Fuel odour and LOUD fuel pump

[Marty]

Ok. I decided not to wait. I pulled the cap off and found the pump to be dry as a bone. I then pulled the boot out. It is in fantastic shape. It's basically perfect. There's not a mark on it anywhere.

Is the pump perhaps overworked because of some restriction somewhere down the line? Remember, I did have a sudden liquidy squish/gush noise from the centre of the car. I can't help but think something's wrong with the accumulator and it is trying to force the fuel through the blockage. Am I nuts?

[TTait]

Is there fuel present under the very center of the car?

If there is, its a problem near the accumulator - if not, means nothing. Even a small leak is a problem and it evaporates quickly. Could still be around the accumulator.

Look for a leak near the fuel filter, and of course in the engine compartment.

[stevedmc]

Vapors are very flamable. The problem needs to be fixed.

Check the hoses from your tank to the fuel filler cap. Make sure it is snug. There is also a vapor hose running from your K-Jet stuff to the fuel filler. Make sure that hose is good as well.

Autozone has universal hoses should you need to replace them. You may have to ask nicely to go in the back and match stuff up.

[jawn101]

I don't have a fuel leak. I have looked everywhere. It's all dry.

The fuel system is a sealed one though, if you can smell it you've at the very least got a cloud of flammable vapor. Be very, very careful....

[Marty]

Is there fuel present under the very center of the car?

If there is, its a problem near the accumulator - if not, means nothing. Even a small leak is a problem and it evaporates quickly. Could still be around the accumulator.

Look for a leak near the fuel filter, and of course in the engine compartment.

Ok, nothing at the centre of the car. It's dusty and dry. I ran the car for 5 minutes or so, and there were no leaks anywhere. The engine compartment doesn't smell, it's all up front, and fairly faint.

Stevedmc - I checked all the hoses around the fuel filler and they're all tight. No smell coming from there either. If I run the car for about 20 minutes, that's when the smell appears. However, I noticed the fuel pump is consistently noisy now. It used to come and go with the odour. Now it's noisy from the minute I start the car. I noticed a lot of vibration in the sender hose. I don't know how much is normal. But regardless, nothing leaked anywhere. I can only smell it inside the car. The smell is extremely faint around the fuel pump.

I have no idea where to check next.

[Marty]

Hooray! 99% sure I found it. A line wasn't attached down behind the driver's wheel! There was no clamp and the rubber was split a bit where it attached to a metal line. It runs from the driver's side front wheel well up to a tiny yellowed plastic part, I think it's the rollover valve, right at the filler (where it is fine). I will get a clamp on it tomorrow. Thanks Stevedmc, I think this was one of the lines you were talking about.

[Delorean Industries]

That is the roll over vapor hose running from the back of the car. 2-4-0 in the parts manual. I think it depends on who put the car together because I have seen plenty of cars without clamps on the steel line end with no visible marks from a clamp present. There should be a clamp on the smaller vapor line and no clamp on the larger brake booster line according to the parts manual. I have seen a number with out though.