"Fookin' Prawns" (gluglu)
03/02/2014 at 23:55 • Filed to: None
0
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"Fookin' Prawns" (gluglu)
03/02/2014 at 23:55 • Filed to: None | 0
| 5 |
Excalibur ain't got shit on these damn headrests.
This afternoon I walked into the garage and immediately smelled the strong scent of gasoline. I'd just filled up my car the night before so I expected some sort of fuel leak, but the floor was clean and I didn't see any puddles of fuel. I'm a total newbie when it comes to car repair but decided to try to do something anyway.
I moved the car outside, and looked up the location of the fuel tank. Maybe a fuel line or pump was leaking, since the smell of gas was local to the rear quarter panel on the left side of the car:
Right by the jack point (the circle on the side skirt) the smell was pretty strong. Okay, something's up on the left side of the fuel tank. Fuel line? Fuel pump? No idea. But to get to the tank, I had to take out the rear seat.
Removing the seat bottom was easy, since there were no bolts attaching it. But to remove the upper portion, I had to take out the headrests. And those suckers were in tight . Maybe a half-inch of travel. Yanking didn't work, since I'm not an Olympic Medalist in Weightlifting ( ladies? ). Neither did using the handle of a hatchet as a leaver and banging it with a mallet. So I just stood there, stupidly looking at the defiant headrests, trying to think of a way to remove them/nuke them from orbit.
And then it came to me. Two letters, two numbers, a dash betwixt them.
WD-40.
My Lady in the Lake.
One squirt of lubricant on each prong, and boom, headrest removed. My triumph was tempered somewhat because it had taken me so long to realize the solution, but whatever, I won and that's all that matters. So there .
Somewhat anticlimactically, I couldn't get direct access with the fuel tank anyway. The smell persists externally, so I still think it's a hose or the fuel sender unit (those of you with E36s, your advice is appreciated/begged for) or some other thing that's trying to either cause my car to burn or kill my brain cells with gas fumes. But ball's in your court, car: I pulled out Excalibur today.
BlazinAce - Doctor of Internal Combustion
> Fookin' Prawns
03/02/2014 at 23:59 |
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Arch Duke Maxyenko, Shit Talk Extraordinaire
> Fookin' Prawns
03/03/2014 at 00:03 |
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Fuel Line leak.
They corrode easily. Mine sprang a leak as soon as I finished my cat replacement. I just replaced the section of metal line with Gates high-pressure fuel hose.
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Fookin' Prawns
> Arch Duke Maxyenko, Shit Talk Extraordinaire
03/03/2014 at 00:39 |
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Gotcha. I figured it was a fuel line leak and not a crack in the fuel sensor housing because the smell was external, not internal. Did you siphon out the tank before you replaced the line?
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Arch Duke Maxyenko, Shit Talk Extraordinaire
> Fookin' Prawns
03/03/2014 at 01:10 |
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No reason to. Just go get some vacuum caps and plug the outlets. You'll get some gas on you, but that'll happen regardless. This is a good time to replace your filter as well.
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Fookin' Prawns
> Arch Duke Maxyenko, Shit Talk Extraordinaire
03/03/2014 at 02:12 |
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Thanks, man. I really appreciate it.