fuel leak

[curley]

'89 CV, 5.0 130,000 miles. sometimes the engine hesitates after idling when taking off from a stop. As long as I give it more gas it takes off and is fine, just doesn't like gentle acceleration. Now its doing that and sometimes smells like unburned fuel and when I shut it off there is gas leaking on the ground from the engine. Looks like its coming from the injectors/injector rail or something in there.

What happened and what do I need to do to fix it?

Thanks
Curley

[marquisman]

if your ar sure its commin from the injector area then you have to remove the upper intake and take the fuel rail off and inspect the o-rings. is the rail very rusty? check all the connections and try to pin point the leak to a connection or injector

[Tiggie]

About the only thing to leak around the injectors and rails is an O-Ring. Maybe a failing fuel pressure regulator. It's really hard get rusty up there on the fuel rail, so I doubt that's it.

The lower fuel lines rust pretty easy though if the car is from the rust belt, so you'll want to check there. There are also some hard plastic fuel lines down there that you'll want to inspect. Raw fuel isn't something you want spilling out everywhere!

Not sure about the part-throttle hesistation though.

[curley]

One of the injectors is leaking around its base. Are the O-rings replaceable or should I just buy new injectors?

thanks

[cld783]

http://fordfuelinjection.com/?p=82

good time to clean them but you can just get the O rings

[gadget73]

yes, the O rings are easily obtained at any auto parts store that isn't staffed by idiots. I'd suggest doing all the injectors, and using the injector rebuild kits. These come with the top and bottom O ring, the nylon spacer, and the pintle cap that go on the bottom part of the injector. Do the PCV stuff while you're in there, replace any nasty vacuum hoses, and be sure to use some sort of lubricant on the injector O rings when assembling. Vaseline works fine for this.

[crown vic muscle]

pick up a few extra o-rings and be careful when you reinstall the offending injector. a pinched o-ring on reinstalation will result in the same thing. had it happen on a toyota, replaced the o-ring and pinched it putting it back in, had to do it all over again.

[marquisman]

well if you dont put the rail back on evenly and with minimal force, you can cut the top o-ring on the injector(s). been there done that. that goes for removal too, dont wanna bend it

[gadget73]

well if you dont put the rail back on evenly and with minimal force, you can cut the top o-ring on the injector(s).

I did that, and didn't catch it until the car caught on fire from the fuel dumping on the ground next to the open headers.

[curley]

So I don't have time to fix the injector until next week but still need to drive the car. If I unplug the leaking injector will I screw anything up and will it stop the leaking? It leaks around the base where it goes into the manifold?

Thanks

curley

[Tiggie]

I doubt it is the lower O-Ring leaking, there is no fuel there to leak. The upper one is probably leaking and the fuel just running down? If this is the case, unplugging the injector will not stop the leaking. The fuel rail is still pressurized.

[85crownHPP]

Id guess a spotty TPS as your other problem

[gadget73]

So I don't have time to fix the injector until next week but still need to drive the car. If I unplug the leaking injector will I screw anything up and will it stop the leaking? It leaks around the base where it goes into the manifold?

Thanks

curley

They pretty much never leak fuel at the bottom. If there is a leak there, it sucks air since the manifold is under vacuum. Fuel leakage would be from the top O ring. It would probably run down the injector body and pool around the bung tho. I honestly would not suggest driving a car with a fuel leak. Gasoline is explosive, and its entierely possible the car could burst into flames from having fuel laying on the manifold. I'd say making time to fix this is probably going to be easier than making time to buy a new car if yours catches on fire.

Yes, I'm trying to scare you into fixing it. I've seen cars on fire, including my own. Its not fun. At a bare minimum, be sure you have a good ABC fire extinguisher within easy reach in case something happpens.

[91waggin]

They pretty much never leak fuel at the bottom. If there is a leak there, it sucks air since the manifold is under vacuum. Fuel leakage would be from the top O ring. It would probably run down the injector body and pool around the bung tho. I honestly would not suggest driving a car with a fuel leak. Gasoline is explosive, and its entierely possible the car could burst into flames from having fuel laying on the manifold. I'd say making time to fix this is probably going to be easier than making time to buy a new car if yours catches on fire.

Yes, I'm trying to scare you into fixing it. I've seen cars on fire, including my own. Its not fun. At a bare minimum, be sure you have a good ABC fire extinguisher within easy reach in case something happpens.

What he said. Car fires are no fun. Plus, there's the possibility of a lawsuit. My girlfriend's dad ignored a fuel leak one time, his car caught on fire as he was parking it, and it caught the car next to him on fire. Then, not only did he not have a car, he owed another guy money because he ruined another car as well. Make time to fix this.

[curley]

Well, I did manage to fix it before I left town, I'm finally back on a computer on lovely WA. Turns out the problem was at the base of the injector. The little orange cap at the end cracked. All O-rings were in good condition but were replaced. Thanks for all the info

curley