95ToyOwner

So i bought a 95' 4Runner about a month ago. It has been running fine when all of a sudden yesterday i got off the highway after about an hour of driving and it smelled like fuel pretty bad. i later checked and the smell was coming from the passenger rear, right by the tank. i looked at it today in the light and the tank skid plate is wet, and some fuel is dripping from it. the ebrake cable which runs around the tank is also wet and dripping. I am not able to really tell where the leak is coming from. The truck is also really rough to start now, takes a good 10-15 cranks to turn over. I was just curious if anyone had experienced this issue before and may know where to start checking

Thanks,

Andy

betelnut

Perhaps the connection between the fuel pump and the downstream hose?

Drop the fuel tank to get to that.

(I'm talking out my a** here, never done this myself.... )

sb5walker

The fuel return line is rubber in that area, and in fact mine sprung a leak this past fall, too. I just cut it a little up from the leak on the gas tank side, got a brass union and a length of fuel line from NAPA, and replaced it from the cut forward to where it meets the steel line - about a foot and a half. Cheap and easy. The return line is not high pressure.

betelnut

The fact that the truck takes 10-15 cranks to start suggests that the leak is in the pressurized area of the circuit.

sb5walker, do you happen to know what that line looks like?

sb5walker

Well, I have an 89 pickup, so they may be different, but on mine there are three lines: high pressure fuel line (all metal), low pressure fuel return line, which has rubber sections at the fuel pressure regulator and fuel tank ends but which is metal in the middle, and the fuel vapor recovery line, which I think is like the return line with rubber sections at the ends & steel in the middle, but I'm not sure on that.

The rubber sections are black rubber, about a 1/2" to 5/8" diameter.

One thing you can do when looking for the leak is to jump the +B and FP terminals in the gray diagnostic check connector (attached to the black plastic fuse/relay block on the passenger inner fender). Jumping those terminals bypasses the fuel pump relay (called the "circuit opening relay, or COR) and sends power to the pump when the ignition is in the on position. That will pressurize the fuel lines and with a good flashlight you should be able to get an idea where the fuel is coming from.

http://www.the-roo.com/4runner/Engin...m/descript.pdf
http://www.the-roo.com/4runner/Engin...m/fueltank.pdf
http://www.the-roo.com/4runner/Engin...s/evaporat.pdf

95ToyOwner

Thanks alot, im going to try to get under it in a few days, i only have to drive it tomorrow, so im hoping it will be fine for that small trip. once it starts it run fine, no sputtering or anything. i was just dreading having to drop the tank. hopefully i can find the leak with a flash light without having to drop the tank.

thanks again, any other opinions are more than welcome too

sb5walker

I think it's safe to say that none of us who have witnessed a fuel-fed vehicle fire would ever drive a vehicle with a known fuel leak.

betelnut

Dropping the tank should be no big deal. Reports in these forums say get a couple of friends and it takes 15 minutes.

95ToyOwner

Hey sb5walker when u replaced that rubber hose with the leak, did u need to drop the tank?

sb5walker

No, fortunately the leak was about mid-way between the steel line and the top of the tank. I was able to reach up and cut it, leaving enough to attach the union and new length of hose. I was lucky. It actually developed a leak from rubbing on something, don't remember what.

Oh, and I gave myself a nice shower of gasoline, so be careful.

95ToyOwner

I should have assumed what this was, the same thing happen on my 91 pickup. The Fuel pump bracket I.E. Sending unit has 2-3 90degree elbows that come out of it and connect to the fuel lines. these rust out and break at the bend (apparently rather frequently since every salvage yard i went to had the same problem with theirs). When this happened on my pickup we just cut the rusted elbow off, threaded a fitting into the hole and sealed it around. it worked, but i didn't feel like doing all that this time. I am waiting for a used part from a salvage yard, if not then its off to Toyota for a new one at 160$

I cant believe their isn't a recall on these, since it seems like a design flaw, water must pool on top of the tank and then rust the lines out at the sender unit.

Western Canuk

I just spent the past month trying to fix that exact problem. I wouldn't drive your truck any more until you inspect it. In my case the send line of the fuel pump bracket rusted out at the coupling and I could put a 6" piece of high pressure fuel line and clamps on after cutting out the coupling to keep it sealed. If you can see gas coming down the skid plate it's a good leak.

You can do that without dropping the tank, but really it's not hard, nine 1/2 inch bolts.