petrol leak

[jonsharland]

I had a petrol leak the first time I put fuel in my tank, I put 10 litres in and it started to leak out steadily, I then took the car to Caterham for the pre SVA test and they tested the tank and found no problems. so I filled her up and drove around for a couple of days and had no petrol leak. On Monday last week I had about 1/4 of a tank and I left it overnight at my girlfiends house and in the morning I noticed a growing pool of petrol - anybody got any ideas ???

 

 

also my car keeps cutting out at after a good run when I go into a low gear it coughs splutters and stalls no amount of acceleration or lack of it or seems to get it to pick up, I then have to wait for 5 mins or so for the engine to restart. then it idles really low, Caterham have suggested I retune the carbs. anybody else seen this before ?

[Dave H]

I've no idea why you should have a leak, unless it's from the pipe/fuel pump from the tank.

The cutting out problem sounds very like the something I had on an old Fiesta I had. The fuel pickup pipe would slowly collapse, until it wouldn't let any fuel through. Stop for 5 minutes, the pressure in the tank would build up, and the problem would go away for anything upto a couple of hours before it would cut out again.

Worth getting the carbs checked first, as its a much easier option.

 

Dave H

[Muttley]

Does the fuel tank have a breather pipe, if so is it clear? If the breather is blocked then a vacuum eventually forms in the petrol tank and the pump cannot pull anymore out. Next time it happens try taking the filler cap off and listen for a hiss as it breaks the seal.

 

Muttley

[jonsharland]

No there is no hiss as I take the petrol cap off, I also took the petrol line off the carbs and checked that I was getting petrol through to the carbs but it still wouldn't fire.