Went to start my MK2, petrol leaking!!!!!!!!!!!

[CHRIS_MC]

my mk2 8v is in storage behind my nan's house, went to start it today and thought i could smell petrol, moved it a few meters only to see a patch of petrol, looked underneath and could see it trickling out from under the front drivers footwell (very close to the wheel) WTF?

What can i do? ive literally just bought this from a Garage with a yr's MOT & Tax,(last month) and driven it nowhere,

 im not happy........ the Garage is about 40 miles away from the Car, i dont have any insurance on it atm, im guessing its not a good idea to drive it at all? im sure it would make it but really dont want to drive it leaking petrol (f##king mk2's)

majorly p!ssed off :angry:x10 how easy is it to rupture the fuel line? and if it was brittle how did it pass its MOT?

Is it an easy repair? possible by me? i had it sitting with nearly a full tank, now sitting at about half.

[AdamMk2]

Definately petrol mate not the Power steerign pump leaking?

[CHRIS_MC]

hmm, good question, pretty sure it was petrol. it seemed to leak when the engine was started, and stopped when i switched it off,

the car is stored in the absolute middle of nowhere, yet it almost feels like its been sabotaged, it was fine when i drove it home from the garage, then a few days later drove it to my nans house for storage, (bout 40 miles)

completey bemused, the only thing i have done to it was fit a leather interior. fail to see how i could have done any damage doing that.....

gonna complain to the garage i reckon or at least ask them if they can do anything for me

[AdamMk2]

Mate im pretty sure thats your power steering.

Its low front drivers side and runds off the belt, so when the engine starts it pours out.

Id check the little (Cant remember what exactly it called) bit where the hose bolts into the pump as the washers go brittle after time.

You will see it running down the bottom of the pAS pump and when moved it leaves a thin line.


Hope this helps!

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[AdamMk2]

Also Id add if there was a petrol leak in a pipe somewhere I think it may have an effect on running because it would draw in air??

[gstar-dubworld]

2 fuel hoses right by the intake manifold, usually parish due to age, same happened on mine couple of years back, usually a very strong smell of fuel.. If it's power steering fluid or if your not sure then, power steering feeds run at the front of the bay from the pump and back, fuel lines towards the back of the bay nearer towards where the ecu sits.

If it's the fuel pipes then I wouldn't recommend driving it as they're very near to the exhaust manifold/downpipe etc.  

[Martz]

^ as he said. Mine was on the Rallye, easy fix but fooking scary when you see it dripping on the manifold!

[CHRIS_MC]

i know it sounds daft, but is the steering fluid flammable? if not then i might try collecting some of the drips in a cup and seeing if its flammable, if it is i might just throw a zippo under there and run"!!!!!!!!!!

serious note, thanks for the info, it has been lying for about 2 weeks, before i started it, i hope its an easy repair

[Conker]

While your at it, mark the fluid level on your PAS tank, then you'll know if its going down or not.

Plus every PAS fluid I've seen is coloured, whereas fuel is clear. What colour is the liquid?

[rubjonny]

you';ll know if its pas fluid or petrol, becasue... well... petrol smells like petrol!

The fuel lines go up the drivers side so follow them as best you can, the leak should become apparent.