Sneaky Fuel Leak

General information about the first-generation Nissan Maxima in the US. What was the Datsun 810 became the luxury leader Maxima in the US in 1981.

Moderators: plenzen, glenlloyd, goglio704, Nissan_Ranger

Post Reply
User avatar
kassim503
Posts: 1027
Joined: 18 years ago
Location: Stony Brook, NY

Sneaky Fuel Leak

#1

Post by kassim503 »

Driving home today, at the lights I went what in the world is that smell?
Smelled like gas, so I pulled over and checked the lines, didnt see nothing, but it was dark and I felt around- yielded nothing.

Got home, car reeked of gas so I got some light above it and looked around, and the valley between the first 2 injectors in the intake manifold was filled with gas. :shock:

I looked around, and I noticed the fuel hose between the rail and the injector was all wet, so I concluded that that was my problem. isn't there some technique that involves a solder gun and a razor blade to replace the hoses? If anybody knows this is a acceptable method tell me, cause injectors are a bit too far out of my wallets reach.

I let the engine cool, after mopping up the gas, and I proceeded to figure out its exact location, so I primed the fuel system, to my surprise it yielded NOTHING! NO leak!, then I ran the car for about 3 minutes
trying all different scenarios, different rpms, racing it, idling it everything, and not one drop!

Since there are resident experts here, I figured there must be something that I overlooked.

Obiously it is time for a major overhaul, clean the injectors, change their hoses, change out all the tiny bits and pieces hoses that are still left from the factory.
'83 maxima sedan, l24e, a/t, black

227K SOLD 6/7/2012
User avatar
kassim503
Posts: 1027
Joined: 18 years ago
Location: Stony Brook, NY

#2

Post by kassim503 »

I drove around some more, figuring that engine heat might do something, maybe the expansion and contraction of the rubber hoses. Of course everything is as dry as a bone. I have a feeling the car is messing with me

I need to see my problem before just throwing parts at it, even if its just a few short pieces of hose and a good 2 hours of labor, cause what if it was some rare occasion where the injector itself is cracked or some sneaky leak that just hates me.

One thing that I found is that there is a small small small small bit of wetness around the lower o-ring that seals the injector into the manifold. But if this o-ring leaked it would be a vaccum leak and fuel shouldn't be spraying out right?
'83 maxima sedan, l24e, a/t, black

227K SOLD 6/7/2012
User avatar
asavage
Site Admin
Posts: 5431
Joined: 18 years ago
Location: Oak Harbor, Wash.
Contact:

#3

Post by asavage »

kassim503 wrote:. . . small bit of wetness around the lower o-ring that seals the injector into the manifold. But if this o-ring leaked it would be a vaccum leak and fuel shouldn't be spraying out right?
Correct. Those o-rings at the injector/manifold (or injector/head) interface typically aren't a real robust seal. A fat o-ring and not much to help it.
Regards,
Al S.

1982 Maxima diesel wagon, 2nd & 4th owner, 165k miles, rusty & burgundy/grey. Purchased 1996, SOLD 16Feb10
1983 Maxima diesel wagon, 199k miles, rusty, light yellow/light brown. SOLD 14Jul07
1981 720 SD22 (scrapped 04Sep07)
1983 Sentra CD17, 255k, bought 06Jul08, gave it away 22Jun10.
HowlerMonkey
Posts: 130
Joined: 18 years ago
Location: West Palm Beach Florida

#4

Post by HowlerMonkey »

I get one fuel leak a week as the temps cool down so I just tighten and it eventually leaks somewhere else.

The hoses crack radially out from the center so tightening them down stops the leaks until you can fix it with all new hoses but I am putting the L28ET engine and injectors as well as the z31 engine management system in it soon enough that tightening is the fix for now.

Any time you smell gas in a older injected nissan, you should pull over because it probably isn't that car in front of you.
dlh
Posts: 67
Joined: 18 years ago
Location: Denver

#5

Post by dlh »

Go to http://www.carfiche.com and download the '82 280zx factory service manual. It will show you how to replace the rotted injector hoses.

Make sure you get fuel hose that is rated for high pressure fuel injection. If you spend less than $5 a foot you're not getting the right stuff.

When putting the new hose on, keep the bulk hose together then cut to length after you have it seated on the injector. Measure the length from the base of the hose before taking off the old hoses.
crank pirate, cannibalistic zcar owner
1982 280zx turbo 4 spd auto
1973 240z, lsd, cv axles
User avatar
philip
Deceased
Posts: 1494
Joined: 18 years ago
Location: Southern California, USA

#6

Post by philip »

dlh wrote:Go to http://www.carfiche.com and download the '82 280zx factory service manual. .
I get a system message saying ...

Forbidden
You don't have permission to access / on this server.

Apache/1.3.28 Server at carfiche.com Port 80
-Philip
Passed 08May2008
My friend, you are missed . . .

