Gas Tank Leak

[ed_in_pa]

Hi Heidi,
I read your reply and I was hoping to ask you a question. The leak on my 76 hasn't caused me to get lightheaded but it sounds very similar to the problem you had. I noticed it first when I filled the tank but now it seems to be anytime I run it. When I looked underneath I could see where it had been leaking on the passenger side muffler. How did your friend check the fuel delivery hose. Did the tank have to be dropped or is there someother way to check it. Thanks.

...get it checked out.

I had a fuel smell problem that caused me to get light-headed while driving home from a shopping trip. I stopped to get some fresh air and could not find anything wrong. I took the 78 a short detour to our mechanic and they checked the carb and lines at the engine and called it good. I started to drive home and after just a few minutes I got the strong fuel smell again. I was near a friend's auto salvage yard and pulled in and he found the problem.

My fuel delivery hose that ran over the top of the gas tank was rotted and leaking...over the top of the gas tank...dripping down...collecting in the spare tire carrier...and also dripping directly onto my HOT mufflers!
Problem was promptly fixed.

Check all fuel delivery lines if you smell any leak and cannot find an obvious source.
Heidi

 

[78SilvAnniv]

Hi Heidi,
I read your reply and I was hoping to ask you a question. The leak on my 76 hasn't caused me to get lightheaded but it sounds very similar to the problem you had. I noticed it first when I filled the tank but now it seems to be anytime I run it. When I looked underneath I could see where it had been leaking on the passenger side muffler. How did your friend check the fuel delivery hose. Did the tank have to be dropped or is there someother way to check it. Thanks.

Ed, I'm sorry I did not see your request earlier.

When I stopped at my friend's place, he lifted the gas lid, removed the ring and filler neck area and was able to see the rotted hoses on top of the tank. When replacing these hoses, he did not drop the tank and did all of the work from either underneath or through the gas lid door area.
Heidi

Another interesting thing about my 78 is that I will still smell fuel on warm/hot days if my tank is below 1/4 full. I usually don't let my tank get below 1/2 because of this but I don't know WHY I get the smell under those specific conditions. All I can think of is expansion gases in a mostly empty tank.
Hope my reply helps!
Heidi

 

[Eric]

Ed,

My old 71 also leaked on the passenger side muffler. My leak wasn't the hose, it was the tank itself which had a pinhole rubbed in it by the strap. As is so often the case with these cars, there's never one answer. Hopefully, it's like Heidi's since mine required a lot more work.

Good Luck!

 

[ed_in_pa]

Thanks all for the info. I would think that it is a fuel line leak since it happens after it has been run. I think if it were a tank leak it would happen all the time.

 

[Eric]

Thanks all for the info. I would think that it is a fuel line leak since it happens after it has been run. I think if it were a tank leak it would happen all the time.

Good point, and hopefully right. Dropping a tank is no fun. Replacing it is even less fun.

-Eric