Fuel Line leak...

Hi Guys...
I went to start the car today, and it cranked and cranked, but no ignition. I smelled gas, turned of the power, and looked underneath. There was gasoline pouring down from somewhere near the bell housing of the tranny and the plenum. I'm figuring that when the repairs were done on the intake manifold gasket, they didn't tighten up the fuel line, and it finally gave way. But... i can't find the fuel line. Frankly, I'm not sure what it looks like. But there is a thin, shiny black plastic pipe line coming up from beneath, just in front of the plenum, and it appears to be molded in a curve to go over the rear motor hoist. the end of it is connected to nothing. Is this what I'm looking for? I see large silver lines that look like coolant lines, but fuel lines.. I'm not so sure...

I cant even find a schematic or a drawing of where it might be and roughly what it looks like.

Call me stupid, and then, HELP please! LOL

Thanks in advance.

Donagh/Connecticut.

OK, found it... gotta wait till the gas evaporates first, but it's nomal looking rubber gas line, apparently accessible (maybe) from beneath the car closer to the driver's side. It's right next to a small dull silver cylindrical thing. Hopefully I can find the leak, or disconnect, and fix it. I wonder if that little silver cylinder is a filter or something?

I'm thinking those shiny thin black tubes are vacuum lines or something.

The good news is that while under there, I found a broken stabilizer link. The little nylon nuts had broken away. Not a bad fix. $32 for the link and $2/each for the two nuts. Probably one of the cheaper parts on this vehicle.

Ughh... I can't quite determine where the leak is. It's so tight under there... I see two different rubber lines from underneath. One seems to rise up to a little square junction connector with a green cap that says service port on it. But might there be a second line near it. I can't tell... almost too jammed for even a small flashlight to get near it.

OK, learning as I go... it appears that the second line is a fuel return line. I'm not sure which one is leaking, it appears to be the return. The line that leaks comes from the rear of the car, but doen't ascend to a connector and hose near the top of the manifold. Instead, it seems to curve up over the top of the transmission. It also seems to be protected with some sort of plastic braid which protects it. But once it curves up over the top of the transmission, I can't find it. when I tug on it, it seems to have quite a bit of play in it, making me wonder if it is disconnected somewhere. This is difficult without a manual, but where does that line go? If I can find it's end, I can see if the source of the leak is there.

Any help will be humbly appreciated.

Donagh

The fuel tank is under the right rear seat. It has an in-tank electric fuel pump. The supply/pressure fuel line comes out of the tank and follows the right side frame rail. There is an in-line filter alongside the frame rail under the front passenger seat. From there the supply line continues to follow the frame rail until it curves up the forward face of the firewall and connects to the fuel manifold at the right/rear/top of the engine. The second line that lies alongside the supply line is the return line to the tank. The return line is the one without the filter.

Both the supply and return lines are rubber or metal and should be visible along their entire length except where they enter the fuel tank. Check to see if the line burned through by touching the exhaust manifold. If it did and the vehicle didn't burn to the ground consider yourself lucky. Get under the vehicle and check the lines along their entire length. Any leaks should be obvious.

The hard, shiny plastic lines are either fuel vent lines, air suspension supply lines or axle breather tubes, depending on where they are and what they connect to. None of them should have any liquids in them.

It appears that the fuel lines are under the driver's side, and that the feeder line is disconnected from the fuel rail. But... it's so tight in there that i can find the line. I also am not quite sure where it would reconnect. (left center, right etc). I'm hoping that I don't have to remove the plenum to do this. I'm sure the guys who replaced the intake manifold gasket failed to secure it properly, but that's just a point of aggravation, at this point.

Anyway, thank you so much for taking the time to give me details of the fuel lines. Without a schematic, you can imagine how 'in the dark' I am regarding this issue, so you can't know how grateful I am!

I'll follow up as this unfolds.

Donagh

OK, Here is what I have learned so far...

This is a 2000 HSK 4.6 Bosch engine. So, according to a helpful person who works for Land Rover parts company, the fuel line runs up the driver's side rail, and connects pretty much dead center on the fuel rail below plenum.

My question is, will I have to remove that plenum to reconnect the fuel line?
Does anyone have experience with this particular engine configuration?

It's very hard to see down there, and there appears to be some small bolted on plate just below the top pipes connecting the plenum and the firewall.

With the help of a poster on this forum and several employees of Rovers North, all by phone, I was able to discern the exact location of the fuel rail intake on the rear of the plenum. I was also unaware of the unique fitting end that the fuel line has, (with it's spring release clips). Since this work was done completely 'blind' it was critical that I knew where to feel. It's a 2000 4.6 Bosch engine, so there is almost no room to reach between the firewall and engine to see (let alone, work). But I was finally able to jam my hand in a small space and force it back to the rear of the plenum, beneath the coil pack, and feel around with two fingers. I located the disconnected line and the intake fitting and put the line back on. After a short but successful test run, I was still concerned about another disconnection, (it is a pressurized line). I re-inserted my hand back there and pushed on the fitting, as hard as two fingers can. I heard a 'click' that I hadn't heard the first time, so I hope that the line is now securely attached. But the next step would have been to remove the plenum, just to attach the gas line, so I'm very grateful to those who did take the time and trouble to help me.

I just thought the follow-up message with the solution might be helpful to someone down the line with the same problem.

It sounds like you have the leak stopped. If not, you may want to remove the plenum and coil packs to really access the fuel line to fuel rail connection at the back of the engine.

Sorry for the wrong info on the GEMS cars since yours is a Bosch - If you would include your vehicle info in your profile it would make it easier for those on the forum to provide the correct answers.

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Yup, pretty sure I put that info in the first post, but edited it out along the way somewhere. My bad...