Need some advice on fuel leak (79 cutlass)

[79_cutty]

Whats going on y'all, i just bought a 1979 cutlass supreme and drove her back from where i bought it from. Unfortunately the transmission gauge meter is broken (which i also need to fix) so i accidentally had her in the 1st gear or 2nd gear (L or Snot sure which is which neither did the guy i bought her from) and so then i got on the free way and revved up to almost 40 or 50 until i realized she was working way to hard so i pulled over to switch to Drive safely. she rode home smooth but when i got home i realized there was a pretty fast fuel leak coming from the little gasket ring in between the bolt on the metal line and the fuel pump. now whenever i turn on the car it starts to leak and the idle revs high until i tap the gas then the idle goes back low to normal. Any advice on trouble shooting this problem im stuck on buying a whole new fuel pump kit or just replacing the little ring.

PS i tried to post a video off my computer but didnt work can try again on my phone if that helps. TY

 

[fleming442]

There is no/should not be any "little rings". It should be an inverted flare fitting or NPT.
Judging from your description(s), you need to find a good mechanic.

 

[lilbowtie]

There is no/should not be any "little rings". It should be an inverted flare fitting

Make sure your flare is good (not split) and tighten appropriately. Make sure your not leaking out the vent hole and traveling down.

 

[69hurstolds]

Man, that photo had me baffled for a bit. I was thinking Cutlass...which then I was thinking Olds V8, and that picture didn't make sense to me at all. I thought I was losing my vision for a second. NOT what my mind was making sense of until I figured out it was a view from UNDER the pump. Why other engines had to put their fuel pumps on upside down is beyond me...

I would recommend you do a quick check on the tightness of the fuel line by using a proper flare wrench on the fitting (9/16" I think?). It could be as simple as snugging it up. If you can move the nut and seal it up, great.

If not, you'll need to find out why. If it were me and it was still leaking, I'd take the line off at the pump, clean and inspect the flare fitting sealing areas in the pump and on the line and make sure they're smooth and not cracked, gouged or fugged up somehow. If that checked out, I'd reinstall the line and tighten it (don't over tighten and strip threads) and work the nut back and forth a couple of times to try and seat the flanged tubing better in the pump. Then I'd snug it down and then check your work. Make sure to line up the nut straight on to ensure you don't cross thread the pump threads.

If it still leaks, you may need a new line. Don't know if there's enough line there you could cut the flare off and re-flare it. You can buy fuel line and fittings by themselves and make your own, or you can usually find a pre-bent line to simply replace yours. Be careful on pre-bent lines, like from places like Inline Tube, etc., you still may need to do a little finesse bending to get them to work. Quality varies. And you don't need stainless lines or AN fittings, et al, on your stock system. Stainless requires more torque to seat them in most cases.

And DON'T waste your time putting teflon tape or anything else on the threads of the nut, they'll do nothing for sealing. The sealing part is the cone and flanged area that contacts the end of the tube and pump.

There's my tips/tricks recommendations. Yours may vary.

 

[79_cutty]

There is no/should not be any "little rings". It should be an inverted flare fitting or NPT.
Judging from your description(s), you need to find a good mechanic.

ok thank you

 

[oldsmobile joe]

your first post, so welcome. would love to hear the back story and see some pics of the cutlass.

as for your shifter. till you get the shift quadrant repaired, you just need to count the the "clunks" as you more the shifter, park to reverse is clunk #1. neutral is clunk #2 and drive is clunk #3.

for your idle concern, this is normal. unlike fuel injected engines that adjust idle speeds with help of a computer controlled idle valve, your carb is all mechanical. there are stepped linkages that are connected to the throttle lever and the mechanical choke.

on the fuel leak, that little ring is actually a nut on the steel fuel line. research "inverted flare" for how this works. there are special "flare nut" or "line" wrenches used to tighten or loosen this nut. if not used, you will ruin the nut and will end up with a "fml" moment. do not use teflon tape on the fitting. and use an open ended wrench on the square block that the fitting threads into, to pull against when tightening or loosening or risk breaking the fuel pump. another potential fml moment.