1982 Datsun 720KC SD-22

"Im slow and I'm ahead of you"
User avatar
kassim503
Posts: 1027
Joined: 18 years ago
Location: Stony Brook, NY

#7

Post by kassim503 »

HowlerMonkey wrote:I get one fuel leak a week as the temps cool down so I just tighten and it eventually leaks somewhere else.
the temperatures has drastically dropped right before the leak, so I think thats my problem.
HowlerMonkey wrote:The hoses crack radially out from the center so tightening them down stops the leaks until you can fix it with all new hoses but I am putting the L28ET engine and injectors as well as the z31 engine management system in it soon enough that tightening is the fix for now.
Cool!
philip wrote:I get a system message saying ...

Forbidden.....
Works for me
'83 maxima sedan, l24e, a/t, black

227K SOLD 6/7/2012
dlh
Posts: 67
Joined: 18 years ago
Location: Denver

#8

Post by dlh »

philip wrote:
dlh wrote:Go to http://www.carfiche.com and download the '82 280zx factory service manual. .
I get a system message saying ...

Forbidden
You don't have permission to access / on this server.

Apache/1.3.28 Server at carfiche.com Port 80
Sounds like it may be on your end for the broken link. Any one else having a problem getting to the car fiche site?
crank pirate, cannibalistic zcar owner
1982 280zx turbo 4 spd auto
1973 240z, lsd, cv axles
User avatar
kassim503
Posts: 1027
Joined: 18 years ago
Location: Stony Brook, NY

#9

Post by kassim503 »

Which kind of fuel injectors are on the gasser?

"low-impedance" or "high impedance"

I have no clue what this means, but i want to replace all the injectors with a clean set, and retire the current set on the car now.

Which one do i buy?
'83 maxima sedan, l24e, a/t, black

227K SOLD 6/7/2012
User avatar
philip
Deceased
Posts: 1494
Joined: 18 years ago
Location: Southern California, USA

#10

Post by philip »

dlh wrote:Go to http://www.carfiche.com and download the '82 280zx factory service manual. It will show you how to replace the rotted injector hoses.
Still no good. Even tried shutting off my firewall and used Firefox browser. Firefox says:
The connection has timed out

The server at http://www.carfiche.com is taking too long to respond.

* The site could be temporarily unavailable or too busy. Try again in a few
moments.

* If you are unable to load any pages, check your computer's network
connection.

* If your computer or network is protected by a firewall or proxy, make sure
that Firefox is permitted to access the Web.
-Philip
Passed 08May2008
My friend, you are missed . . .

1982 Datsun 720KC SD-22

"Im slow and I'm ahead of you"
dlh
Posts: 67
Joined: 18 years ago
Location: Denver

#11

Post by dlh »

Just keep trying it whenever you think about it. It does go down every now and then.
crank pirate, cannibalistic zcar owner
1982 280zx turbo 4 spd auto
1973 240z, lsd, cv axles
User avatar
philip
Deceased
Posts: 1494
Joined: 18 years ago
Location: Southern California, USA

#12

Post by philip »

dlh wrote:Just keep trying it whenever you think about it. It does go down every now and then.
Or the inverse. :wink:
-Philip
Passed 08May2008
My friend, you are missed . . .

1982 Datsun 720KC SD-22

"Im slow and I'm ahead of you"
User avatar
kassim503
Posts: 1027
Joined: 18 years ago
Location: Stony Brook, NY

#13

Post by kassim503 »

ebay injectors
Does anybody know if this injector would work on my maximas, L24e?

I know the green ones from 280z's do from a previous posting, but this one is a turbo Z car's injectors.
'83 maxima sedan, l24e, a/t, black

227K SOLD 6/7/2012
dlh
Posts: 67
Joined: 18 years ago
Location: Denver

#14

Post by dlh »

kassim503 wrote:ebay injectors
Does anybody know if this injector would work on my maximas, L24e?

I know the green ones from 280z's do from a previous posting, but this one is a turbo Z car's injectors.
They will fit, but you will run very rich.

Here is one that will clean and test your old injectors. There are others as well.

http://www.cruzinperformance.com/
crank pirate, cannibalistic zcar owner
1982 280zx turbo 4 spd auto
1973 240z, lsd, cv axles
davehoos
Posts: 525
Joined: 18 years ago
Location: Karuah Valley,NSW Australia
Contact:

#15

Post by davehoos »

impedance.resistance across the windings inside the injector.

low impedance injectors i think uses a dropping resister to reduce voltage[current flow].

if using other non genuine types it pays to get good advise as there are many different types,some open fast-some shut off fast.

recently bought bosch service replacements for AU$35 each.Inside the yellow bosch box was 6 original JECS injectors some with genuine nissan packaging.
WCJR31 Skyline.3.0 manual.wagon
R31 SKYLINE/Passage GT/PINTARA
LPG Ford Falcon 99-06 93 Disco
Local Shire Southern Zone Mechanic.
Post Reply

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 7 guests