Driving today from East Tennessee to Central Shenandoah Valley enroute to Virginia Northern Neck. I was driving 26-foot rental truck, Sweet Thing was driving 2004 Explorer towing our utility trailer, daughter was driving my 97 Mazda B4000.
As we pulled into an I-81 rest area in rural SW Virginia, the Mazda suddenly lost power -- as she coasted into the rest area, gasoline was pouring from the bottom of the truck. She stopped, killed the ignition, jumped out, and ran. Fortunately, nothing caught fire.
Called 911 and they dispatched local volunteer fire dept -- four good old boys showed up in a pumper and a heavy rescue vehicle -- VERY PROFESSIONAL, VERY HELPFUL. They contained the fuel spill, cleaned up the area, and would not leave until we were taken care of.
They had their dispatcher contact local towing service who showed up within 10 minutes, put the Mazda truck on a roll-back, and we all went to their garage.
The tow truck operator said -- before I take this thing off the roll- back, let me crawl under it and see what's happening. He asked if I had replaced the fuel filter recently -- yes, it had been replaced at JiffyLube. He said, well, there's a plastic clip that holds the filter onto the fuel line and it's installed backwards -- no wonder fuel is pouring out when the fuel pump is running. The guy on the tow truck pulled the clip off, put it on properly, then tugged on the fuel lines -- tight. I cranked the truck and let it run -- no fuel leaks. We drove another 200 miles without a hitch.
Is this a common problem -- installing the fuel filter clips/clamps incorrectly??
Meanwhile, I plan to submit the bill for the towing to JiffyLube and let them know that never again will I enter a JiffyLube.