A Warning

Posted by TxGoat On 2023/6/16 12:02:47

If you have a pre-war Packard or other vehicle with a low-mounted mechanical fuel pump, there is a possibility that a failure of the pump diaphragm or the filter bowl gasket or flex line can allow gasoline to leak out even if the car is not running.

I parked my car in the barn on a level concrete floor the other day, and next day the building was full of gas fumes. I found a large area of the floor wet with gasoline and gasoline dripping from the fuel pump area of my 120. The car had about 3/4 tank of gasoline when parked, and it ran fine when last used the day before.

I pushed the car outside and was able to recover about 12 gallons of gas from the tank. I estimate I had used about 4 gallons off a full 20 gallon tank, leaving about 4 gallons that had leaked out onto the floor.

I assumed the fuel pump diaphragm had failed, but the problem proved to be the filter bowl gasket.

A sack of cheap cat litter and running the large shop fan for 48 hours has done away with most of the gas odor.