Gasoline leak problem '63 Lark R1

I have noticed the last two times I have filled up in my '63 Lark R1, I've made sure I didn't overfill it at the station, drove it several miles, park it awhile, no leaks, then...I'll let the car sit outside in the driveway for several hours, come back, and there'll be a round stain of gasoline leak behind the rear bumper. I'll open the gas cap and gas will come pouring out. Our driveway is on an incline, but I don't fill the car any different than I always have, and have always parked in our driveway.

I'll take the cap off for a minute, the flow of gas appears to stop, I'll put the cap back on for a minute, then take it off again, and again gas will pour out onto the ground.

What the hell's going on? Any ideas? It's like a reverse vacuum of sorts is pushing it out of the tank after the car sits and cools down for awhile.

Any suggestions are appreciated, as my kids like to ride in the car but obviously this is a dangerous situation (it's gonna sit outside for the entire night tonight).

Thanks, Bill Pressler Kent, OH

Reply to
billslark
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vent tube clogged? also my old GTI would do this as well if you parked it in the sun, a new gas cap fixed it. (the fuel tank *will* build up pressure when it is full and hot, unless it is somehow vented.)

nate

snipped-for-privacy@aol.com wrote:

Reply to
N8N

Reply to
John Poulos

If it's under the middle of the car, it's not leaking out the vent tube, the vent tube should exit inside the left rear body mount.

nate

John Poulos wrote:

Reply to
N8N

Reply to
John Poulos

Thanks JP and Nate. I'm gonna check the vent tube and also try and look at the fuel pump this morning. I see no new gas stains on the driveway overnight.

I'm one of those guys that handy, mechanical Stude folks make fun of...except that I'm not rich! Love the cars, driving them, trying to maintain them in good condition and keep them out of inclement weather and/or bad storage, knowing the history, but...sadly am at a loss with a wrench! Never had a Dad/older sibling/cousin/neighbor that ever taught me the stuff, and am more impatient/crankier/busier now than ever, to try and learn the stuff at this stage of my life!

I'll post whatever I might find today.

Bill Pressler Kent, OH '63 Lark Daytona R1 Skytop

Reply to
billslark

My money says that some helpful little insects have filled your vent tube with mud... let us know if I'm right or not.

nate

Reply to
N8N

Everyone talks about the vent tube. In the 1947 Chassis Book, its shows a venting system for the gas tank and shows a vent tube. But, I have yet to see where there is a vent on the 56J. Last year I purchased a NOS gas cap and ran into fuel starvation as the seal prevented venting or atmosphere pressure to enter the tank. I put the old cap on, and have had no problems. How is/was the 56J tanks vented?

Thanks Bill

Reply to
Bill Glass

Some of the vehicles used a vented gas cap rather than a separate vent tube, and I want to say that the C-K models did that but don't really remember. It would make sense, as the cap on a C-K is significantly higher than the top of the tank, so that should be OK.

nate

Reply to
Nate Nagel

Well, I bought about three feet of thin wire at the hardware store, and ran it though the steel vent tube from the filler all the way to under the LR quarter so I could see the wire coming down below the trunk floor on the left side. Didn't see any "junk" coming down out of the hole, nor any "junk" on the wire when I pulled it out. Like John says, maybe it is just gas expanding and my parking on an incline...but I swear I never noticed this before this year.

Maybe this is part of it, but for years it has smelled of gas pretty strongly up front after running it for awhile. I've always left it outside for a good hour or so before pulling it back into the garage after giving it a good run since the gas smell I figured wasn't a good thing. Some have told me, "ah, that's today's gas in an old car" but others have suggested a crapped-out fuel pump. I haven't looked to see if it's pouring gas into the carb even after shutdown, but will probably attempt that later today or tomorrow a.m.

Thanks, everybody!

Bill Pressler Kent, OH '63 Lark Daytona Skytop R1

Reply to
billslark

snipped-for-privacy@aol.com wrote

That sounds like the fill tube to me. The same thing (smell) happened on my '63 Cruiser until I replaced the rubber tube.

Chip

Reply to
cjdaytonjrnospam

Well, the next logical thing to check is the condition of the rubber tube between the filler neck and the gas tank - if the gas expands enough, it can back up into the fill tube and if the fill tube itself is leaking... well, it'll leak :)

nate

Reply to
Nate Nagel

Reply to
Mike Williams

I had a similar problem with a '59 Lark. Puddles under the rear of the car after filling up the tank. Come to find out it was leaking out of the top of the gas tank through, what I presumed to be a bad gasket where the gas gauge float was. If I did not fill it up all the way no problem. Fill it up and there was the leak again. It would come up and run down the side of the tank and down the frame rails and drip onto the ground. I do not, however, remember taking the gas cap off during this problem so I can't comment about gas flowing back out the filler tube is one I cannot address. Changing that gasket seemed to solve the problem. In that Lark this was accessible through an access hole in the truck floor. Joe Roberts

Reply to
itraseecab

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