uh, yeah...not my favorite words to hear this weekend.... So last year I missed the LoneStar Round-up, because God hates me. I worked all fall long in a mad rush to get my old FORD in working shape to treat myself to a weekend getaway...A week out, I'm testdriving my old beater, and can't help but notice the popping wires under the dash... ...Well, six months later, I've finally gotten some of the bugs worked out. Rebuilt the front end, original carb, and completed brakes, installed new carpet, and fixed some of the wiring issues (not all - front turn signal comes on when brakes are applied, and no extra juice to brake lights)...Needless to say, I was even pleased enough with her drivability, that I took her out to Starlite Auto to get the allignment done this past weekend. Got the itch Saturday to run out to the Oreilly near my home to show her off to the guys at the parts store, mostly to let em see what they've been helping me track down parts for, and the "attaboys" my wife can't seem to deliver with the right comp***ion... On the way, I stop at the gas station to fill her up. I'm getting plenty of good looks and thumbs up. "Yeeaahhhh..." This fluffing of the ego has been long over-due... Then, as I'm capping off, the women from the car behind me, catches my attention...(Ofcourse...she digs the oldschool ride, wants to be my girlfriend now, right?) "Uh, sir...your car's gotta leak..." So I hang up the fuel hose and reluctantly look below the rear bumper to the shock of a 6ft wide puddle of fuel.... I quickly push the old Ford out from underneath the pump awning like a dog tucking his tail after he just pissed the floor. I grab a rag from the front seat and crawl beneath to locate the hole. "This can't be happening to me, right? It's a new tank. I'm sure I tightened the screws...What the hell, did I puncture a hole in it during installation? No way, there's nothing sharp between the tank and the trunk....DAMN!!!" As I finger aroung looking for the (or any) hole, I'm quickly distacted by flashbacks of highschool..."HEY!!--FOCUS..." OK...so far, good news. Nothing feels damaged...ok...This is not all that bad....the leak has slowed too....ok, good. There must be an explaination. I'm confident the leak must be coming from the seals around the sending unit. So I let her sit a little bit while playing cool with a Dr. Pepper and a moon pie from inside. Then wait for most of the folks who've witnessed my unfortunate situation to be on their way. Then buy a gas can and syphon some of the excess fuel from the tank so I can get her home without sloshing too much fuel. I get her home to my suprise without one explosion. Syphon as much of the remaining fuel I can into spare gas cans and buckets in the garage. Drop the tank and place her onto a table. No abnormalities...Turn it over and I'll be...She leaks around the gaskets for the sending unit and fume tube...In my excitement 7-8 months back, I must not have read, researched or consulted my doctor about how to properly seal the gaskets around the sending unit. I, never replacing a tank before this, *****ically ***umed tightening the screws enough would properly seal the tank...Oh, and I never water tested that theory... No need to verbally smack me behind the skull for this. Believe me, lesson learned... I ran to the parts store near by and invested in some gasket shellac. Applied and let sit overnight. Turned the tank upside down with some fuel still in the tank and presto. Seems to have helped seal it...for now. Anyway, thanks for taking a moment to look this over. I only share this story, so others including myself will learn from others mistakes. Plus, a little humiliation often goes far...Safe crusing all!
Dr. Pepper and a moon pie greaat story..this is all i got out of it..glad you fixed your problem..no BOOM is definetly a good thing.
Had a nearly identical experience with a friend in his '63 Galaxie. We had recently replaced the float on the sending unit, and used a new O ring from Mac's when replacing the sending unit. Drove it to a nearby convenience store to fill it up (and show it off), and instead got the Puddle of Doom. We got it home OK, siphoned out the remaining gas, and dropped the tank. Turned out the new O ring was too small to make a seal. Fortunately, he had another that fit properly, and that solved the problem. Definitely an ego-deflating experience standing there with an SEG on your face, while the ethanol is lapping at your Keds
i had that last month except the gods were looking over me. i had my ride on the lift getting ready to weld a new muffler on it and went to do a check over around the tank and fuel lines first. i noticed a damp spot on the bottom of the tank. so i just had to scratch it. long story short i had to sit there with my finger on it till my brother got back from the auto parts so he could grab my gas cans, and drain it.
My sympathies, but been there too. Had it leak around the actual screws not the gasket. Had to push on the tank (like a bellows) to see the sepage around the screws. Oh well.
Great story! I'm going to go ahead and "goo" up the sending unit and pick up seals on my new tank before I set the body back on. Another idea here is to be sure to cough up the extra $$ and carry a FIRE extinguisher. I had a fuel leak, in the engine compartment, of my '36 one evening. Headed back to the house after dark with the smell of gas and sure enough - BOOM! Sounded like the first shot of duck season! Fire shot back outa the hood louvers on both sides! What a sight! And me without an extinguisher! Burned wiring, paint, melted the radiator solder, cracked front windshield, and etc. Coulda prevented the confligration with a simple extinguisher - MAN O MAN I LEARNED MY LESSON!
LPG! LPG! LPG! LPG! Sometimes, just sometimes, propane is actually easier to deal with. Nice story and glad no serious damage.
If it makes ya feel better around 1990 GM shipped a ton of defective sender O rings to their dealers. Turned into crumbly chunks in about 3 months. My f-n car leaked out the sender for 18 months while I installed a new gasket every 3 months. GM quietly went to a different formulation on the O ring and never admitted the truth.
My Navy buddy from Alabama says that's an "ROC cola and a moonpie" I told him there was no O in RC but he insisted it was ROC.
I was working as a mechanic and had a job interview for another shop late in the afternoon one day. So I had a couple of hours to kill, figured I'd flush the cooling system of my '67 Impala SS. All went well and I gave it fresh antifreeze and went to the interview. I pull up in front of the shop and park, go inside and talk to the nice man for a while. After we're done, he walks me outside and utters those famous works, "your car is leaking something". Sure as ****, the flush had washed out the seals in my water pump and I had this green puddle running out from under the car. I didn't get the job.
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