Steady fuel leak

[TheDieseliminator]

I have a fuel leak coming from about directly underneath the fuel injection pump on my car. I wanted to ask where is it most likely leaking from considering this certain VE pump? I remember Al saying that these pumps tend to leak and it looks like mine has a problem. It tends to only leak at idle and I'm sure it doesn't leak that much when driving down the road at higher rpms. After about 3-5 minutes of idling there is a puddle about 5-6 inches in diameter. Two days ago I changed the oil in the car and tried to get a good look of where it was leaking and I can say it really looks like it's leaking from the back of the pump (closer to the firewall). What do you guys think? Anyone have a good picture of the pump without all the hoses in the way for a better view? Thanks.

Salvy

[asavage]

Didn't you post this several days ago, and didn't Carimbo post about a hose he had found on his that was leaking? I think he advised cleaning everything you can reach off, then running it. That's what I'd do too. Use aerosol brake cleaner and follow with compressed air until the entire pump (and underneath it) is dry. Remove the plastic "vee" under-engine cover, get under there and have someone start the engine. It should be pretty obvious -- unless it's just gushing out and splashing everything.

You're going to end up smelling of fuel, no matter how you tackle this.

[TheDieseliminator]

Yea I did post a message just about exactly the same as this message, but the next time I visited the forum it had disappeared. It was a few days ago and I guess it got lost when the site recently was down??? Don't know about Carimbo's post either and I'll have to take a look at that. Hopefully in my case it will be a hose leaking or one of the six injector flare nuts loose on the back of the pump. Cleaning around the pump is definitely needed and thanks for the advice.

[asavage]

The shaft seal leaks, the top housing leaks, and the distributor head o-ring leaks. That's generic Bosch VE IP leaks. I'm pretty sure that I have the shaft leak (and spare seals to fix it, thanks to Matt's work bringing them in), since my leak is off the belt cover. I won't know until I remove the cover. My leak is a lot smaller than yours. I barely get a drip. Mostly I just smell the biodiesel on a warm engine, and can see a little bit of fuel on the bottom of the housing.

Your leak is large enough to be a hose or cracked injector line. Since you were just working with the head, and probably applying some pressure to the injector lines, you may have a cracked line.

[TheDieseliminator]

I determined where the fuel leak is coming from today. I got underneath the car while it was running and found that it leaks a drop of fuel about every 8 seconds. It's coming from the back of the pump where the end of the six lines meet up to the pump. Unusually it's leaking in between the end of the pump body and where the lines screw into the back of it. There is a bracket in between this and it is seaping there. What I noticed around the six outlets on the back of the pump was there are at least 3 (maybe 4) small bolt heads that are for straight head screwdrivers to turn loose or tighten. I believe if I tighten the two bottom heads it will maybe prevent the leak from being that persistent. It would be nice if it would totally stop the leak all together, but may at least help it to not leak as much. In the mean time I could be getting better fuel mileage! Just less than 400 miles ago I changed the oil and filter and to get a straight head screwdriver in there to tighten these small bolt heads the oil filter needs to be removed. So I'll remember to tighten them up before I go to install the oil filter on my next oil change. Will this help any?

[asavage]

I'm not sure where this fuel leak is, from your description. I happen to have an '82 IP off and sitting here. I wish I had time to clean this IP up some, but in the interest of expediency . . .

(click on any for larger)


I suppose that fuel might be able to leak from the screws themselves, though I was under the impression that they thread into blind holes.

The most common leak point in that area is the o-ring between the cast-steel distributor head (the black part that the lines screw into -- sorta) and the housing. But if you're certain that fuel isn't coming from that joint -- which is a bit over 1-1/4" forward of the lines -- then I'd have to suggest that either the plunger plug in the center is leaking, or one of the delivery valves -- those are what the injection lines actually screw into, and they in turn screw into the distributor head.

Are you sure that the fuel isn't coming from up higher, like at the shutoff solenoid (last picture), or the the housing cover behind it in the pic (ahead of it, as installed on the engine)? That housing cover "gasket" (o-ring-like) is a very common leak point on the VW version of the IP.

[TheDieseliminator]

Al, thanks for the pictures. I knew I could count on you for taking detailed pics of the pump. If you look in picture #2 you can see the screw heads that need a straight head screwdriver in order to be loosened or tightened. I think if I tighten up at least two of them it will hopefully cure the leak somehow. Also, in picture #3 you can see the bracket I'm talking about that is in between the end of the pump body and where the injection lines screw into the delivery valves. It is a 90 degree bracket. My leak is coming from the bottom right of the pump when you look at it from underneath the car. It's leaking in between the bracket I spoke of above. I even wiped off the fuel from that area when I had the car running and surely in a few seconds it would start to come down the bracket into a bead and then leak off of it to the ground. I forgot to mention I had this fuel leak before I did any of the head gasket/cylinder head change/disassembly work that we did recently. Also, I'm pretty sure I don't have a cracked line and I just think I don't have fuel leaking from any of the flare nut heads that screw into the six delivery valves. The lines down there don't look soiled enough to tell you the truth. I guess you could say I do have an o-ring inside the back of the pump leaking (unfortunately ). I know it's not coming from any fuel hoses because of looking carefully when I did it yesterday. I'll be checking it out in much better detail when I go for the next oil change, so that won't be for another while because I need to drive another 2,500 miles.