I am female with no background knowledge.

 

Thank you kindly. Please help me learn.

[porcupine73]

Hm, just behind the passenger rear seat under the mats and stuff you might find something like is in this pic below, or maybe you already found it; at least that's what it looks like on '96. +6 on the don't drive 'til it's fixed; it's dangerous for you and others on the road.

[Rhubey]

Er? Ok. Wait.

I found this picture that I am hoping is actually my car.

http://www.graphics.cornell.edu/~v/pics.cgi/ej22t_fuel_lines.png

 

Porcupine said to look behind the passenger seat for that mess of hoses. My leak is on the drivers side. I had to actually pull up the part of the back seat you sit on to see my leak. I don't think the gas is leaking uphill, or am I confused?

 

If the bottom of the picture is the back of the car, then 9, 10 and 11 seem to be the problem. Is the blob next to 9 a rubber gasket type thing?

What is the next thing on the right of the blob? The gas seems to come from that area as opposed to the pump way.

 

I'm dangerous enough without a gas leak, so I'm parked.

I'll dig around in my trunk as soon as it lays off the downpour.

 

Thank you everyone. I get tired of blind guesswork and getting ripped off at garages.

 

Does this explain why I was ideling funny?

[johnceggleston]

ok... the lower left corner of the picture is the front of the car. the 'v' notch in the center of the tank faces forward. the pictur is confusing because the filler neck is on the right of the diagram, but actully connects to the rear left in the diagrem and of course the filler is on the right of the car , passenger side.

 

the fuel lines on the lower right of the diagram, run along the floor on the driver side of the car under the carpet up to the front, engine compartment and the fuel filter.

 

the blob near #9 and the other 2/3 items along the fuel line run is/are probably mounting brackets or clips of some kind.

 

where did you find the gas leak?. is the floor or carpet wet?. i think you said driver side. how far back from the drivers seat mounting blots?. is the leak actually under the rear seat? the gas will not leak up hill, but if the leak is in the gas line, all of the gas in the line above the hole can leak out from that point. and the fuel fliter under the hood is almost as high as the hood.

 

have you had any one working on your car / back seat area recently.? stereo or wiring work? car detailing?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Er? Ok. Wait.

I found this picture that I am hoping is actually my car.

http://www.graphics.cornell.edu/~v/pics.cgi/ej22t_fuel_lines.png

 

Porcupine said to look behind the passenger seat for that mess of hoses. My leak is on the drivers side. I had to actually pull up the part of the back seat you sit on to see my leak. I don't think the gas is leaking uphill, or am I confused?

 

If the bottom of the picture is the back of the car, then 9, 10 and 11 seem to be the problem. Is the blob next to 9 a rubber gasket type thing?

What is the next thing on the right of the blob? The gas seems to come from that area as opposed to the pump way.

 

I'm dangerous enough without a gas leak, so I'm parked.

I'll dig around in my trunk as soon as it lays off the downpour.

 

Thank you everyone. I get tired of blind guesswork and getting ripped off at garages.

 

Does this explain why I was ideling funny?

[xrturbo]

what section of the three lines are leaking? the lines actually pass all the way through the interior from the firewall all along the door sills and then pass through on a sedan under the rear seat. and then from there there are jumper flexible hoses that lead to the pump. if it is a strong smell inside the vehicle and if you pulled the seat up and have visible leakage inside the car then you are going to need to replace the entire hard line from outside the fire wall to the rear seat.

[Rhubey]

If I was to be sitting in the back seat behind the driver, this would be under my butt with the seat cushion between. I took this picture looking in through the back seat driver side window.

It seems as though the middle one has gas around it where it goes through the body.. It also seems as though those are metal tubes that rubber hoses pass through. Nothing there seems too well connected.

Yes. I did have my back seat pulled last year. My car is also often used as a uhaul.

[jon38iowa]

If I was to be sitting in the back seat behind the driver, this would be under my butt with the seat cushion between. I took this picture looking in through the back seat driver side window.

It seems as though the middle one has gas around it where it goes through the body.. It also seems as though those are metal tubes that rubber hoses pass through. Nothing there seems too well connected.

Yes. I did have my back seat pulled last year. My car is also often used as a uhaul.

Sounds like a strong possibility of a puncture or dislocation. Good luck with.

John

[Storydude1]

If I was to be sitting in the back seat behind the driver, this would be under my butt with the seat cushion between. I took this picture looking in through the back seat driver side window.

It seems as though the middle one has gas around it where it goes through the body.. It also seems as though those are metal tubes that rubber hoses pass through. Nothing there seems too well connected.

Yes. I did have my back seat pulled last year. My car is also often used as a uhaul.

Ok. That is where the Fuel, REturn and Vapor lines come from the tank to the motor. The lines start at the tank under the 2 Oval access covers directly above where that pic was taken.

 

Remove both access covers and you'll see what looks like the pic above with red pait.

 

The lines come out of the tank as Metal, an as soon as they come outsidde the tank, become rubber. They continue rubber to a place under the car, in front of the Driver's rear wheel. If you look up by the suspension of the driver's rear tire, you'll see 3 rubber hoses, and a funny Disk/L shaped thing...(More about that in a min) There, they attach to metal tubes, and run through the INSIDE of the car, to the firewall.

 

My Guess is one of the rubber lines from the tank to the body broke/rotted/got sliced. The gas is flowing down the hose, and is being drawn into th car through cappiliary action.

 

Now, there are 2 sending units on the tanks....One is the Feed, and will have 3 tubes, one is a transfer and has 1. Fuel comes from the tank, to the motor through the middle one of that cluster in your pic. One is return from the motor, that pulls fuel from the OTHER sending unit(think in the Pass. side tank) The other goes into that Disk shaped thing which is a One way valve...It lets vapor come FROM tank, but not BACK to tank. Hook it up wrong, and you'll head a BIG HIIIIISSSSSSSSSSS when you open the tank. No damage will be done...But you'll find OTHER leaks that way:)

 

Now, if the rubber lines are bad from the tank to body, you CAN replace them, but fishing the rubber lines away from moving parts/between tank and body is somewhat difficult.

 

IF it's the METAL lines, just remove them from the rubber tank-body lines, go to local autoparts store, get a chunk of Metal gas line the same size, and splice it in with a short piece of rubber hose and clamps inside the car. the metal line bends easy, so making the bends is no problem.

 

Hope this made it as clear as mud for ya:)

[xrturbo]

just pull up the that rubber grommet in the pic and look to see where the leak is for sure. if it is the metal line, and you are goin to go with the rubber hose make sure to use fuel injection hose, it is more woven and reinforced to prevent further issues down the road. good luck.

[Rhubey]

I would like to thank everyone who responded to this thread.

I oboviously have no business working on my car myself, and am always afraid of getting ripped off. I'm also curious about how things work, and acceptable ways of fixing stuff.

 

The fix was simple. The fuel line was rotten. It looked fine from the top, but 2 lines were actually nothing but rust on the bottom and through the grommet. It took some time, but we just replaced it all with hose, as suggested. We, as in I watched.

 

Thank you everyone for making me smarter about my car, and helping keep one more Sube on the road.

 

Next: my alternator died last night.

 

Erp.