fuel leak

[BlackRain]

Hi,
today I had to bring my 94 explorer in for a fuel leak check. I found a strong smell of fuel outside the vehicle.. and with no hoist I had to break down and bring it in. So they do the check and tell me the leak is at the top of the tank and it's the sending unit. Now I find this funny as if I am not mistaken the sending unit is attached to the fuel assembly is it not? So with that being the case all I would need would be the fuel assembly and just attach my sending unit to it? If anyone could verify what I think is correct please let me know.

Cheers,
BlackRain.

 

[boggs1227]

when i did my fuelpump/sending unit there are 2 lines that connect to the top of the unit .one is return line and the other is the main fuel line .

if you smell fuel then it may be from several things ...

the o-ring that seals the pump to the tank could have broke and gas moveing around in the tank could be sloshed out around the top .

you may have a loose fuel line ( i know when i did mine that the clips are hard to get off and back on ...could have lost a line clip and or it's loose on one end and gas is getting out that way)

there is a vent on top of the tank it's self maybe you hit the truck hard and bounced the tank on the underside of the body / top of the gas tank and broke that vent tube off ...that would also leak gas if the vehicle was sloshed around .

normally when you buy a new fuel pump it already comes with the sending unit already attached ...i bought a bosh at advance auto for $ 100 and comes witha life time warrenty ,who ever you buy from make sure you get some kind of warrenty like that because it's a pain to do the tank your self .the first cheap pump unit i bought went out 2 days after i installed it and i was dropping the tank and re-installing fuel pumps for about a weeks worth of time .anyways get a good pump even if you got to pay a little more for it ...it's really worth it in my book!

hopes this helps.

 

[ld50]

I`m not sure about the sending unit terminology, but there is two lines which come out of the fuel pump assembly. It could be that your lines are corroded and leaking, which would mean you need to replace the entire assembly, It is actually fairly easy to do yourself, but you have to get the tank right out, and buy some hose disconnectors, which is cheap for a set.

 

[ld50]

Here is a better pic of the top of my 1st gen gas tank. The line on the right is your send line from the pump, it is the larger diameter line. The other is a return line.
The metal tubes can corrode, mine did anyway. I noticed it smelled like gas all the time.

The ring that holds the assembly in on mine was so rusted it disintegrated when I took the old one out. The new assembly did not come with that ring, so I had to buy separately.

 

[DeRocha]

Great info ld50 and boggs1227

The sending unit with fuel pump installed is pictured on the left. The sending unit is made of zinc coated steel which holds up fine inside the tank, but the tubes outside the tank often rust out because of their exposure to the elements. Anyway if you need to replace the sending unit it would be easier to get the whole assembly (sending unit, fuel pump, fuel pump filter/strainer). IMO and as the others have mentioned it isn't worth the few $ savings to re-use your old fuel pump.