Fuel Leak..... Uh Oh!!

So after the fuel pump issue was solved I thought all was well with the BMW. Little did I know...

When the mechanic fitted the fuel pump, he said it wasn't easy to seat properly.. He wasn't joking either!

On the way back home the other night we stopped off at a drive through. As we sat there we could smell fuel, but I assumed it was the car in front running (very) rich!

Then a worried head looked out the window and said "oi mate there's petrol coming from the back!".
At this point I looked out the window to see my fuel running past my door on the floor... Bugger!

I pulled into the car park and took a look under the car. Sure enough the bottom of the fuel tank was wet with petrol.

I checked the petrol cap to see if it was lose or not fitted right. It seemed OK though which was weird. I started her up and checked underneath. The leak appeared to of stopped. So I took her home again (not a long trip) to investigate.

I pulled up the back seat and took off the hatch above the fuel tank.

Low and behold there was a pool of petrol sat around the top of the tank. I mopped it up and dried it off.

Then I checked the seating of the fuel pump securing ring. It was not secure at all!
So I loosened it and tightened it back on to the fuel tank. It was better than before, not 100%, but better.

There was only one thing to do, get a new ring and gasket. So off to trusty Sytner BMW to get the bits. Gave all the details to them, E36, 1992, 320. Got a call from sytner to say they were in. Picked them up.

Booked her into the garage and waited for the call to say it was done (or that they had found a problem... a mouse in the tank or something similar!).

However, all was fine. The only issue was that the ring supplied by BMW sytner was too small. Not sure which car it was meant for.... but it wasn't this one!!

Oh well the gasket was fine, and this was the issue anyway. So all is back to normal.

This really emphasises the fact you need to replace the sealing ring gasket when changing the pump!

Car heart-attack

Another day another dollar is the phrase people use. I use, another month another monkey!
This time round it's the heart of the car to go caput, the fuel pump.
Typically its one of those things that doesn't give out a warning to say it's having an attack!
So it is a cold night just about to go home, we load up the car and go to start it. It turns over but doesn't fire. I have a look under the bonnet at the fuse box and the pump fuse looks in good shape. As do all the other fuses....

Once again, it’s another call to the trusty RAC. After a quick inspection it turns out to be the pump. They tried the old trick of hitting it with a rubber mallet, still no joy. Off home we go being towed. Before getting it replaced I though I'd double check the connections at the pump end to make sure it was getting the relevant voltage.
Out comes the trusty multi-meter, low and behold there is about 11V across the pump end. So it looks to be the pump.
A visit to trusty GSF car parts in Sheffield and £98 lighter we have our shiny new pump.

Being petrol related and not wanting to make a mushroom cloud over South Yorkshire I opted to get a mobile mechanic out to fit the thing. All went to plan and an hour later she's up and running.