fuel leak question

I have a fuel leak all of a sudden. Getting worse of course. is this something I can easily fix myself or what is the best course of action. I have circled where it is coming from....the black hose beside the injector. What is it?

The "Black hose beside the injector" is actually the glow plug electrical harness. I looks more like the leak is coming from the injector itself. Maybe where the nozzle and the injector body screw together.

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Thank you.

I regret that I don't know that part of the engine at all. I appreciate your reply.

Before pulling the injector(s), replace the little braided hoses (they are for return fuel back tank) ... likely that's your leak!

^ ^ ^


What Andy said! Ez and cheap, just be sure to get the right Continental
hose.

If the fuel return lines were leaking the braids would be wet. I vote injector leak. underwhelmd, don't stick your face down there while the motor is running!

I would do my best to clean off the injector and the area around it. That way you can see where it is leaking just a little bit easier.

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I vote retrurn line. The braid looks wet to me.

I bet those return hoses are extremely brittle ....

Thanks folks. I will replace those lines first to eliminate that and will clean up the area.

I did start it today and had a look around that wet area, could not see any leaking at idle. I am aware to not let any fuel jet hit my skin.

Safe to just pull the return line hose off with car off, engine cold?

Yes,remove and replace, and decent chance they've never been replaced. Don't forget the plug. Use viton or some other fuel rated hose.

And, when replacing the return lines, sometimes part of the line will break, and stay attached. Carefully pull those with some needle nose pliers, and be careful not to nick the return line nipple, as that can case a leak, even with new hoses.

Thanks.

For reference, the leak is at the 3rd from the left injector area.
I replaced return lines carefully. Old ones were brittle but not leaking.

I cleaned up the area around the injector and under it then went for a 20 minute drive.
Still wet. I'm guessing that injector has to come out and a repair made.

Just before I bought it, the previous owner had an experienced (expensive) VW repair shop install new injectors/seals...so this is very surprising. Is that bad enough to cause a fire ?

If it does have new seals on it, you might try just torquing it down a bit tighter.

Thanks Bob.
I double checked with previous owner. New injectors and copper seals, less than 8000Km on them since install at one of the better shops in our area. Not complaining... just surprised.

I'm going to do some reading on what I can torque down without major surgery. The main bolt in the middle/top of the pic above is as tight as it can get. Not loose.

Don't be tempted to tighten the hold down fork/clamp, they can break.
They should only be around 18'#s. Remove the fuel line at the top and loosen same at the IP.

Clean as best you can around the seat, and see
if the injector is loose. My bet is it wasn't seated properly.

If it pulls out you want to carefully clean and examine the copper crush
washer. You may need a pick as they sometimes don't come out with the injector.

Replace and give it a good thump, a large brass drift is ideal,
don't damage the threads of the top of the injector. You can anneal
the washer by heating to red hot and quenching in water.
You want nice clean surfaces for the copper to conform to.

Then retorque the hold down clamp, it is meant to only hold it in place
once you've reset the injector into the soft washer. Be carefull re-attaching
the steel fuel line so that it's unstressed, then retighten at the IP.

It's doubtful the injector body itself is leaking, though possible.

Thank you for that info. Beyond my skill level. I can turn a wrench but not comfy doing that job.
I'll be giving it to the shop who did the job in the first place as I'm sure they can sort it faster than I can.
And they would have spares onhand... need this car on the road for work.

Thanks all, I appreciate the replies.