help gas smell

[backfrmcolorado]

i got a 94 eb x that ive had nothing but problem with. one thing after another.. fix one thing good for a week then something else happens. damn thing takes more money from me than my gf.lol

anyway... im getting a bad gas smell and small leak rolling from the top of the gas tank. what could this be... lose clip, broken line, or bad metal hoses from fuel pump. i cant get the mud shield from the side of the tank off to look and seen what the problem is and cant cut it off with a grinder do to the gas leak.

any ideas guys?

 

[boggs1227]

if your has the factory pump still in there then i bet the o-ring under the pump plate is gone and fuel is rolling around and sloshing out the gap in the ring .


imho ,if your going to replace the ring and you do indeed have the factory pump then i would just go ahead and replace the pump( they useally come with new o-rings in the box ) . mine died at 188k so to go through that much trouble to just replace a the o-ring then you might as well do the pump to even though it's still good ( but for how long is the bigger question ) ....so do it all at once and one time only .


btw: buy a quailty pump ....i bought a cheap unit and it failed on me in 3 days after installing it so i had to replace the pump twice ....not so much fun ...but a learning lesson. spent another $30 and got a good one with a lifetime warranty...still going strong ......

 

[backfrmcolorado]

thanks scott. yeah... i was abel to get the splash guard off today but i ran out of time after work to really see waht was going on. i was however abel to reach my hand up and over the frame in the wheel well area and the whole top of the sending unit assembly is all rusted and pieces are breaking off. as far a fuel pump complete, i found one at autozone for $109.00. if you know of a better place to try and find a quality one besides a ford dealership it sure would help me out. i know its going to be a ***** to do and its not something im going to want to do a second time

 

[boggs1227]

i would say don't buy one from auto zone ( every thing they sell is crap to a certain degree ) , i bought a bosch pump at advance auto ..cost me $ 130 back 2 years ago so idkn if they still are that price but it came with a life time replacement so can't go wrong there.

2 methods of replaceing the pump ... both have their pros and cons .

method 1 ) remove the carpet from the cargo area and cut a large hole in the body directlly over the pump to make access plate .

pros, easy access to pump

cons, you just now cut a big hole in the body and you have to seal it back up ,also a chance of the blade strikeing the top of the plastic fuel cell and cutting it or wires or fuel lines .


method 2 ) drop the tank ( this is what i did )

pros, your able to take the tank out of the vehicle and inspect it thoroughly ,i found rocks under my skid plate grinding away at the plastic under the tank .your able to clean the tank's inside really good .

cons, you have to remove the skid plate attached to the tank thats rather cumbersome and somewhat heavy .you have to drain the gas tank before removeing it becasue even witha little fuel left in there even from draining the tank can cause the tank to be cumbersome while handleing the tank in removel ( i used a car jack to lower the tank down to the ground )


either way you choose their are pros and cons to the methods i described ...sometimes dammed if you do ..dammed if you don't ....lol .

 

[backfrmcolorado]

yeah im probly going to just drop the tank and do it the right way. ive heard of people cuttin gthe fllor and all that does is get messy. as for fuel pumps im going to get one at NAPA for $145.00.

today tho, after f-in around trying to get my big hand up on top of the fuel tank last nite, i played around for a while tryig to do that and found the rust and chiped some of it off and now the thing gushes gas everywhere. i let the thing run for like 2-3 min b4 work this morning and when i came out there was a puddel rolling down my driveway. yikes.

as far as the CEL that i have it didnt come on until i started getting a gas smell and leak... do you think the gas leak can cause that. ive taken it to get the codes read but it shows up nothing. did it myself with the jumper method last nite and got some codes

 

[boggs1227]

i don't know the only lines that goto the tank are the fuel line /return line /vapor line and the associated wires for the fuel pump . i don't know but maybe if the evap solinoid ( located under the upper intake and fuel rail ) is seeing no pressure in the gas tank that it would trip the cel light ...i want to say no on this but this is the only thing i can think of right off .

could be that the cel was tripped and the pcm just needs to be reset by disonnecting the batt for about 20-30 minutes then reconnect the battery then start and run the engine for a little while till the pcm relearns it's paramaters over again ...could be a stored could also ...which still needs to be cleared out of the pcm's memory . i have a simple code reader ( actron ) the cheapo one that use's just a piezo buzzer and a led to give you codes but it has the funtion to clear codes as well . but if you buy one of those i suggest don't buy that one because for ruffly the same amount of money you can buy another brand ( i forget what model it is ) that actually gives you a lcd display to read your trouble codes for not much more money .

 

[backfrmcolorado]

thanks again man... good ideas. hopefully the CEL light will go off when i do the pump. who knows tho. it just seems that the x just drains me on money all the time with one prob after the other. if i get enuf time this weekend after soin the fuel pump i need to put all new RA brackets and busing in new shocks and even after i did all the steering parts the truck kina sways in the front so im thinkin if a stabalizer shock in the front. whos know tho. guna nickname her the "gold digger"