Leaking Fuel...?

Did you absolutely know the dripping liquid was fuel i.e. dip your finger in it and smell it? I know you smelled fuel when you started it, but you need to be sure that what you smelled and what was dripping out was the same thing. Maybe obvious, but I just thought I would say.

I have had dripping fuel out of the right side like you describe. It turned out to be one of the lines from the top of the right fuel tank (308 but I assume 328 has similar tank setup). I just tightened the hose clamp and that was that.

Was your car on an incline or anything that could cause the fuel in the right tank to slosh around a little and come out of one of the top spigots? Maybe the shop just has the car sitting on the flat floor and so even when the fuel system is under pressure they can't get anything to leak out.

 

Accumulator going bad? (The accumulator maintains a constant pressure in the fuel system.) Where is it on a 328? On the Mondial it is just in front of the passenger side rear wheel.

 

I had this problem last year on my 308. There is a high pressure return line form the fuel injector distributor that runs back to the tank. It is a steel tube all the way to the tank but then a small piece of rubber tubing connects to the tank. On the 308 (85 QV) this rubber tube split and was weeping fuel. Dips down just in front of the right rear like it's coming from the rocker panel. That is the area I would check. You will have to take the right rear off and remove the liner to get to it if the 328 is like the 308.

It's really poor engineering. The tube from the return runs horizontal. The tube coming out of the tank is vertical. The rubber tube between them make a 90 degree turn in a very cramped place. The end of the metal tube from the tank rubbed through the rubber tube.

 

I had a similar situation regarding leaking gas accumulating at the right side of my 308 QV just in front of the right rear wheel. I spent about 3 hours last night replacing the leaky 8mm hose (116767) from the top of the right side (passenger) fuel tank. This hose connects to a "return pipe" (118580). Access was the biggest problem.

Thought it was all done, but to my surprise one of the 3 hoses from the top of the tank to the vapor separator was also leakng. Evidently, they all need to be replaced...makes sense as I suspect they're all original so if they're not leaking now, they will be soon. Joys of a 28 year old car.

BTW, I didn't use a genuine Ferrari part, but had some Gates 8mm (5/16") fuel hose handy. It seems to fit and work well so far.

 

Places like VW will stock metric fuel line, but as you say that was 'close enough.'.....

 

Pretty sound advice. If one hose needs to be replaced, then they all should be done (on my 328 there was 16 different hoses). If its just a loose clamp, then I guess you could retighten, and drive on, but at some point the lines will need replacing, otherwise you run the risk of an engine bay fire. On my car, it took me a total of 5 days, working about 4-5 hours per day. 2 days to take all the old hoses off (as I took them off they were measured and labeled) 1 day to get the new ones, and 2 days to put it all back together again. I went to a local industrial hose supply place and got OEM looking cotton jacketed hoses. The only ones that were not cotton jacketed were the 2 large dia ones for the main fill pipe and the bottom cross-connection pipe between the 2 tanks, but since you cant see those, who cares. For the bottom cross connection I got marine grade hose that is good for being submerged as there will always be fuel in that line. All new hoses and stainless steel clamps came to around $125.00. Cost for piece of mind priceless. And "while you are at it" I replaced the fuel pump, check valve, and accumulator. Hardest part of the job was to access all the vent and return lines on top of the tanks. Rear wheels , inner fender skirts and the duct work from the side vents to the airbox and oil cooler come out. I also loosened up the tank straps to lower them a little for some more room. If you need/want I have the list of the size/lenght of all the hoses I replaced. Good luck.

 

"BTW, I didn't use a genuine Ferrari part, but had some Gates 8mm (5/16") fuel hose handy"

Rest assured that Ferrari never made hose and didn't (doesn't) know the first thing about it. Gates, on the other hand...

 

I just changed the Accumulator and Fuel pump on my 1989 328, its was on the Left side next to the bottom of the left fuel tank.

D.J.? Whats the status?

