1988 Audi 5000 Fuel Leak
 

I need opinions...the weather is dropping from 65 to around 48-55 degrees up here in Erie PA and last Thursday morning I came back from my class to my car to find a puddle of gas underneath near the rear axle. It is leaking down over a heat shield located over the second kidney-shaped resinator of the exhaust system towards the back end. I cant see anything over it. The gas tank is on the passenger side of the drive shaft and the leak is coming down on the drivers side of the drive shaft. It appears that gas is showing up on the side of the gas tank but only after driving the car. Sitting over night the fuel only drips down from the heat shield. My manual doesnt show a diagram of where the fuel components are located in comparison to the vehicle's frame and I cant find anything on ETKA either. Help please! I have no idea but I would guess maybe its the fuel accumulator. It goes in tomorrow to get looked at. Another mechanic who didnt have time to drop the exhaust looked at it with me and I told him the fuel pump was replaced 2 months ago. Later that day I jumped in the trunk and looked at the o-ring on top of the tank where it was replaced at to check for leaks and found nothing. Thanks in advance all.

The fuel accumulator is on the passenger side on the 200 and most likely the same on your 4000 -- if you need one or a repair manual check the classifieds on this board --

sounds good
 

thanks mate... i have a repair manual but Ill soon know if its the accumulator or not. I appreciate the quick reply

just an update...
 

Well I finally hacked up my old exhaust in order to get a good look at the fuel tank and see where the leak was. It turned out to be a small pin-hole leak due to rust so I used a knockoff of jb weld called cold weld by permatex because I could get it free and blocked things up and followed it with a couple layers of rust neutralizer and finally an undercoating spray job. Get this though: I called the audi dealership because they are the only connection in my area that can even get the tank and they told me in the ballpark of $1300 for a new tank and 2 other parts that were "required" haha. Yet another sob fest I avoided by getting my hands dirty before giving up and paying up. As a result of my hack job of the exhaust I updated things to a cleaner setup with only one resonator and straight pipes and it sounds like a rally beast now. Better yet, the cops dont even care.

I think cops care less about loud sounding older cars rather than newer ones because it's more likely a case of "My car is old and I don't have any money to fix it!" rather than "My car is brand spanking new and I spent a boatload of money to make it sound loud."

That's good you were able to fix your tank without spending a lot of money on it. With cars like this I think there's rarely a time where it's better to buy a whole new part in stead of fix it yourself. Obviously that's not always the case, but hey, if you can hammer it back into working condition, DO it! The mount bolts and rubber bushings for my fuel filter were completely rusted/corroded away, but the bracket was fine. So I went to Menards, got a big hose clamp and voila! All fixed for 1.20. A little do-it-yourselfism goes a long way.

Did you fix the tank in place without removing?

Jellybean5 I had to have the ENTIRE rear diff and axles and everything dropped by my mechanic in order to replace the fuel tank. Got one reman'd from shokan for a fair price. The seam joining the top and bottom was leaking and rusty so I had cut my losses on the price of fuel. Couldn't get any amount of putty to fix it.

Fuel tank leak and fuel flow
 

Thanks for info, I now find the fuel pump has quit, will have to consider the cars future carefully!!
Thanks again

Sorry to hear. IIRC the pump is almost $600. You can gain access to the pump from the trunk beneath a carpet by the seat to check connections or replace it. One other thing... you can't get the tank recoated to salvage it because the plastic pump bracket inside will melt into oblivion. Good luck.