Hi guys,

my '91 740 Wagon started smelling of gasoline recently and when I crawled under it I found a small hole in the fuel line at one of the 90 degree bends right under the driver seat. I'm not sure if the lines are original. When the line was pressurized a little stream of gas was coming out of there - not good! I wrapped some rubber tape around it so I can drive it to my favorite mechanic, and when I tried again I found that the little hole was temporarily fixed but now I got apparently a more serious leak further back where that line goes near the tank. I can't quite see where it goes, I presume it connects to the fuel pump #1 (at the tank). I suspect I might have loosened the line from the fitting at that pump., but I cannot crawl under that part of the car - too little clearance. I have no lift or anything to drive the car on to get access, but I thought maybe the pump is accessible from above, including the fitting? I just want to make sure it's not about to fall off entirely and leave me stranded on my way to the shop.

I'm planning to get the lines replaced, does anyone want to venture a guess what that should cost? I can go to a much closer garage that I don't really know and don't want to get ripped off!

 

This looks like what I'm looking for!

Volvo Fuel Tank Pump/Sender Replacement

 

Got to the big tank fitting, but it's obvious already that this is not the source of the leak. Also, the leak is apparently in the backflow line, not the line going to the filter.
No-one ventures a guess about the cost of line replacement?

 

Is it metal or a rubber hose? If it's rubber I'd get some fuel injection tubing from your local auto parts store.

 

Thanks Joe!

It's metal, seemingly coated with some plastic. I think it might be non-original. The hose going into the tank is rubber, but 10 inch further down there's a fitting where it connects to the metal tube.
I cannot really reach that area from above, and I'm not able to reach it from below either, since I have no jackstands and don't feel suicidal enough to just use the jack. I might have to leave it to the professionals. However, I would like to somehow find and temporarily patch the worst leak before driving to the garage (which is about 3 miles from home). So tomorrow I'll crawl under there again and try if I can wrap the leak (if I can find it) with rubber tape.

 

Well, the garage fixed the lines in the end. It was pretty reasonable, 1 hour work and some generic hose, clamps and so on. Just a bit more than $100, my Volvo Wagon is happy again!

 

I'd suggest keeping an eye on the repairs for a few weeks. Being the return line, you may have dodged the bullet; were it the pressure line leading TO the engine, I would be willing to $1 it would leak again. Good luck.

 

Thanks Swift, I'll do that. They actually had to fix also the line to the motor, they both were badly deteriorated. Whatever metal the lines were is obviously corroding. I got rubber hoses now.

 

I used to have fuel leaking out of my 740 sedan. Fortunantly it was only the rubber fuel line from the sending arm to the metal fuel line and from the same metal fuel line to the high pressure fuel pump. Rubber fuel line only costs a couple of dollars per feet. The metal line on the other hand might cost you at the most $100 and might be a bitch to replace (pardon my french).