 

Accumulator went on mine, didn't leave a pool of fuel though, just stank of fumes all the time.
Borowed this pic from a friend doing a re-build on his motor, the accumulator and pump are the black and green things next to the tank on the left.
I hope this helps
Regards,
Roy
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I mentioned previously that I used some 5/16" Gates fuel hose I had on hand when I replaced the leaky right tank return hose. I should add that the hose used in these applications should be fuel-rated SAE 30R9, not the more commonly available 30R7 which is a lot cheaper and not spec'ed for fuel injection systems.

There's a slew of information in the archives about this - just advance search under "fuel hose" (308/328). Dave Helms offers some interesting comments which lead up to his developement of his fuel hose kit (the fancy red one).

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The more I learn, the more I don't know.

 

Gents,

I just got done replacing ALL my rubber fuel hoses and the plastic lines too. IF you are smelling gas you HAVE A PROBLEM. Those hoses are 2X years old. REPLACE THEM ALL.

A bit pricy (quality & confidence costs a bit) but, just buy the correct SRI (Dave Helms) FUEL hose kit for your car from Daniel (Ricambi) and be done with it. You will likely NEVER replace them again due to age or damage due to maus-piss blend.

And "NO," G***s hoses, even Ethannol rated are substandard, IMO. Soak one in fuel for a few days ... It will get as SOFT and bloated as a NOODLE. Dave's hose maintained its ingegraty in a side by side test. (Wish I had photos, Sorry.)

Many of the PROs here are replacing name brand fuel hoses on a yearly basis. THAT should tell you something. There are pics of a one year old fuel hose here somewhere .....

 

Would the accumulator,or pump cause an intermitant leak.
Yes it did with mine.

 

Also get hold of Verell and get his plastic fuel line kit to replace all those. I had 8 potential fire points in those old lines on my car.

The one that nobody mentions (on my '81 NA Version) is the one from the accumulator to the fuel filter. Mine was kinked and cracked. Fire waiting to happen.

 

If its by the right rear tyre it could well bebe the pipes around the airbox.

Suggest you remove the airbox first & have a look at the joints underneath which are the main flow & return for the injection system. Then trace the pipes back towards the front of the car & you will find one of them drops into a rubber pipe that connects to he RHS gas tank. At the other end look at the connections into the CIS unit.

If you need to change that rubber pipe you may find it easier to remove the rear wheel and the arch liner & get to it from underneath. Be careful when you try & take it off the tank, it will be stuck & you don't want to damage or snap the spiggott on the tank itself. When I did mine I got the sharpest blade I could fine & cut virtically down the pipe. Just be really carfeul not to score the spiggott underneath, go lightly & just cut away at it gently.

If its not one of those hoses then suggest you also look at the tank itself carefully & make sure that the water pipe hasn't been wearing away at it (you wouldn't be the first to have a tank holed like that). Also check he breather pipe link that also connects to the top of that tank and links it to the top of the other tank via the long aly tube across the front of the engine bay.

 

"And "NO," G***s hoses, even Ethannol rated are substandard, IMO. Soak one in fuel for a few days ... It will get as SOFT and bloated as a NOODLE."

Been using Gates hose in cars for more years than I'd care to admit, including installing it in a lot of professionally built competition and performance vehicles. I have to admit that my first reaction to your comment is that you used heater hose.

However, maybe they have recently started sourcing the hose from China! If so, anything is possible.

 

NOPE. They failed more than one F-Chaters test.



So they are now trying to source S*I hoses to relable .......

 

Check this thread and those links inside it.

http://ferrarichat.com/forum/showthread.php?p=140504603&posted=1#post140504603

 

Failed. Dont 'assume' anything with this issue.
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I've been fighting the fuel problem for at least a year now. My '77 308 caught fire. Luckily I had installed an on board fire system. It saved my car and the garage it was sitting in.

In my case some mice got in there and ate the fuel line and part of a plug wire. The result has not been pretty. I decided that I would use armored lines. That has not worked out because the ethynol has eaten through most of the lines, and I have replaced them. Now I'm thinking about going to metal lines from one carb to all the others and only use rubber for the supply and return lines. I'm nearly to the point of selling the car and getting a more modern car like a 370Z or something like that. I think it's more bang for the buck than a Corvette.

 

had same problem in my 328. told my mechanic, Terry at Apex here in Raleigh, in one second he said "I know what it is, return fuel line"
fixed