After letting my truck sit on an incline with less than a 1/4 tank of fuel a few weeks back, I couldn't get her to start. I managed to level the truck off and/ or get the fuel pump to kick on and the truck started back up and has started fine ever since.
Since I live in the hilly area just outside of Wash DC, I don't want to leave the tank less than half full so yesterday, I topped her off and shortly afterward, I began to smell gas in the area of the left side rear passenger door. I didn't see anything yesterday when I topped her off but today there's enough gas on the bottom side of the tank to worry me.
I didn't smell anything prior to topping off the tank but I know there's no "overflow" feature on cars and trucks that will let excess fuel drain out.
As alluded to, when I first couldn't get the truck to start, I thought I may have a bad fuel pump. It's hard to see up on the side of the tank to see where a possible leak may be coming from but I'm going to try and jack her up in the apartment lot and take a look.
Any ideas?
---------- Post added at 11:15 AM ---------- Previous post was at 09:16 AM ----------
OK...Got out there and, of course, I can't see any signs of a leak. I checked the rail on the left (drivers) side of the tank and there appears to be no sign of leaks from the lines that run down from the top of the tank, along the rail to the engine.
I wiped the tank of and drove it a few miles under some pressure to see if I could see signs of the leak but nothing showed up.
At this point I'm wondering if the first problem (no fuel to engine a few weeks ago) is related. I'm not sure if small drips/ leak from the top of the tank where the fuel pump is could or would make it down to the bottom of the tank. The sides seemed dry when I first checked it this morning.
---------- Post added at 12:39 PM ---------- Previous post was at 11:15 AM ----------
Back to square one. Truck won't start. Pump is probably shot. I'm still smelling gas, however. No drips or accumulation at bottom of tank. I'm not sure how the pump is sealed at the top of the tank. Could this be part pf problem?
Since I live in the hilly area just outside of Wash DC, I don't want to leave the tank less than half full so yesterday, I topped her off and shortly afterward, I began to smell gas in the area of the left side rear passenger door. I didn't see anything yesterday when I topped her off but today there's enough gas on the bottom side of the tank to worry me.
I didn't smell anything prior to topping off the tank but I know there's no "overflow" feature on cars and trucks that will let excess fuel drain out.
As alluded to, when I first couldn't get the truck to start, I thought I may have a bad fuel pump. It's hard to see up on the side of the tank to see where a possible leak may be coming from but I'm going to try and jack her up in the apartment lot and take a look.
Any ideas?
---------- Post added at 11:15 AM ---------- Previous post was at 09:16 AM ----------
OK...Got out there and, of course, I can't see any signs of a leak. I checked the rail on the left (drivers) side of the tank and there appears to be no sign of leaks from the lines that run down from the top of the tank, along the rail to the engine.
I wiped the tank of and drove it a few miles under some pressure to see if I could see signs of the leak but nothing showed up.
At this point I'm wondering if the first problem (no fuel to engine a few weeks ago) is related. I'm not sure if small drips/ leak from the top of the tank where the fuel pump is could or would make it down to the bottom of the tank. The sides seemed dry when I first checked it this morning.
---------- Post added at 12:39 PM ---------- Previous post was at 11:15 AM ----------
Back to square one. Truck won't start. Pump is probably shot. I'm still smelling gas, however. No drips or accumulation at bottom of tank. I'm not sure how the pump is sealed at the top of the tank. Could this be part pf problem?
