Hi all -

I have a 1996 XJ. I filled it up all the way with gas the other day after getting it back from the shop and it started to leak gas. After looking underneath, I found that there was a cut hose coming out of the top of the gas tank that was the source of the leak. Once it leaked enough it stopped and the car drove fine the whole way home. I looked closer and saw that there is what appears to be another cut hose that the other one was attached to. There is also a third cut hose that doesn't seem to go to anything. I bought the car like this and I guess I just haven't filled it up all the way before. I did some research and I think it is the gas vent hose or something along the lines of that but I am not entirely sure. I attached some photos. If anyone has any suggestions on either what this is or how to solve it so that it won't leak anymore, I would really really appreciate it. Thanks!


This shows the 3 cut hoses.

I measured the hose and it is roughly 3/8in. in diameter.

This is where the leftmost hose plugs into on top of the gas tank.

 

Those are your fuel tank vent hoses. The previous owner likely cut them, which is a sloppy and unsafe fix for a common problem.

The issue is a clogged evap canister. When you fill the tank, the fuel vapors have nowhere to go because the vent line is blocked. This causes the pump to click off early or, in your case, forces liquid gas out of a cut hose.

You need to replace the cut hoses with new fuel-rated hose and then diagnose or replace the evap canister to fix the root cause. Until then, just don't fill your tank all the way to the top.

 

Thank you so much! I really appreciate the advice and will get to researching evap canisters as well as replacement hoses today!

 

A couple of barbed repair fitting would be the quick fix.

 

Looks like a squirrel or some other creature chewed it. Happened to a fuel line on one of my cars.

 

Is it possible to lower the tank a little so I can replace the back vent hose plug in while there is still gas in the tank? It is like 3/4 full right now and I don't really want to have to siphon it out.

 

It's not too much of a pain to drop a few inches with fuel in it. Just turn the nuts on those long hook bolts. Shouldn't have to replace the vents unless they're broken. The fill hose might give you some trouble pulling it down, and take a piece of the hose with you to the parts store to match the size.

 

Ok, thanks for the advice. All I need is like two or three more inches to be able to reach my hand up from the back to push the new hose onto the vent thingy. I think I'm probably gonna siphon out at least to get it below half full just to be safe in case the straps break or something and the whole thing falls. I do have a question though: I bought a new evap canister purge valve to replace it since that's probably why the previous owner cut the lines in the first place, but how do I know if I actually need to replace it? Will there be a check engine light or a sound or something visual? I'm hoping I can just return it and carry on.

 

If its not throwing a code in its current state its probably fine.

 

I've owned a bunch of 96's. They're not as temperamental as the later models.

 

So, I got all the hoses connected up and the tank back up and I started the car and the check engine light was on. So I installed the new evap canister and the CEL is still on. I'm planning on buying a code scanner to figure out what's wrong, are 96's OBDI or OBDII? I've seen online that ones built in 1996 are like half and half so I'm not sure which scanner to buy.

 

Obd2, let us know what codes come up. Here's a site with codes and Diagnostic info too. Has helped me out almost as much as the factory service manual. www.charm.li

 

Here's what I got:


Since there are no pending codes, just the stored P0443, does that mean I can just clear the code and it won't come back? Is the stored code from when I took out the old evap purge control valve?

 

Clear the code and see if it comes back on. Keep the old purge valve till you're sure its fixed.​​​​​​

 

Code is gone! Thanks everyone for the advice!