Fuel Leak?

[fullaaa]

Hey usualy my vn gets about 500kms (i do lots of highway) when it gets down to a quarter, recently it is on dead empty when it hits 500kms. Also when i fill the tank up is doesnt have that click noise/feel to tell u that the tank is full, the only way i can tell is by looking down and it overflows from somewhere. there is also a smell of petrol when i get out of the car. could this possibly have an effect on why it is using so much more. i have changed fuel filter and all the obvious reasons for the excess consumption. Any of you guys got some suggestions/ideas ??? Cheers

[peter65]

hey there. re the "no auto shut off when filling" is done by fuel coming up the filler neck and tripping off the pump handset. they used to say "fill at max speed to get the right fuel quantity" - so it may be the handset that you used was faulty. if you fill too slow it may not trip. also if you fill to the brim of the tank, the fuel overflows into the charcoal canister and then has to come back to the tank later.... so just fill at max rate till the pumps' first click off.

re consumption. Checking for fuel leaks (loose clamps, swollen rubber pipes) is a pretty good start. Trace the lines from the tank to the motor and back - there is a fuel return pipe to the tank for unburnt fuel. Failing that, check/replace the air filter and spark plugs. i have heard (dunno how true) that an oil change can slightly help fuel economy. i use (Lucas) injector cleaner in my vp fairly regularly (1 dose per 2500km - no more as it's slightly corrosive.). a holden guy said to clean the throttle body - gets black and grimy - every so often (my car has 300kkm on it). i did it and whilst i cant say it helps, it cant hurt either.... cheers.

[xcop5l]

if the fuel tank is over flowing but tis not coming out the fill neck. it will most likley be the rubber hose that conects the fill neck to the tank. or the return pipe has broken off. next time you fill up move the car away from the puddle (so you dont lay in it) and stick your head under and have a look to see where its coming from.
if its from behind the metal cover in the wheel well its most likely the fill neck hose is split or broken

[vncruzr]

mate if you can smell fuel seriously get to the bottom of it quick even if you have to pay someone. a couple of suggestions would be to check your return fuel line to the tank. some have it going to the float and pump cover others have a separate line. if you can get to it where the hose meets the intake pipe check to make sure the hose is not split or the pipe is broken. cost me about $80 to get my tank reconditioned, resprayed with warranty. also check your fuel tank breather hoses, if they are stuffed the you have alsorts o probs. you will be amazed at the crap that accumulates at the top of your tank mate.

[aussieghostrider]

I had same problem about 2 years ago .. if you look directly under where the fuel line inlet is you will see a thin clear plastic tube this is your overflow and because holden are bodgy with how they make their cars you will find that clear hose they used is not really meant for fuel to have going through it and it fades/cracks and goes brittle with age. It would cost you like $20 to have some mechanic put your car up on hoist and get under car to get to tank and replace that line.Also while the cars up on hoist ask him to check the other hoses but they should be ok as they are the normal black fuel lines that should be used.Holden just used the clear/transperent tubing on the overflow... bodgy bastards ..

[mongoose3800]

I fill my tank the same way. i.e. I wait until I see fuel overflow from just behind the back wheel. I can get 5-10 litres more fuel in this way rather than stopping at the 1st,2nd,3rd ..... click. If you look under the wheel arch (you have to remove a cover) you'll find there are tubes running off the filler neck organised in a manner to allow the fuel to overflow when full. A couple of these pipes run under the car (a tight squeeze between the tank and the body of the car) to breather pipes on top of the fuel tank.

As for the fuel smell, I had the same problem for a while. Then I started to notice traces of fuel running down the back and front on my fuel tank. It got to the point that when full it would leak fuel so bad that it would leave small puddles on the ground. As Aussie Ghostrider says - the overflow/breather pipes look clear and go brittle. Thats exactly what happened. It turned out one of the hoses on the breather/overflow pipe from the the top of fuel tank had become so brittle it snapped off. So, when full petrol was flowing out over the top of the tank. I was lucky enough to be able to fix it with out taking the tank out. All I had to do was remove one of the rubber plugs in the boot above the fuel tank and find the breather pipe. The breather pipe was a bit hard to get to - but with some effort I was able to bend it a little and replace the hose. note: I had to hook the new hose onto the old one and pull it through to under the wheel arch - otherwise you will find it hard and will probably have to drop the tank.

[nz vn]

Vn tanks also rust through the top where the breathers pass under the chassis rail. My one has and the VN i wrecked had the same problem.

[keza87]

I Have to agree with every one else with the clear breather pipes. I have a VN wagon that sat off the road for a number of years, and every time I filled up it would overflow out of the tank from under the car. Both breather hoses had completely snapped off. Ended up having to take the tank out to replace the pipes. Its a good idea to replace all of the clear plastic pipes with proper fuel lines so it doesn't happen again. As others have said on a sedan you can get to the breather pipes with out taking out the tank.