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  #1  
Old 04-11-2006, 08:33 PM
cewyattjr's Avatar
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Fuel leaking under my '82 240D rear

I've crawled under and looked and haven't yet located where it is coming from. You'd think it would be obvious, but it isn't. After parked a day or so, it leaves a puddle.

The hard lines look pretty rusty. How difficult are these to replace if that's the culprit?

May be a dumb question, but I suppose it would preclude passing a safety inspection?

Thanks for any thoughts!

Chuck

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  #2  
Old 04-11-2006, 08:40 PM
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Flex hose from base of fuel tank ..?


.
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  #3  
Old 04-12-2006, 12:13 AM
KCM KCM is offline
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I second the flex hose coming out of the tank being the cause. Mine would seep out slowly. Easy to replace (just screws out of the tank).
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  #4  
Old 04-12-2006, 12:47 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by KCM
I second the flex hose coming out of the tank being the cause. Mine would seep out slowly. Easy to replace (just screws out of the tank).

Me three. If it was a hard line you would see the rust being wet in the area of the leak. Especially if were talking about a diesel engine. It'll lube the leaky area of the line and be very obvious. Rubber hoses, being what they are, are likely culprits when it comes to a leak.

I don't know how Mercedes holds their fuel tanks up but if they use straps like the rest of the world there's a fair chance you have a leak in the tank just up under the straps. Road dirt and salt hang up in there and make a really nice spot for rust holes to start.

Heres a tip, fill it up most of the way with fuel. that will add more pressure to the leaky area and will help you diagnose your leak. Unfortunatly if it's a leaky tank, now you have to siphon a full tank of fuel out of her.

The car I just picked up has two fuel leaks. One is the hard return line right about in the middle. The other is the rubber return hose that connects one injector to the next. Someone replaced the original with something from the hardware store. Which in of itself would have been fine but he didn't use any clamps!

So for me, both leaks should be easy fixs. Chop out the bad part of the hard line, replace it with rubber fuel line hose and a couple of hose clamps. Then find some very small hose clamps and put them on the leaky return hose on the injectors. I think I'm looking at a whooping $6 bucks or so.

Could anybody loan me $6 bucks? LOL

Wayne
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  #5  
Old 04-12-2006, 07:58 AM
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Mercedes Gas tanks are inside between the trunk & back seat so no straps are involved these tanks wont rust out & leak. Like said before check the hoses coming out of the tank.

The Fuel Lines can look rusty for along time before they leak but they will spring a leak someday & the common place that Ive seen them leak is where its routed above the suspension arms (the big one connecting the 2 control arms). That is why I dont think its the greatest idea to jack up the car on the suspension arms or the differential because Ive seen it done & the leak that happened when that older somewhat rusty line got pinched then leaked.
If It is the line convert to rubber fuel lines as far as you need to get solid line.

My friend even had a leak so bad he couldnt get home but he had a roll of rubber fuel line so he dumped out the washer fluid & filled the washer tank full of diesel & routed the rubber line into the washer tank. A mess everywhere but hey you need to get home.
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  #6  
Old 04-12-2006, 08:57 AM
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If you're seeing the fuel near the rear door/tire on the driver's side, it could very well be the hard line as it goes over the trailing arm as Kirby said. That happened to mine and I cut out the bad line and inserted a rubber fuel line with clamps. has held up for at least five years now. I didn't want to mess with replacing the entire line, although that may be coming some day.

Len
'83 240D 345,000 miles original owner
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  #7  
Old 04-12-2006, 12:20 PM
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I think the seeping seems more near the passenger side rear when I look at it. The trunk smells of diesel big time, and seems to have some fluid soak as well. Not sure why that would be. Bleccch.

Thanks all for the wisdom.

My driveway has gotten the worst of it, diesel fuel and asphalt don't get along very well.
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  #8  
Old 04-12-2006, 02:36 PM
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Fuel supply

If it is coming from the passenger side by the rear tire, your soft braided supply line that connects the bottom of the tank to the supply hard line is probably disentigrating. To fix: Make sure you get diesel fuel rated hose of the proper diameter - you should need less than 1'. Have a bolt clamped into one end of your new hose, and a hose clamp ready on the other end. Get under your car with your hose setup, a flat head screwdriver, and a pair of needle nose vice-grips. (one or the other of those will be necessary to remove the original clamps) With your new hose within easy reach, remove the old hose from the bottom of the tank. As fast as possible, shove the open end of your new hose over the nipple and clamp it down. The bolt in the other end should keep you from leaking too much fuel. Remove the old bad line from the supply hardline. Remove the bolt from the new line (keep the clamp on) and shove the other end onto the hard line as fast as possible. Clamp down. Theoretically, if you've clamped everything down enough, you should be fixed. Hope this helps.
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  #9  
Old 04-12-2006, 02:41 PM
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Wunderbar

Thanks very much. With the holiday weekend, it probably won't be until *next* weekend before I get to it, but I will definitely report back.

I'm wondering if typical "fuel injection hose" counts as diesel rated?

This is great detailed info, I really appreciated. This gets the print button.

Thanks again -- can hardly wait to get this one going down the road!

Chuck
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  #10  
Old 04-12-2006, 03:31 PM
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Well, this is a custom fuel hose on the W123 cars. It has a threaded fitting on one end to thread into the tank and the other end is plain fuel hose to push over the fuel line.

You can't just buy fuel line, you need to get the MB part.

Ken300D
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  #11  
Old 04-12-2006, 03:58 PM
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Maybe like this?
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  #12  
Old 04-12-2006, 05:10 PM
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What happens if the protective barrier at the filler neck fails.
I have never seen it happen... but ... it seems that fuel
would end up in the trunk, on the passenger side.

Any thoughts ?

Also, on changing fuel lines at the tank.
If you can get the tank down to reserve, jack up the right side
to get the fuel to slosh to the left, then go after the tank lines.
You might find this less unpleasent.
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  #13  
Old 04-13-2006, 11:20 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by cewyattjr


Maybe like this?
By cutting off the metal crimp sleeve, the hose will come off and allow a new hose and worm-drive hose clamp to be fitted.
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  #14  
Old 04-15-2006, 07:06 PM
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question

i have that issue 2. there is diesel comming from my passenger side rear , behind the back tire, isent that some kind of over flow hose? because i crawled under there and it looks like it connect the were u put the diesel in. There is also a hole, were u fill the tank, i think thats were it connect, i know i need a new gas cap, but i think its suppose to do that, if im not right, someone please correct me if i am wrong



UPDATE!!!!! 5/5/06

I ended up replacing the gas cap, i ahd the original one on (23 yrs old) b/c fuel was comming on the side of the car and making the drain poor diesel... now its all fixed, and now draining :_)
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Last edited by stcbenz83; 05-04-2006 at 12:49 AM.
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  #15  
Old 04-24-2006, 01:57 PM
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New tank!?

So, bad news, the garage where I took the car to called and says that it seems to need an entirely NEW tank. That the leaking seems to be coming from the tank itself, maybe from the seams.

Looking at around $2k to fix. Ugh, I only paid $1100 for the car.

Should I proceed? Or sell/junk?

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