Fuel Leak

[lawman349]

I have an early 99 PSD with 136K on the odo. Other than a suspension lift and bigger tires, there are on operational mods. Today I noticed a 12" spot on the driveway where the truck was parked yesterday. It turned out to be fuel. It doesn't seem to be leaking today...I drove it around all day and parked it in a different spot...no leak.

I crawled up under and there are small fuel spots everywhere. Probably from wind. The crossmember under the motor had fuel on it. I stood on the tire and looked in the engine compartment, but could not see a potential source of fuel.

Any ideas? Where should I start looking? ...and why would it leak YESTERDAY and not TODAY??

Any help would be appreciated.

[mako314]

I would say it's probably the fuel bowl drain "o" rings. with the new ulsd fuel there has been a rash of them going bad.

[todd]

yup dieselorings.com they got you covered

[lawman349]

cool. doesn't sound too complicated.

however, i still cant figure why it would leak one day and not the next.

thanks for the replies!

[cfunderb]

temperature difference could cause it to leak one day and not the next. Also, if it's coming from the fuel filter housing area, gunk or some other nasty at the bottom of that bowl may have plugged the leak... temporarily.

[kblv247]

ya mine did the same thing until one day it decided to leak like a full flowing water hose. if you start the engine it will be dripping from passenger side down by the front of the oil pan.

[lawman349]

now that makes sense. It was uber cold here yesterday. my limited understanding of physics suggests objects contract when cold. Therefore, any space that COULD leak would leak MORE because the space would get bigger.

how 'bout that...my high school subjects werent useless afterall. who would've thought.

thanks for all the replies.

[henrymiller1]

Thanks so much! I can't tell you how happy i am that this forum exists. The variety of posts is staggering. You can find easy problems/ answers from newbies to tougher solutions from the Pros. This Forum is invaluable. My truck started to leak this morning. Fuel was coming from tube below fuel bowl drain. I thought maybe water got in there and froze. It was unusually cold here in Maryland last night, about 08F degrees. How easy is it to replace O rings. It sounds easy enough. I hope i can find them at my friendly neighborhood NAPA. Thanks again to ALL who enter posts and solutions. Cheers.

[Marty]

Originally Posted by henrymiller1

Thanks so much! I can't tell you how happy i am that this forum exists. The variety of posts is staggering. You can find easy problems/ answers from newbies to tougher solutions from the Pros. This Forum is invaluable. My truck started to leak this morning. Fuel was coming from tube below fuel bowl drain. I thought maybe water got in there and froze. It was unusually cold here in Maryland last night, about 08F degrees. How easy is it to replace O rings. It sounds easy enough. I hope i can find them at my friendly neighborhood NAPA. Thanks again to ALL who enter posts and solutions. Cheers.

What part of MD are you from?

I'm from Elkton Md...

[todd]

Originally Posted by henrymiller1

Thanks so much! I can't tell you how happy i am that this forum exists. The variety of posts is staggering. You can find easy problems/ answers from newbies to tougher solutions from the Pros. This Forum is invaluable. My truck started to leak this morning. Fuel was coming from tube below fuel bowl drain. I thought maybe water got in there and froze. It was unusually cold here in Maryland last night, about 08F degrees. How easy is it to replace O rings. It sounds easy enough. I hope i can find them at my friendly neighborhood NAPA. Thanks again to ALL who enter posts and solutions. Cheers.

i wouldnt get em from napa yourll probally end up with standard rubber orings that wont stand up to the ulsd for long and youll be doing it again go to Replacement O-rings for Diesel Engines they have complete sets of the right ones for cheap and you get em in 2 days