DDK - Die Deutschen Klassiker

My fuel pump is at the back of the car and the hose from the fuel tank that attaches to the pipe in the bulkhead to the pump is leaking so there was a puddle of fuel under the fuel pump this afternoon.
I have jacked up the rear of the car and it is now sitting high on axle stands.

Unfortunately I had just filled the tank so I am not sure if I can raise the back high enough to avoid fuel pouring out if I take off the hose although with it still connected it appears to be ok.
Worst case is I need to drain over 60 litres out to take off the hose.

The hose is connected at the pump end with an o clip so I assume the only way to remove it is to cut it off?
It would be nice to replace the hose right back to the bulkhead but it looks impossible to get at the bulkhead end without taking off the gearbox mounting.
Is that the case?

My dilemma is that at the moment I cannot drive the car so I cannot take it to someone more suited to fixing it than me and it looks like replacing the entire hose may be problematic if I have to take off the gearbox mounting so what to do?
Maybe that is not a big deal? I vaguely remember doing it before with Chris Turner a long time ago.

If I cut the o clip off I could then probably shorten the hose an inch or so and reattach it with a removable hose clip. But the hose may need more than an small amount removed which would be a problem. At least if I can do this I would be able to take it somewhere for someone else to replace the
hose.
Oh the joy of these old cars!

What about a visit from a mobile mechanic?
Get him over, explain the issue and let him take it from there?
Use ethanol resistant pipe!

Can you use the petrol in another car?

I'm not sure from the description whether the leak is at the tank end or at the back under the pump. Two thoughts spring to mind - if you need to drain the tank, you can drain it via the fuel level sensor on the top of the tank - I use a Draper drill mounted pump with long fuel pipes (keep away from fuel vapours obviously). If the leak is at the back, perhaps you can use a hose clamp to block the flow of fuel from the tank while you fix the leak.

Thank you both

911hillclimber wrote: ↑Tue Jul 11, 2023 10:29 pm What about a visit from a mobile mechanic?
Get him over, explain the issue and let him take it from there?
Can you use the petrol in another car?

That would be nice. A ddk mobile mechanic!

The leak is at the back.
It seems safer to drain the tank than to rely on stemming the flow so I have just bought a couple of 20litre fuel cans and I already have a couple of 10litre ones so I can drain about 60 litres which is probably enough as I drove it for a few miles and it has been leaking. I think it holds 62 litres.
I am hoping that the problem is obvious when I get the clip off and examine the hose so I can just shorten it a bit.
Getting the clip off might be fun. Not sure how it is supposed to be removed? but wire cutters may work.

When I drained mine ( very similarly problem, but different configuration) I disconnected the fuel pipe at the engine end and fitted a pipe that I put in a Jerry can. I ran the car’s own fuel pump to pump the fuel out and safe. I only had 10 Litres or so. It might work or yours too Jason. Good luck

Side snips will (eventually) remove the ear clip, as will the tile snip / nail removing types of pliers.

Wonder of wonders I drained off nearly 60 litres and I got the old hose off and have ordered some new hose and clips
The clip was a bit of problem but I twisted it off in the end.

After I had tried siphoning into my 20litre cans I realised that they were too high and so I had to do it via the 10 litre cans which were much lower but of course as I filled one I had to transfer it’s contents to the 20 litre can whilst the other filled up.
It was a bit nerve wracking.


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Glad to hear you managed to get the petrol drained & the old hose off Jason ...

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Today I fitted the new hose.
I had to take off the gearbox mounting and the anti-roll bar to get to it and even then it is very awkward.
It doesn't seem to leak and the fuel pump seems happier now it is getting just fuel rather than fuel and air.

However now I know that I have only got 10 litres in the tank I can confirm that the fuel gauge light works but the level indicator swaps between less that 1/4 full which is probably correct and 1/2 full is obviously wrong.

Where should I start looking?
The sender that goes in the tank seems quite free in that something in it moves up and down easily as it is tilted.

The sender does have moving parts and the fact that it moves freely maybe good or bad. I’d have a look inside and then you can see how the indicator slides up and down the wires. It’s quite a fragile arrangement so be careful opening. If you confirm nothing is broken inside I’d clean up the wires inside very carefully and then the contacts on the top and refit.

Regards
Mike

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If you decide to take Mike's advice & investigate further, there was an excellent illustrated thread on the fuel tank sender overhaul by Paul Madden some years ago:

viewtopic.php?f=2&t=9563&hilit=fuel+sender

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Thanks Mike and Andy for the super link.
It has to be worth a little look.

For the sake of completeness I thoughtI should report back that I did dismantle the sender.
Although I took photos, Paul's are much better so I won't post mine.
The small nut is tiny and a 5ba spanner fitted.
Once dismantled I got some carb cleaner and sprayed it on and used kitchen roll to very lightly rub it.
The kitchen roll was slightly discoloured so something must have been cleaned off.
Once assembled again I cleaned off all the contacts for the sender and gauge.
It now seems to work.

Nice one Jason