Club 80-90 Forums

Was surprised to notice a massive leak of petrol today, but was even more surprised to then see it stop on its own.

1985 1.9L watercooled carburetted petrol engine, and the leak occurred when starting from cold (but in the afternoon on a warm day).

I'm thinking it can't be a leaky hose, as when it warmed up, it totally stopped. Not even a drip.

I didn't go under yet, but the source seems to be forwards of the engine, on the left (looking forward).

Could it be the carb overflow, due to it sticking?

CArb's don't tend to haev overflows and the 2E3 does not as far as I am aware. the nedle valve in the float chamber should be sufficent to blcok the fuel from the mechanical pump. 

You need to be inspecting hoses very carefully and idealy replacing with E10 compatible hose ASAP as the consequences of a leak can be devastating. ( I recent;y had an engine fire on another car and was very lucky )

Thanks, good info. And thanks for the warning.
So if it can't be the carb, suspect no. 1 would now be the fuel pump, I suppose.
Is there a way it could leak and then stop leaking?
That's what puzzling to me. Leaks I've seen with other vehicles just dripped down continuously when the fuel pump did its job. Here it was a flowing, and then totally dry... Like something mechanical that can switch on and off. Not like an old cracked hose. (Though, it's good advice to upgrade the hoses, while I'm there. I'll do that and also get some proper fuel line clips to replace the jubilees I saw).
I'll have a good look today while the missus turns the key. Wish me luck! I'm thinking to place a bucket of sand underneath to catch most of it.

Well, leak found and it's simple.

Fuel pump on the 1.9L is way at the back, on top, so nowhere near where the leak was - instead, directly in front of the engine bulkwall, the leak is from a short segment of braided hose, that connects the hard plastic line to the flexible rubber hose that goes into the engine bay.



So I suppose it leaks under starting pressure, but then it stops leaking when it warms up? Weird. Perhaps the fuel pump pressure spikes during start-up?

Anyways, an easy fix. Can someone confirm that this the 7.5 mm hose?

Any tips, or should this connection be upgraded, while I'm there?

This the view from the engine bay.



I also saw some nasty jubilee clips, eating into the rubber hoses, preparing to leak in future - so I'll change those. The other rubber hoses seem fine and already upgraded thanks to previous owner.





Thanks for any advice - much appreciated.

If I am reading ETKA correctly there are 4 short bits of that pipe which is 7x3 which I believe means 7mm bore with a 3mm wall
N0202811



 

That's golden advice, thank you.

Yes, I should chase down all the other hose segments of that same type. It seems the fuel hoses in the engine compartment were upgraded, but if that leaky one is still there, so are the others, probably.

I also have an 85 1.9l van but it is slightly different setup as it is fuel injection but my little bits of rubber pipe started leaking last summer. They appeared to be all original.
Looks like they have just past their sell by dates. 40 years is pretty good going I rekon.

hotpod wrote: ↑27 Feb 2026, 09:24 If I am reading ETKA correctly there are 4 short bits of that pipe which is 7x3 which I believe means 7mm bore with a 3mm wall
N0202811


Pipe is usually measured with OD x ID/

 

I might be wrong, but I've seen 7x3 described on websites just as hotpod said: 7mm inner diameter, with 3mm wall each side, so 13mm total outer diameter.

In any case, I have 6mm inner diameter hose, so I'm off either way. I'll try the hot kettle and washing-up liquid method of sliding a narrower hose onto a thicker fitting (6mm onto 7mm), but if it's really 3mm inner, it'll be back to the drawing board for me.

brikwerks do a full front to back pre-made LInw https://brickwerks.co.uk/product/fuel-l ... l-dg-feed/

Nice - thanks, that's a good link to have. I'll be trying my surgery skills to hopefully leave the hard plastic line unscathed.

The irony of it is that between hoses and clips, it's not much more costly to just buy the whole replacement!

yep, i have a set to fit when i get round to it, no real reason as the condition of the exiaitng ia ok