Can anyone explain this one?

Filled the van up with gas yesterday. Nothing overflowed. Came home today to find this puddle and the bubbled paint as a result of the gas ruining my paint. I thought I'd seen it all...

Thats more then Gas stain on the ground, What else can off with it, undercoating?

Judging by the flow rate of the spill pattern this van is parked driver side low. These old tanks were designed poorly and often puke out the cap do to overfilling. or the van with a full tank on even the slightest angle driver side low or the back end low on a steep driveway. especialy if the tank was "topped off" during the fill, and/or the cold gas from a large underground tank then expanded as it warmed up at surface temp.

The paint came off too? I supose thats a high ethinol fuel? or it has some other crazy artificail octain booster additives in it.

These tanks puke fual on right turns with full tanks also. You should avoid filling it, or change to a moden design tank like I did.

M1D

This just happened to me over the summer, could need a better venting gas cap

M1D, don't know what else it could be. The paint job is enamel and urethane. Yep, bubbled it right up. Van is leaning slightly to the left and is parked downhill just a slight bit as well. I did barely top it off as I was careful not to do much as it has backed out in the past when doing so. It looks like a good amount of fuel.

Starting to think the van Gods don't like me...especially after finding a new oil leak in the rear axle today at the same time. I'm guessing all these leaks are popping up since the van wasn't driven much and now the seals are failing. Still got a manifold leak to repair in addition.

Thanks for the input on the gas leak.

Im suprised it ran out of the feul door,, If mine does that it runs down the inside alittle, how is it set up behind that door? pic? Is there clearcoat on the paint , sometimes that stuff doesnt agree with gasoline either.

Wow, that sucks! So sorry.

Do these gas tanks have the tank vent tube like our econolines on top of the tank or does it vent back to the filler neck. If it has vent tube on top is it pinched off or plugged causing tank to pressureize and force gas up the filler neck.. Just a thought...

Thats the problem. No air space in the midle, just a flat top and the surge hose is right next the the filler bung lower then the tank top. IF the van in lower on the left side when you fill it it will realy puke when it levels off.
Newer tanks have an air dome in the top midle and that where the surge hose conects to prevent this problem.



M1D

Digz wrote:Im suprised it ran out of the feul door,, If mine does that it runs down the inside alittle, how is it set up behind that door? pic? Is there clearcoat on the paint , sometimes that stuff doesnt agree with gasoline either.

Digs, not positive on setup. I noticed after posting this that there was another large puddle perhaps halfway down the van, also on the same side. It was definitely gas but could have been there the day before as I got home at night. However; the gas door is no where near that spot, so I can't explain how that could happen because I couldn't have parked any further forward than the location you see.

My gas line is on the passenger side, but I have no idea how that gas filler door was reworked.

If you used 2 , 5 ft sections to make the fuel line going back, check the union in the middle of them. I dont know if it is a temperature change thing or what but they might need to be retightened. I had mine do some weeping after like a month of running.

The other thing is, when a vehicle is parked on a slope or angle of any kind, a fluid leak can run along the body and chassis parts and drip off in a completly different location then where it originated from.

Vehicles are made to handle slopes and angles while they are "running" but need to be a relitivly level ground when parked, especialy for periods of time like overnight. many seals are designed for operating needs and they don't seal when being flooded by fluid because they are not designed to handle a flood, just fumes and spray. When the vehicle is on an angle, especialy when not running the seals get cold and shrink and the weight of the shaft pushes to one side of the seal opening up a gap. Combined with the seal being flooded due to the vehicle being on an angle makes for leaks that are not because the vehicle has a problem but because the seal is being expected to do something it is not designed for.
I have seen this kind of problem a hundred times, especialy with the "Off road" croud who think its cool to park their 4x4 up on some steep mound of dirt.

Parking your vehicle on a steep incline with nose up will almost garrentee fluid comeing out the trans tail shaft seal. Parking a vehicle with steep nose down will sometimes make for oil leaking out the front crankshaft seal. and finally parking your vehicle on a steep angle to one side or the other will just about garantee diff oil leaking into the brake drum causing the apearance of a bad axle seal. when really there is no problem with the seal.

The moral of the story is, save your self alot of grief and park your vehicle on level ground.

M1D

Like the other guys have said, it happens with these old vans. I filled mine up on the way to a car show last summer and put a little too much in it. It was parked leaning towards the drivers side, after an hour or so of warming in the sun it started leaking fuel out of the filler/overflow tube. I had to turn the van around so the filler pipe was uphill

No I watch the fuel gauge and only fill it to a little over 3/4 of a tank so there's room to expand.

eta: I dont know why it took your paint off, maybe its a repaint?

Im curious as to if you had or put? any fuel system additive in the gas?? Also - just a comment from an old guy that used to paint cars for a living= The =old style straight enemel paint jobe were very succeptable to this damage from fuels. the acrylic enamels also and even the same with hardners in the enamels =will do this as it takes a few months in warm weather to actually dry (harden) and will stay plyable (plastic state). Stains & erosion will happen today with the additives already in the fuels. Sad = you have had so many negative things happen with this van.
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