enigo

At the end of my 5 hour drive to the airport, my fuel filter started leaking...

(On a side note... I didn't really want to drive the car to Chicago yet, but as I was planning to take a train... which got delayed an hour and half due to track work, I had to drive to catch my flight. Which when I got to the airport, I found out was canceled due to the flight crew not showing up to work. Anyways, the car is parked in the airport parking lot...)

I figure it didn't start leaking until the pressure got to a certain point. (ground 80-85 mph) Over 30 miles I probably leaked out 4-5 gallons of gas. I first noticed it when I stopped at a toll and smelled gas. Then at the 2nd toll, I still smelled it and realized it was me. I pulled over in a gas station, located the leak, and decided to get to my flight. It didn't seem excessively unsafe, and after all the to-do about getting on the flight, I really just wanted to get there.

So that is the story, here's the details.

When I did the engine swap, I also decided to replace the fuel filter. I knew it hadn't been changed in the last 119k, so I thought it'd be a good time to do so.

Well... the lower nut and threads were rusted to heck (yes I did spray them with penetrating oil) and I had kinda forgotten the DIY that Redz wrote up at the time. So I ended up unscrewing the fuel filter from the threads and the brass nut was pretty much rust welded in place. (Used the 14mm wrench to provide counter torque so a friend could unscrew the old fuel filter with a 19mm... this was a rather long and hard process) Then we screwed on the new fuel filter pretty much the same way. It became very difficult to screw the new fuel filter down, and it never reached the nut. Still it got pretty far down, and I thought it was fine. (Had made a mental note to review the DIY to ensure it was done right, but forgot to till recently).

So... I when I get back to Chicago... I need to fix this leaky fuel filter. The nut is about 1/2" from the bottom of the fuel filter as I recall. What I'm hoping to do, is to buy a 19 mm and 14 mm wrench here in NYC, then bring those to the car in Chicago, jack it up in the parking lot (on the spare tire jack, yay!) and then try and tighten the nut to the fuel filter. (it wasn't leaking without pressure, so I believe the smell of gasoline shortly faded and the car hasn't been taken away and impounded... yes that thought occurred to me)

But... what are other people's thoughts? My tools would be a socket set, the 2 wrenches, and the spare-tire jack...

Stocker

If you're using the spare jack, put the spare under the car so if the jack fails the car won't kill you. And make durn sure you have the right size wrench because I've done this work and it's bad enough when you are doing it in a garage with the right tools. Wrong tools in a parking lot = t3h suck.

red97tib

I had a similar issue in my 1997 Tib where I swapped the OE fuel filter for another and it caused it to leak. It turned out that the lines are easily bent and caused the bottom line to not enter the fuel filter at the correct angle and causing the seal not to be tight and leak. Possibly cross treaded. I drove it like this for weeks because I am lazy and the fuel was leaking onto areas that would be a heat source for a fire.

P.S. I'm in Iowa a lot and could take a look at it for you if you would want me to. Send me a pm.

enigo

Ah, I don't particularly want to drive for 5 hours and be leaking out 4-5 gallons of fuel every 30 minutes. Makes the trip bit more costly than what I'd prefer. Plus at higher speeds, flames do reach the flex pipe, and if some of the gas fumes manage to reach it... (On a side note, it seems I messed up my fuel gauge when I pulled out the speedometer to replace some bulbs. It doesn't go up to full, and since I've been to 4 different gas stations that won't fill the tank above that line, I'm assuming that when it says 2/3 its actually full, and when its empty its still 1/3 tank. I think a solution would be to actually run it to empty some time, so that it fixes the gauge).

I'm hoping that I don't have to take the filter out again and try to get it to tighten... I think tightening the nut up to the fuel filter will cause some pressure so that it doesn't leak anymore, but I'm not sure what the mechanic to cause this seal is.

tiburon97tiburon

i had the same problem. mine was leaking from the O-ring above the fuel filter. i put a new O-ring on and i been leak free ever since.

daafisch

^^ Is it just any oring, and if so where did ya get it. I just put in my fuel filter yesterday (i figured after 112000 it might be due) and its leaking at the top of the filter...

fury

I think you're asking for trouble if you're thinking of doing this with the tire jack. $50 will get you a hydraulic jack and jack stands. Even if it cost you $100, it's a small price to pay for your life. The tire under the car is a good idea but still may not save you.

I replaced my fuel filter on November 22, 2007. After I tightened the nut from the fuel line to my filter, I started the car. It was leaking. All I had to do was just tighten it tighter. Try to tighten it more, if you can. You do so by pushing on both wrenches at the same time (just in the opposite direction).

enigo

Well, its not leaking from the top of the filter, just the bottom and I don't believe there is an o-ring at the bottom.

I hope to just tighten the nut up and fix the leak that way. Only problem is that nut never got loosened up, and its rusted in place. Supposedly its a brass nut, so hopefully with some effort (and oil) it'll give.

When installing it, it became incredibly difficult to screw down and it was still 90 degrees from being at the proper angle to mate with the top fuel line. Torquing it as hard as we could with the wrenches, we managed to get it another bout 80 degrees, and just kinda forced the fuel line to compensate for the last 10.

Far as the jack goes... only way to get one of those is to hire taxi in Chicago, go pick one up, then taxi back to the airport. Its not going to be that big of a job I don't think, so the jack should hold for the 30 minutes it'd take... Spare tire is a good idea. Buying one and putting it in my suitcase here in NYC will bump the cost of my luggage to $100 (over 50 lbs) and it wouldn't fit in my carry-on.

Mad_john

you might need to change the following. it is real easy to strip the threads on that dam thing.. first locate the leak the top or the bottom.. if it is the top you need to replace the filter and upper pipe..

HOSE ASSY-FUEL HIGH PRESSURE pn# 31320-29110

BOLT 10mm 11230-06143

FILTER-FUEL 31911-29000

if your are leaking on the bottom you will have to replace the entire fuel line that runs under the car..

TUBE-FUEL FEED 31310-27000

if you need help with parts i will get them here for you..

magoon

enigo

Its leaking from the bottom...

Replacing the bottom fuel line occurred to me... but, that'd really suck. I don't think the threads are stripped yet, they were just rusty and I didn't tighten the bottom nut to the top. Now getting the fuel filter off again could be very difficult and cause me to strip the threads... but I'm hoping I can fix this problem by just tightening that nut.

I'll drop by a hardware store here and pick up the 2 wrenches I'll need and a jack stand for safety. Can't bring a hydraulic jack with me, but I can fit a stand at least.