Gas in fuel tank

That same thing happened to my 75 Bug with an electric fuel pump. The pump was wired to run only when the ignition was on. I parked it in the driveway facing uphill for weeks at a time and it's a pretty decent slope so the gas tank was actually above the carb. My only guess was the weight of the gas, that somehow gravity fed thru the pump, overpowered the float needle and leaked slowly over time into the intake then past the rings.

It happened to me again after I replaced the needle assembly that I though might have been faulty and also checked the float level. I now park it nose downhill and haven't had any gas in the oil since.....

Mac

There's not much stock about my bug as far as fuel delivery goes. It has a

My neighbors and I agreed that the internals must be nice and free of most sludge now. The first time I noticed it happened I was letting it idle to warm up before hopping in it to go to work and right before getting in I noticed a small stream of oil running down the driveway from the bug. It came from the tranny/engine seam so I assumed I needed to change the crnk seal there. No problem I said, they are cheap and the engine is easy to pull. I pulled the engine and replaced the seal then decided to do a valve adjustment on it before putting it back in to make life easier. I pulled the right cover and WHOOSH! about a quart of gas/oil dumped on the ground!

Mac

I used to smoke cigars when I first found out there was gas in the case, put it out immediately after pulling the valve cover.... quit those since then though. I don't know squat about the electric fuel pump I have under the gas tank. Would it gravity feed through it when there is no power to it? I have to assume so after the crankcase getting at least 2-3 quarts of gas each episode. Anybody know if it's a free flow situation when static?

Mac

That's a good idea. I usually just put a peice of cardboard down to catch the few drips of oil so as not to stain the driveway. There was no way for me to know the first time, unless I had smelled the leak from the front seal, that there was that much fluid in there. Or not been a retard and pulled the dipstick to check the level.... but I had just changed the oil and only had about 50 miles on it. It doesn't leak so I only would normally check it every 300 or so miles.

Mac

It could be from a bad mechanical fuel pump diaphragm leaking gas in to the crankcase. I can't think of another way it would get in there on a car engine.

Tony

I would suspect that on your stock FI-ed engine one or more of your 5 injectors must be leaking. I could be wrong though.

On the carb-ed engine, esp. if parked on an incline, the fuel could even drain into the carb and settle in the block. Bad fuel pump is what I would suspect first then the carb.

Well I am sure that the gas has cleaned up the inside of the block some! 8^)

later, dave One out of many daves

Mac wrote:

So then your late model Type 1 engine doesn't even have a fuel pump on the engine block. Gravity, along with uphill parking, must be allowing the gas through the carb probably just like the OP's situation. You made a good point Mac!

Just don't smoke cigarettes while changing the oil in this case! ;-)

Mac wrote:

I put a dented old baking pan on the ground under the valve cover before I take it off to prevent that kind of mess even if it's only usually a little bit of oil.

just noticed the subject line !!!

James