S/S fuel line symptoms...and generally intermitent problems

[Derek Pulvino]

Guys,

A little intemitent on response as I'm on vacation right now...but thanks 
for the info.  I also get the smell inside the car, and from trial and error 
it seems that I notice that at the same time as I notice the smell under the 
hood.  I think it gets in the car at that time from turning on the vents.  
By looking and smelling, I was guessing my smell to come from the connector 
on the back/under/engine side of the fuel pressure regulator (or whatever 
it's called).

I love these kinds of intermitent problems for solving.  My no start from 
the past went away after tracing the wires from the rpm sensor to the 
firewall connectors...my headlight problem still hasn't been solved and 
continues intermittently.  Connector for the lights at the cluster is fine.

Otherwise, thanks for the info.

Derek P

>The leak on my fuel line was intermittent so sometimes there was no smell 
>at all.
>
>   As for the location of the intermittent smell, that's another reason why 
>it was difficult to find. Never remember smelling fuel around the front of 
>the car. Go figure?? Did get the smell inside the cabin occasionally, and 
>more often it was when I would open the trunk. Being that the wife drove it 
>daily made it even less likely that it would (a) have the smell and (b) I 
>would be driving or around at the time.
>
>   Due to the location of the smell, I checked the tank vent and return 
>lines but found all to be fine. Actually I checked the S/S lines as well at 
>some point and they all looked fine too. There was never any visible 
>compromise of the S/S lines (at least to my eyes), so even when examining 
>the leaking line in question...it to looked good 2 me.
>
>   It had been leaking a long time....like over a year, before it finally 
>got frequent enough and with enough quantity that I noticed a bit of dust 
>would accumulate around the area which was apparently sprayed with fuel. 
>Even then, I was not 100% certain....but as everything else checked out and 
>this was the only thing even slightly out of the ordinary, it was my best 
>bet.
>
>   Turns out that was it. And no issues or fuel smell since. Ahh, how nice.
>
>   If you have a fuel smell at the rear of the car and your 
>vent/return/vapor recovery (?)lines at the top of the tank check out, I 
>would suggest taking a close look at the S/S lines. Pay close attention to 
>the area where the hard metal portion of the line meets the rubber under 
>the crimp. Maybe put some powder or something around it so that a small 
>leak may look wet, or otherwise be more obvious.
>
>   Just my $0.02
>   \
>   Steve Hauptmann
>   South Carolina
>
>Derek Pulvino <dbpulvino at hotmail.com> wrote:
>   Steve,
>
>A couple of quick questions on your symptoms prior to replacing...were 
>where
>you noticing the smell from? I've noticed gas odors in my car as well, with
>the smell noted both under the hood at startup and after running sometimes
>near the tank filler door. The first makes sense to be coming from that
>hose, the second not so much.
>
>What were you noticing?
>
>Derek P
>
>sounds like you too had the fuel smell near the back of the car. Were y>>
> >>At 08:14 AM 9/15/2006 -0700, Steve Hauptmann wrote: > Hi all, > > Have 
>had
> >>a nagging, very small and irritatingly difficult to find fuel >leak on 
>the
> >>braided S/S fuel line that goes from the FPR (Fuel Pressure >Regulator) 
>to
> >>the fuel rail (side closest to the firewall). FWIW, it was >actually
> >>leaking at the crimp, NOT through the S/S portion. Noticed a bit
> >>of >dirt accumulating in the area, which led me to notice that it seemed
> >>to be >leaking. This was such a strange thing because I especially 
>noticed
> >>the
> >>fuel >smell in the trunk. > > Don’t remember how much but seems I 
>remember
> >>that this dealer only (AFAIK)
> >> >part was somewhere around $100 and I was looking for a less expensive
> >>fix. > > Well, I ended up cutting the old S/S portion off at the crimp 
>and
> >>much to >my delight, the hard lines on both ends had a barbed extension.
> >>This made >for an easy and inexpensive fix with <$2.00 worth of rubber
> >>fuel line. > > No more fuel smell, anywhere. Very nice. > > Here’s a 
>link
> >>to a few pictures for those who may be interested. Let me >know if there
> >>is any trouble w/ the link. > >
> >>http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/vwaudiporschefan/album?.dir=/39c4re2 > >
> >>Steve Hauptmann > South Carolina
>
>
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