Curse you fuel filter!

I pulled the blue 15A fuse for the fuel pump per the directions on http://www.shiftice.com/fuel_filter.html and started the engine at least 6 times. Then I got to a point where the engine didn't want to turn over so I took that as a sign the fuel sytem had no pressure.

Once I got to the fuel pump assembly with the blue clip holding the fuel line off, I got a massive spray of fuel inside the car.

So, while I wait for the fans to kill the fumes and hope the home heater in the garage doesn't cause an explosion, anyone got any good ideas for cleaning a fuel spill inside a car?

Curse you fuel filter!

Edit: Newbie alert, Shiftice's fuel filter replacement how-to at step 5 says

 

Ooh, That's gonna stink for a while. Try washing your interior with tomato soup.

 

Hahah I'd have to walk to the store for tomato soup and also a pressure washer.

I hope the fumes die down so I can at least get the fuel filter swapped and everything reconnected.

 

hope you dont smoke

 

good to know, i have my new filter by my desk, didnt have time/need to change it yet, i only have 40K lol

 

Well sound like you will be doing some interior spring cleaning a bit earlier than most, some warm water and lysol ... I assume most of the spray is on the area under your seat, so washing that down should go easy, now if you managed to spray it all the way to the rear carpeting area your going to need a scrub bush to wash deep into the pile and then a wet shop vac to suck the water out of the carpet area's ... sure hope the back of the seats are leather so they can be just washed down, if not do the same to the cloth areas as you have done with the carpet.

 

Try baking soda on the interior carpets and cloth seats if you have them. Obviously don't smoke around that area for a while.

 

Wow, talk about bad luck. I've changed pumps a couple times and immediately just pulled the line out.

 

Best option.

Has this happened to anyone else?

 

Well we know if left alone, gasoline will evaporate but that leaves a film behind. Correct, soon as the splash started I tried to cover the fuel line with a shop towel so there wasn't any high spray onto my cloth rear seat (that I could tell) so the spill area is confined to the under rear seat cushion area.

There appears to be some foam soaked in adhesive stuck on the bare metal which ate most of the gasoline. Spots on that "foam" formed and appears to have attacked the adhesive, however those foam pieces are still firmly attached.

I'll grab a photo or two Sunday, but I was just planning on taking a sponge dipped in water and running it all over that area, wring it dry into a second bucket and repeat.

@ Ghost_54 when you say Lysol, do you mean to spray the affected area then wash the Lysol away with the warm water? Or hit the warm water with a little Lysol?

 

Use the liquid lysol in the wash water that your planning to do

 

Copy, I'll get this knocked out Sunday with some photos.

 

I've always depressurized the line at the fuel rail before messing with the fuel filter on any fuel injected car... surprised that it's not part of the 'how-to' on this.

 

The FSM method without Consult II is to pull the fuel pump fuse. But it says run engine with fuel pump fuse removed until it stalls, then crank engine two or three times to release all fuel system pressure.

 

ITs what i done on our 2 5.5 gens , yes when i took the hose off a few drops of fuel came but nothing major.

 

I forgot what happened when I did mine but i remember taking the gas cap out to help reduce pressure in addition to pulling the fuse and cranking the motor...Not sure if that should really help though.

 

I had the gas cap off when I was cranking the engine with the fuel pump fuse removed, perhaps that was my mistake.

Either way that fuel line is staying put for MANY miles

 

that sucks D=

 

Next time I can keep a plastic bag or something very close should it want to spray like that again.

Nah now I got that highly desirable interior scent of spilled gasoline!

 

That's really unfortunate. I expected a little bit of gas when I did mine last year, but it sounds like you got a real hosing. Bummer.

In preparations when I did this, I surrounded the top of the fuel pump with a big old bath towel, so that when I pulled the line, any gas that squirted out would go right into the towel. I did get some, and was very glad that I took those precautions. That worked for me, and is my advice should someone be reading this before they try and swap their fuel strainer.

Although it doesn't sound like what you went through. Man, that's going to stink for weeks.

 

Thank you all for the tips!

Yes, if anyone is doing the fuel filter, put a large towel entirely over fuel line as you remove it. Also take a vacuum to the area because I had sand around it

The smell has died down a little; rear seat cushion still has not been reinstalled.

I am going to take a sponge and warm water with the liquid Lysol to every inch of that rear seat area. Twice even.

I'll also snap a photo or two, and for fun the sediment which came from the fuel leftover in the old fuel filter.

 

Sounds like you have a good handle on things now, if your getting some of the nice temps. that I am getting perhaps leave the all the doors open and allow mother natures breeze to assist in removing some of the fumes.

 

it will smell for a while. I had a similar problem, I drove with all the windows open often as possible

 

let me guess u had line out and u cranked. I changed hundreds of pumps and they never spray. I never depresurize but i hold a rag on top of the line so it goes on top of tank cover . then i just wipe off. No biggie

 

Simple green in some hot water with a sponge, then I'll go over it again with clean water to try and remove any remaining gasoline residue.

Whatever that foam stuff is probably soaked up the gasoline.

This is the leftover fuel which came out of the old fuel filter.

 

Nope, first I took off the gasoline cap then removed the 15A blue fuel pump fuse. I started the engine and ran it until it died. Started the engine two or three times after which the engine would not start. I cranked the engine two or three times beyond that in hopes to depressurize the system.

This was all done with the top of the fuel pump cover removed, with the fuel line connected but visible. So once the engine would not start, I disconnected the fuel line and got the nice spray. Was maybe a 3 second burst.

 

Here are some photos of what I'm talking about.

http://picasaweb.google.com/askpcguy...nK4YaXiP65uQE#

 

Simple green should work pretty well on the sound deadening material.

 

So that dark grey stuff is sound deadening? Could that be removed and replaced with something else? I hazard a guess that it would all but eliminate that gasoline odor.

 

You could replace it with dynomat. You may need a scraper to remove the old stuff though. some of it peels off easily and some of it will really be on there good.

 

The same thing happened to me, though apparently not as bad. I never pulled the fuse so I was expecting some spray. I had towels around the tank opening as I pulled the fuel line and gas went on the towels and underneath them on the sound deadening. The car smelled for a few days but luckily this happened during the summer so I just drove with the windows open everywhere. After a week you'd never know it happened at all.

 

Sorry but THANKSSSSSS.... I will be doing this soon as my fuel filter is sitting at home. Rain coat for me!

 

You are welcome but you may want to resize your signature picture.

 

how much better does it seem to run after the new filter?

 

I'm having some power loss problem while driving into the 3,000 - 4,000 RPM range, so I'm not able to fully compare but I did notice acceleration does not feel as bogged down as before. Feels a little smoother.

 

My car with 174K ran way better with a new filter. No more startup issues and throttle response is much more crisp. Felt like she was new again. NON SERVICEABLE MY ***

 

LOL, maybe Nissan intended "non servicable" so A: you buy a whole new pump assembly or B: buy a another Nissan

 

almost everytime i start the car when its warm i have to crack the gas a little for it to stay running maybe this will help