Leaking diesel blues

[DeeTees]

Got them leaking diesel blues - around the tank area.
Can't avoid the issue anymore.
Was managed to be avoided by having < 30 Litres. in the tank. At least I had that impression.
I could not see any place where the fuel was leaking from, as much or as far as anybody can see anything.
I´m down to a few liters above reserve in the tank. Last night while driving - I noticed the roughness of air in the fuel symptom. Got home safely though. Now she wont start, for the first time in ownership.
Of course under normal circumstances, I would have the tank guard off and probably the tank lowered but my confidence is totally shot - when it comes to attempting to loosen any external nut on this vehicle. Similar to the amount of optimism a person might feel when trying to pass wind, while suffering from the runs.

Lying on the ground under the tank, if I put my left hand up around some pipes, I can feel for a definite leak area around the pipes. I guess the fuel out pipe/pipes is/are leaking and air is being sucked in.

If so, is this a definite tank guard off + tank off job or can I find a bit of leverage from the rear compartment to gain access to the pipes? Basically is the job just pure evil or is there a less evil way to approach it?

 

[extreme-4x4]

no idea ,but i took my tank guard off a while back . and 2 of the 4 bolts snapped . i have to remove the tank soon too . not looking forward to it.

and yes i have a fuel leak too:doh

 

[Peasgood]

I haven't studied the bolts in question in much detail, but having done work on other bolts on my Terrano I know a lot of them are captive nut bolts. I guess they are the same on the tank and guard.
Get yourself a rivnut gun. When the bolts snap off drill them out, pop in a rivnut and then use a new bolt into it. The rivnut guns are a little pricey, but money well spent. Even if it is only for the tank guard it will still save a lot more than a garage would charge.
Snapped bolts are one of the worst nightmares when working on vehicles, but with one of these things all the drama is taken away. That alone is worth the money.

 

[makeitfit]

Have you had a spy in the inspection plate on boot floor?
Worth a quick look as it could be some pipe failure up there

 

[BIGSEAN]

Had exactly the same last week.
Eventually traced to a section of pipe approx 200mm past the end of the rubber section from the tank outlet running alongside the chassis.
quick cure, where the pipes run along the chassis behind the wheel(immediately after the rising bend , use a junior hacksaw, cut both pipes(it`s easier than trying to cut one) and replace with rubber directly from the tank. took about an hour and the problem solved.
Even with the pipes off couldn`t find the leak but it`s run like a dream since.
There are other posts on this subject and cure it`s where i found the solution.

 

[DeeTees]

Thanks for all the replies. I'll remove the inspection plate on the boot floor, see if there another perspective to view the fuel pipes from and regardless, look to replacing the leaking pipe with the aid of the junior hacksaw.

The rivgun sounds an excellent idea,
but these words "when the bolts snap off drill them out" do not quite capture the trauma involved

 

[bobhope]

Had same on my old terrano , pipe had perished where connected on to tank .decided to replace whole length

If affecting the engine running then would def suspect supply pipe is cause ,
really easy job to replace complete hose length from tank to fuel filter housing under engine. loads of flexi fuel pipe on ebay.

I just used cable ties and attached new pipe to exsisting fuel pipe .
as bigsean says , just an hours job.

The bonus was i could crawl the full length under the truck , and did'nt get stuck .

 

[DeeTees]

Last night I took out the inspection plate (the 4 screws just about made it ) from inside the rear. This indeed is a good place to start, I can locate the pipe, disconnect it from the tank and should be able to replace it, working from both ends - upper and under.
Thanks.

 

[DeeTees]

Epilogue:
It was an straight forward enough job to part replace the 2 fuel lines. However the engine did not fire up and the already tired batteries were fading.
It was anyway (probably) time to replace the fuel filter. There was indeed a good deal of foreign matter and some water in the old one. I filled up the new filter and hand primed until you couldn't do more. Still the engine took what seemed a long time to fire up.
But once it fired up, sounded sweet.
Probably with this job (especially if you have been running in the reserves) it should be a matter of course to replace the filter and charge up the batteries while you are doing the job.