Hi guys. Also, the pump is held in by a really large plastic nut about 8" in diameter. There is an arrow on it and on the tank that must line up when the nut is fully tightened. I got stung by that and I'm the "expert". Those arrows were off by less than an inch and it leaked when the tank was filled. You can drive it like that as long as you don't fill the tank until it's fixed, but the Check Engine light should be on and a fault code should be in memory related to a small or large leak in the fuel supply system.
In front, there's two rubber hoses between the engine and right strut tower. The larger one is the supply hose and often dry-rots and leaks. The current hose may have quick connect fittings but it is possible to slide a regular piece of hose on with hose clamps. Use fuel injection hose, not standard fuel hose. These systems can easily exceed 50 psi and old carburetor system hoses can't handle that. Also use fuel injection clamps. Standard worm screw clamps can bite in and cut the hose.
Those quick connect fitting have o-rings that can shrink in cold weather and leak. That doesn't typically happen on THAT hose, but I'm sure it could. If you do use standard hose, be sure to slide it onto each metal pipe well past the large ridge. The old fitting caught on that ridge to prevent sliding off from the pressure. Your new hose clamps must be on the back side of that ridge too so the hose won't slide off over time. If the hose won't go over that ridge, spray a little Silicone Spray Lube into it. Then watch out! It will slide on REAL easily. Be sure to leave enough slack in the hose because the engine will rock back and forth.
The filter sits along the right frame rail ahead of the rear wheel. It will easily last the life of the van unless it starts to leak. More commonly the hoses will leak. They use quick connect fittings too. The dealer has a repair kit that includes four hoses, two straight and two curved. You use the two you need and give the other two to a friend. Hose clamps commonly rust off there too. That has happened twice on my '88 Grand Caravan and just recently on my '95 model. By the time you spot the leak, it's common to find one clamp split from rust, one completely gone except for a little hint of rust where it used to be, and two that break when you try to unscrew them. If you have the quick connect hoses, there will just be two clamps. The quick connect fittings typically don't leak until they're disturbed when replacing the clamps. Dirt and salt can get in them too that makes removal impossible unless you cut them off with an air-powered cutoff tool.
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Wednesday, January 11th, 2012 AT 3:04 AM