 

[79_cutty]

Man, that photo had me baffled for a bit. I was thinking Cutlass...which then I was thinking Olds V8, and that picture didn't make sense to me at all. I thought I was losing my vision for a second. NOT what my mind was making sense of until I figured out it was a view from UNDER the pump. Why other engines had to put their fuel pumps on upside down is beyond me...

I would recommend you do a quick check on the tightness of the fuel line by using a proper flare wrench on the fitting (9/16" I think?). It could be as simple as snugging it up. If you can move the nut and seal it up, great.

If not, you'll need to find out why. If it were me and it was still leaking, I'd take the line off at the pump, clean and inspect the flare fitting sealing areas in the pump and on the line and make sure they're smooth and not cracked, gouged or fugged up somehow. If that checked out, I'd reinstall the line and tighten it (don't over tighten and strip threads) and work the nut back and forth a couple of times to try and seat the flanged tubing better in the pump. Then I'd snug it down and then check your work. Make sure to line up the nut straight on to ensure you don't cross thread the pump threads.

If it still leaks, you may need a new line. Don't know if there's enough line there you could cut the flare off and re-flare it. You can buy fuel line and fittings by themselves and make your own, or you can usually find a pre-bent line to simply replace yours. Be careful on pre-bent lines, like from places like Inline Tube, etc., you still may need to do a little finesse bending to get them to work. Quality varies. And you don't need stainless lines or AN fittings, et al, on your stock system. Stainless requires more torque to seat them in most cases.

And DON'T waste your time putting teflon tape or anything else on the threads of the nut, they'll do nothing for sealing. The sealing part is the cone and flanged area that contacts the end of the tube and pump.

There's my tips/tricks recommendations. Yours may vary.

wow thanks! yeah my bad i should of mentioned it was taken from the bottom. yeah i tried to tighten and it was already snug as it gets so im going to try and diagnose like you said. might need to replace the line or the whole fuel pump kit if it is cracked or what not. yeah i had someone tell me to put some type of tape on it sounds like a bandage instead of a solution. i really appreciate your detailed response, im a begginer but would rather learn myself or at least know what to tell my mechanic i want done.

 

[79_cutty]

Make sure your flare is good (not split) and tighten appropriately. Make sure your not leaking out the vent hole and traveling down.

im pretty sure the leak is coming straight from the flare. will try to figure this out thank you!

 

[79_cutty]

your first post, so welcome. would love to hear the back story and see some pics of the cutlass.

as for your shifter. till you get the shift quadrant repaired, you just need to count the the "clunks" as you more the shifter, park to reverse is clunk #1. neutral is clunk #2 and drive is clunk #3.

for your idle concern, this is normal. unlike fuel injected engines that adjust idle speeds with help of a computer controlled idle valve, your carb is all mechanical. there are stepped linkages that are connected to the throttle lever and the mechanical choke.

on the fuel leak, that little ring is actually a nut on the steel fuel line. research "inverted flare" for how this works. there are special "flare nut" or "line" wrenches used to tighten or loosen this nut. if not used, you will ruin the nut and will end up with a "fml" moment. do not use teflon tape on the fitting. and use an open ended wrench on the square block that the fitting threads into, to pull against when tightening or loosening or risk breaking the fuel pump. another potential fml moment.

thanks, glad to be here. ill post some pics up soon or send if possible. "shift quadrant" thanks for that do you know what the "s" and "L" stand for by any chance? so when i start her up and shes revving high, when i then give a little gas and it goes back to normal idle is normal then right? sorry if i dont make much sense still learning the language. yeah i just figured that out about it not being a ring but i swear i can see some little gasket/ring not sure what to call it...

 

[fleming442]

what the "s" and "L" stand for by any chance?

"REVVING HIGH" IS THE CHOKE