Petrol leaking

[iain 325isport]

hi guys, i bought a LC a week and a half ago and its developed a problem, its leaking petrol. there is a black unit next to the washer fluid bottle i believe to be called a charcoal unit or canister? is this correct?

well the garage said this was leaking so needed a new one so replaced that but its still leaking. theres a pipe about half an inch in diameter running from it but its not connected to anything and upon lifting the bonnet it had drop coming out of it and it was dripping at the bottom of this unit.

i know absolutley nothing about these engines. it running from around that area and the air ducts that go down by the washer fluid bottle to the front wheel to get air in has petrol all over that as well and its running down from there to the front splitter and dripping through there as there is a small crack there in the splitter

any info would be great guys, its probably something little but its very tempermental as well cos it was doing it all day yestererday but not 2 days before that and its not doing it today either cos the missus has the car.

just spoke to the stealers and they want half an hours labour to diagnose it - £38. that to me is a rip off as hopefully the guys in the know on here can sort me out.

thanks in advance

iain

 

[DPJ]

The charcoal canister is connected to a breather pipe that runs from the tank.
It runs in parallel with the fuel feed and the fuel return pipe.

I am wondering if the fuel return has been switched with the breather pipe (seen this before on here).

(If a garage replaced the canister because it was leaking, they should be closed down).

 

[iain 325isport]

The charcoal canister is connected to a breather pipe that runs from the tank.
It runs in parallel with the fuel feed and the fuel return pipe.

I am wondering if the fuel return has been switched with the breather pipe (seen this before on here).

(If a garage replaced the canister because it was leaking, they should be closed down).

ok il try and check it when the missus comes up tonight.

is there any tell tales between the 2 pipes? so its a possibility he's connected the wrong pipe back on so instead of running back to the engine its just running out? i opened the bonnet last night and it seemed to be dripping out the bottom of the canister

 

[DPJ]

Three pipes come up behind the washer bottle. On mine, the foreward-most one is the breather pipe.

 

[iain 325isport]

ok il try and have a check later but will probs be nearing dark when i get hold of the car.

 

[DPJ]

ok il try and have a check later but will probs be nearing dark when i get hold of the car.

Use a torch, not matches

 

[iain 325isport]

haha, cheers. i cant see fook all when i look through so take it its easier to jack the car up and get in from underneath?

 

[DPJ]

I'd checkout the connections behind the washer bottle first and tell us where they go.

 

[lc_allan]

Use a torch, not matches

Or your LC will turn into an LCR.





Loud Continuous Ringing

 

[iain 325isport]

hi again guys. just managed to check the car while the missus is here. the leak is geeting worse and worse its now at a continuous running drip for approx 2 mins after turning engine off.

just rmoved the charcoal cylinder and took the bottom of it off. the petrol seems to be dripping from what appears to be a breather pipe that comes off the bottom of the cylinder and comes around the back of the washer bottle. should this pipe be connected to anything cos thats where the petrol is dripping from i think.

any help asap needed guys cheers

 

[DPJ]

The drain out of the bottom of the charcoal canister through the wing is supposed to be there.

Petrol should NOT be getting into the canister, it's for breather vapour.

Did you have a look at the connections behind the reservoir bottle?

 

[Johnny Hotrod]

Did you buy the car from a garage? if so, take it back its their problem to fix it not yours!

 

[iain 325isport]

right i just checked the canister and its pissed through with petrol so will i need another new one bearing in mind it was brand new last week?

the top connection where it goes round the reservoir bottle to the back must be causing the problem then because on the inside of it where it connects to the canister its got petrol residue everywhere so thats obviously not right

 

[iain 325isport]

Did you buy the car from a garage? if so, take it back its their problem to fix it not yours!

no it was a private sale from up at chichester. the garage sealed the first one with the connection to the top of the cannister but it carried on leaking so i got a brand new canister fitted cos he said it was that and its got worse. its obviously the connection from the top of the canister to behind the reservior bottle

 

[iain 325isport]

heres a couple of pics, i dont know if you can tell much from this

 

[iain 325isport]

on the last picture could that be the pipe that is causing it to leak cos its leaking all into the cylinder

 

[DPJ]

Connected up wrong, IMO.

Frontmost one should go to Carbon Canister, not the middle one.

 

[iain 325isport]

well they are actually connected to some sort of fuel lines so do you know how i can disconnect them?

 

[iain 325isport]

i think the problem is fixed now. took it to the stealers and they sorted it, obviously the twat we bought it from has done a bodge job on the vacuum pipe and put the pipes on the wrong way round as dpj stated above and siliconed it to temporarily stop any leakage. (basically enough to get us home without realising it). he had the vacuum pipe connected to the fuel return pipe hence why the petrol every time it was returning was just going straight through the pipe and into the charcoal canister and out the bottom, as its only a filter, hence the leak.

so the stealers switched them and managed to extract all the fuel out of the line that should only have air in it by putting their thumb over the end so it started to vacuum. then the petrol built up pressure and spurted all out of the top into a container so it drained it. they said we should be ok with a new bleeder valve for the canister and hopefully the canister will evaporate the petrol so wont have to get a new one of those again seeing as it was brand new last week.

thanks for the info guys anyway, especially dpg who was a great help.

 

[DPJ]

Glad it's sorted.

Enjoy your car.