Fuel Shutoff

[jcantor]

Yesterday I replaced the fuel line that runs from the fuel distributor to the fuel cooler. It was a simple five minute repair but raised an interesting question. I expected there to still be some pressure in the line which would have to be bleed off. What I found was minimal pressure but constant flow during the whole time I was working. Fortunately with some creative hand work, I was able to hold my thumb over one connection while removing the old line and partially installing the new one.

My question is, shouldn't there be some type of fuel shut off that will prevent such a loss of fuel while working on the various parts of the system? For a simple job like this, it didn't really matter too much but what about for replaceing fuel injectors or the fuel distributor? I looked through the CD for some information and came up empty.

Thanks
jlc

[Potomac Pat]

I can't imagine that you would get a continous flow. However, to resolve this, just take the gas cap off.

[Cap'n Carageous]

My understanding on this line and the fuel cooler function is that this is a return line for unused fuel and is not under pressure. However you have to have some pressure for it to flow. So, with that said, the only time you should have constant flow would be when the fuel system was under pressure, ie. engine running, residual pressue or as Pat said, fuel tank pressure.

[stevebfl]

Yes, the cooler is in the return line and depending on the slight pressure or vacuum in the tank the fuel will flow either way (if one had a small vacuum the fuel wouldn't have leaked but would have gulped some air as the return column went to the tank).

As Pat said, open the gas cap.

[jcantor]

Pat, Capt'n, Steve:

Thanks! Now that you say it, it seems, well very obvious.

jlc