Cracked Fuel Pump Housings! Need Recall!

[PizzaEater]

I've seen this happen before... always chalked it up to the fact that the parts are usually 10+ years old. Plastic has a shelf life, and all most manufacturers care about is that the part lives reliably beyond the warranty period.

 

You definitely aren't in the dark as far as finding a new housing goes though. They're readily available from many non-OE sources.

 

 

 

Being the devil's advocate here: Assuming your Legacy is assembled properly... there's no way for fuel to physically leak inside the cabin. There is a steel service door with a foam gasket seal which covers the pump housing. I just don't want any less knowledgeable folks smelling gasoline and having heart attacks when they come here and search the forums for help.

 

I have never seen or heard of a car that develops a cracked fuel pump housing which leaks fuel vapors into the cabin. To those who don't know, fuel vapor is the most dangerous state of fuel because it is the fuel vapor that actually ignites!

 

And the only place you will find a new stock housing assembly for an 06 LGT Sedan 5AT is from the official subaru parts website where it lists some dealers that have it for $380.

[PizzaEater]

do you have a picture of that crack?

 

If you look at my initial post which started this thread, you can see my picture of the crack. It is the brown line at the flange radius. They really need to beef these housings up because all the stress is transferred right through that thin plastic flange.

[Gex]

Because a small puddle of gas under a steel service panel that essentially vents to the atmosphere under the car will not make the air have enough fuel vapor to ignite or cause long term harm. You're fine, pull off the tinfoil.

 

Be like everyone else, buy one for $75 on Ebay and move along.

[magnusonsubie]

I have never seen or heard of a car that develops a cracked fuel pump housing which leaks fuel vapors into the cabin. To those who don't know, fuel vapor is the most dangerous state of fuel because it is the fuel vapor that actually ignites!

 

And the only place you will find a new stock housing assembly for an 06 LGT Sedan 5AT is from the official subaru parts website where it lists some dealers that have it for $380.

 

You are right the vapors are the most dangerous but if it's below the LEL then nothing will happen. The mixture is too lean to burn.

 

MTBWrench's point about the fuel housing is it's plastic and plastic does have a useful lifetime. Just like rubber. There are various factors that affect that lifespan temperature being a pretty major one.

 

And you don't need to buy a new one from the dealer unless you are that OCD about the parts on your car. You can buy one from a salvage yard that is in good shape, buy it from an aftermarket source that makes parts identical to dealer ones at fractions of the cost. That part is up to what you want to do. Since it is your car.

[rmoore5]

If you look at my initial post which started this thread, you can see my picture of the crack. It is the brown line at the flange radius. They really need to beef these housings up because all the stress is transferred right through that thin plastic flange.

 

I had the same problem with my 2005 GT, I've had brake lines rust thru on Chevy pickups, diaphragms rupture in regulator and fuel pumps on various makes.

 

You have ten year old car that has a gas leak, this isn't any different than the steel fuel line rusting thru or a o-ring seal going bad. Fix it and move on, if you aren't up to the maintenance challenges of an older car get something with a warranty.

 

Leaks happen. You probably won't get much sympathy from this group.

[pseank]

Do you think it's possible to fill the crack and temporarily repair it with epoxy?

It's fuel.......replace it

 

Sent from my XT1254 using Tapatalk

[MilesA]

It's fuel.......replace it

 

Sent from my XT1254 using Tapatalk

Obviously, it should be replaced. That's why I said temporary. As in, until he can find the part. Tough crowd.

 

If you have ever seen a vehicle burn up from a fuel leak (VW Bus, anyone), you don't want to chance it.

Edited February 8, 2017 by MilesA

[dga]

http://www.comicbookreligion.com/img/_num/32000/32332.jpg

[mwiener2]

Almost every car made by every manufacturer has a plastic sending unit like this. Looks like they need to do a recall of every car made since 1995.

[PizzaEater]

Almost every car made by every manufacturer has a plastic sending unit like this. Looks like they need to do a recall of every car made since 1995.

 

Maybe it's just that our cars have more g-force acting upon the housings.

[MTBwrench]

Maybe it's just that our cars have more g-force acting upon the housings.

 

Now you're lightening up. That's the spirit!

[apexi]

Late last week, my car would crank, but not start. I did some basic diagnostics, and I couldn't figure out the problem. On an 8 year old car with 214k, I figure it could be anything, some random sensor, who knows.

 

So I had the car towed to Subaru, and that night I looked into how much this could cost me, how much a fuel pump assembly was for example.

 

Well Subaru discovered that the problem was a cracked fuel pump housing. Very cool dealership, asked me if I wanted to have them fix the problem, or if I wanted to take it somewhere else to have it fixed. I think they could tell that I like to do things myself, and maybe thought I'd want to have the car towed home to fix myself.

 

I decided to let them finish up the repair. I'm sure it's easy to replace the fuel pump assembly, but it's just something I'm not comfortable doing, like electrical work in my house.

 

I know I probably could have just replaced the housing or something, and made the job much cheaper than what I paid. After 214k I figure it doesn't hurt to replace the pump and filter too.

 

**Oh by the way, I never once smelled gas in my car before this happened.

**I have to be clear actually. I did smell gas for a few days before this happened. However, it was immediately after I filled up a gas can in my car, and a little bit of gas spilled on the outside of the can. So I assumed the gas smell lingering in my car was from the gas can, when really it might have been from the crack.

Edited May 23, 2017 by apexi

[stajerker]

I also had this issue, about two years ago - I also had rubber bits in my plastic sending tank. Mine was leaking quite badly - enough that when full I couldn't park in my garage because the fumes would stink up my whole house (I had neighbours complain as well).

 

FWIW my dealer told me that they are seeing this VERY commonly in cars of our vintage - maybe the heat cycles in Ottawa (-30 to +40 Celsius) cause ours to crack a bit earlier. It took my dealer 3 days to get the part in stock from subaru canada (snowstorm delay though).

[ATB]

My '05 GT 5MT with 105k started doing this recently. Anywhere from full down to about 7/8 in the tank there is a very strong smell of gas outside the car in the rear. Car lived in Northern NJ for 10 years, which isn't the rust belt but its not exactly winterless either.

 

Taking it in to a local well respected indi shop to have it diagnosed and replaced as is likely needed. I got the impression this wasn't the first time they had encountered this and apparently the part is not currently in short supply.

[skibum0203]

Anyone ever swap in a new top lid on the assembly rather than getting a used assembly? I have an aem pump I want to put in so thinking I’ll just get the lid to replace the cracked piece and swap the filter while i have it out as well. I found a good video on swapping the filter but can’t find one for swapping the top piece that’s cracked. Thanks in advance for any insight!