Whats clear, smells of petrol, and is wet ?

[roobarb]

....and appears to be all over my drive
I appear to have sprung a leak where the pump connects to the high pressure fuel pipe.
I had this checked out only last week by a v.reputable, neigh, highly respected mechanic - he couldn't see anything untoward and reckoned the piping was in good nick. So if the pipe's OK how does it connect to the pump. Is it a high tech jubilee clip or something even more fancy. I ask this in case what ever might have been there has fallen off. Do pumps fail, hoofing fuel everywhere - or do they just stop working, resulting in a derth of wheel revolution ?

[david010167]

a jelly fish flambé, but it is unlikely you ran over one of those.

Sounds like a leak of some sort, unless you have overfilled at the pump recently and it has run down the boot and dripped onto the floor. At least I did this once and was worried until I realized what had happened.

David

[AlexH]

I have had a situation before where the breather hose became blocked, the tank pressurised and it started p1ssing petrol out through the filler cap... You may want to check this is not the case.

[M@H]

AlexH said:

I have had a situation before where the breather hose became blocked, the tank pressurised and it started p1ssing petrol out through the filler cap... You may want to check this is not the case.

Hoe on earth did the tank pressurise, asfterall the petrol is drained from it, therefore reducing the pressure..?

Cheers
Matt

[AlexH]

M@H said:

AlexH said: I have had a situation before where the breather hose became blocked, the tank pressurised and it started p1ssing petrol out through the filler cap... You may want to check this is not the case. Hoe on earth did the tank pressurise, asfterall the petrol is drained from it, therefore reducing the pressure..? Cheers Matt

Not sure exactly, all I knew first was I was about to pull away from pavement when a nice little old lady tapped on my side window and said 'Excuse me but theres petrol pouring out of the back of your car!'
Stopped engine, got out, checked, and she was indeed correct, but it wasn't doing it anymore. Thought I'd try turning on engine again with boot open to see what was happening, as I thought it had to be an aberation; it couldn't possibly do it again; as soon as engine started, so did the petrol, so turned off pdq. Phoned dealer, explained situation, got suggestion: 'Try it with the cap off to release pressure.' VERY sceptical, but was persuaded; was greeted with 1 foot high column of petrol shooting straight up! FCUK! Phoned RAC and was taken to dealership, where that was explanation given, although maybe I should have been more inquisitive as to how it happened. They fixed it fine though, and hasn't happened again. :touchwood:

Maybe someone who knows more about fuel systems could provide enlightenment?

[simpo two]

M@H said:

Hoe on earth did the tank pressurise, asfterall the petrol is drained from it, therefore reducing the pressure..?

Heat from hot day or exhaust?

[Nick P]

Its either fuel or you have been Napalmed (sorry)

[jigs]

Dunno, give up - what's clear, smells of petrol, and is wet?

[Pies]

Diesel

[the dodger]

Gasoline.

[roobarb]

Octane.

Had the car up over the weekend, removed rear wheels, started engine. Had a quick look. Ran. Stopped engine. Wiped petrol off my face. Suffered a mild panic attack when blokey over the street who had been watching wandered over with a fag in his hand offering some help. Got the eye rinse. Sorted eye out. Calmed down, fancied a fag myself then remebered I didn't smoke...
Thats quite a pressure. It would have appeared that the only reason the jubilee clip was tight was because it was too big, not because it was tightened on to any thing pump like. So give it a while for the rubber hose to stretch and Bob's your petrol covered Uncle. Now, when it comes to TVR mechanics I'm a total air head. Is it me or should a highly trained and experienced mechanic have found that, especially given I turned up maoning about several pools of petrol on my drive....