Leaking fuel line :(

[frostrobo]

Hi,

Was a nice day so I thought I'd take the De into work. Started up and pulled away and there was a strong smell of fuel... Looked under the car and petrol is spurting out just in front of the gearbox housing

So I guess I have a ruptured fuel line. I'll have a look under the car tomorrow to be sure but I'm not sure what else it could be. I'm fairly certain it wasn't coolent due to the strong petrol smell and that it evaporated very quickly.

So how easy is it to replace/fix the line? Is this something that can be done on my driveway or is it a garage job? Any assistance greatly appriecated

Thanks,

Simon

[Guinney1971]

Hi Simon,

sorry to hear you're having troubles.

If its near the gearbox that its coming out of, then hopefully you should be able to get to the problem backing the car up on to a set of ramps if you have them.

Failing that, jack the car up and support with axle stands - sounds obvious I know, but I never trust a trolley jack alone to support over a ton of car whilst I'm under it. Also, chock the front wheels with some bricks or stout pieces of timber.

I would have thought, that if you do need a new fuel line, and assuming they are not 'off the shelf' parts that a motor factor can supply, then you might be best off speaking to either Dave Howarth or Martin Gutkowski about sourcing a replacement part. You may also need to replace any copper washers on banjo fittings on the end of the fuel lines if necessary.

Hope this helps, and fingers crossed you can get the car sorted quickly.

[frostrobo]

I will have some ramps tomorrow (and Dad!) to help replace the washer bottle motor that died a couple of weeks ago, so I will back the car up and have a good look underneath for the fuel leak.

Just as I though things were sorted on my car something else goes wrong.... lol

Thanks to Martin for just sending me a link to a video showing the layout of the fuel system! Looks like my leak is coming from the accumulator as far as I can tell. Will find out tomorrow!

[frostrobo]

Well got the car up on ramps today and no sign what so ever of any leak. Everything looks nice and clean and dry so I am now thinking that maybe some water had collected in the chassis somewhere while the car was sitting for a week. Air con condensation maybe? I'm not so sure it was petrol i saw yesterday now.

Went out for a good drive, stopped several times to check the underside of the car and it all seems well, so false alarm I think!

Replaced my washer bottle motor too, so a good day, if very windy

[Guinney1971]

thats a relief Simon, it does sound like water has collected and then just run down the chassis as you've driven off.

[frostrobo]

Well, seems like I spoke too soon lol... Started the car again today and looked underneath - leaking again. This time I grabbed my camera and took a few pictures.

Leaking directly above the bowl - (front of car to left)

[ATTACHMENT NOT FOUND]

All wet here:
[ATTACHMENT NOT FOUND]

Bowl contents - yellow tinged and smelling strongly of petrol
[ATTACHMENT NOT FOUND]

I guess that either there is a leak on the line somewhere and the fuel is working its way along, or a connection to the acumulator is leaking. Looked fine when I checked underneath a few weeks ago though

Simon

[Guinney1971]

thats not good matey, at least it isnt doing what mine did 5yrs ago - spraying
fuel from one of the metering head fuel lines onto a hot exhaust manifold

I guess its going to be a fiddly and painstaking task tracing along all the fuel lines and
checking all the pipes and connections, hopefully you can find it easily and sort it
without too much aggro.

[Chris Williams]

Quote:I guess that either there is a leak on the line somewhere and the fuel is working its way along, or a connection to the acumulator is leaking. Looked fine when I checked underneath a few weeks ago though

Think you have hit the nail on the head. Is it only happening when the weather is hot and the fuel expanding though?
Chris

[frostrobo]

Hi Chris,

Sorry I haven't replied sooner - have had a few things on my mind recently with other problems and funerals to go to

Anyway, took the car to my local garage today and they had a good look under it. The leak seems to be coming from the hose which feeds into the top of the accumulator, rather than the unit itself. Its quite clear that fuel is running along the hose. (I think its part 36 on the DMC fuel systems stock list page, a short hose running from the main line to the back of the accum unit.) This hose looks to be a modern line, not original, and it connects via a hard to get to jubilee clip (or similar arrangement). What the garage suggested is to remove the accumulator and make certain it isnt leaking, and check all the hoses and connections. So I'm going to get a new unit so they can swap the accumulator if necessary next week.

I'm not sure if its weather/temperature related. It was overcast this morning when I started the car. A lot of fuel leaked out - i collected about 1/20th of a jamjar full in a minutes worth of idleing - if anything its worse today than before. Good thing my local garage are only a few hundred yards down the road from me!

Hopefully this sounds sensible! Do you think its worth ordering in some Delorean-specific hose too? The garage said that they can make suitible hose up anyway. Car starts first time as always, and the kids waiting for the school bus certainly seem to appreciate a DeLorean passing them early in the morning! Chris N de-catted my car earlier this year, and it sounds awesome

Simon

[Guinney1971]

sorry to hear you've had a rough time of it lately Simon, hopefully everything is ok now.

Most fuel hoses are fairly 'standard' things, built to operate up to set pressures, etc, so
if your garage is confident of changing them ok (and of course using proper fuel hose clips,
not the ones that you use on water pipes), then it should be ok to let them sort it if need be.

[Chris Williams]

Certinally a good idea idea to change the accumulator whist it's out. And get some new fuel hoses either from Houston, SpecialT Auto or MartinG to replace what there with some nice proper new ones.
Chris

[frostrobo]

My car was back on the road again of as last Tuesday Once the accumulator was off and the hoses out the way the mechanics found two very loosely connected brass fittings which were leaking. Once that was tightened up everything was ok again!

I did think about getting a new accumulator, but the one on the car plus the surrounding hoses look new and I am firmly a believer of if it ain't broke don't fix it...

MOT up next lol

[Chris Williams]

Quote:I am firmly a believer of if it ain't broke don't fix it...

Great idea, wish I had stuck to that myself sometimes :roll: lol

Chris