Massive fuel leak somewhere on the driver side fuel rail.

[BK177V]

I have a 2001 986 S that has sat for a few years (covered). Everything was about as I left it, and it was running fine mechanically before I stopped driving it.

The car fired right up and idled, but I noticed a gas smell and heavy leakage under the car. I shut it down right away and got to work getting to the engine compartment.

Everything is uncovered now and I'm able to see that the leak is somewhere on the driver side (US) of the engine. However, I am having a hard time pinpointing where exactly the leak is. About the only way to see it is to prime the rail, which causes it to spray everywhere. I can tell it's not from the crossover tubing from the passanger side, and it's not from the regulator.

Question is, where else would it spray that heavily from? Would a bad o-ring on an injector allow that much fuel out? Has anyone ever had a fuel rail corrode to the point a hole has developed? When it is spraying, it almost looks like it is coming from below the rail, but it's hard to see under there. All I know is that when it is running, it pours out from that area.

I haven't dug into this that deeply yet, but from my first impression, it looks impossible to get the rail out to inspect without removing a bunch of stuff. Anyone have experience removing the rail? (I'm kind of hoping for someone to jump in and tell me that it's not that hard and to quit being lazy and dig in, lol). Thanks in advance for any insight.

[997_986]

If fuel stands still in the pipes for years, they will be severely affected and dissolve. So i would swallow the pill and replace (all) the affected seals. There are already 2 o-rings on the pressure regulator. But I don't know where to start and where to stop.

[78F350]

I'm working on a car that sat for many years. To get it running well, I had to replace the fuel sender and pump, fuel filter, and rail with injectors. (Plus remove all fuel, replace some of the coils, spark plug tubes, water pump, a radiator, heater core... still lots left to do.)

Removing the fuel rail does require some work. Here's a tech article from Pelican Parts: https://www.pelicanparts.com/techarticles/Boxster_Tech/25-FUEL-Injectors/25-FUEL-Injectors.htm
There's some good info there, but it does not say anything about removing the intake and all of the pictures show the engine OUT OF THE CAR.

A simplified list of what I remember:

• Disconnect most of the engine wire harness.
• Remove air filter.
• Disconnect crank case vent at front left of engine.
• Remove left side intake.
• Remove Secondary Air Injection Blower.

Now you should have space to access and remove the rail, but it is still tight.



While you are there, it would be a good time to consider changing spark plugs, spark plug tubes, and inspecting your coils. I can upload a brief video discussing it, but I expect there are already some better ones on YouTube.

[BK177V]

Originally Posted by 78F350

I'm working on a car that sat for many years. To get it running well, I had to replace the fuel sender and pump, fuel filter, and rail with injectors. (Plus remove all fuel, replace some of the coils, spark plug tubes, water pump, a radiator, heater core... still lots left to do.)

Removing the fuel rail does require some work. Here's a tech article from Pelican Parts: https://www.pelicanparts.com/techarticles/Boxster_Tech/25-FUEL-Injectors/25-FUEL-Injectors.htm
There's some good info there, but it does not say anything about removing the intake and all of the pictures show the engine OUT OF THE CAR.

A simplified list of what I remember:

• Disconnect most of the engine wire harness.
• Remove air filter.
• Disconnect crank case vent at front left of engine.
• Remove left side intake.
• Remove Secondary Air Injection Blower.

Now you should have space to access and remove the rail, but it is still tight.



While you are there, it would be a good time to consider changing spark plugs, spark plug tubes, and inspecting your coils. I can upload a brief video discussing it, but I expect there are already some better ones on YouTube.

Thanks for the replies. I've read the Pelican write up, but they go into more detail about cleaning up after yourself than they do getting to the fuel rail, lol.

I ordered a Bentley manual this morning, that Hopefully covers more information. Sounds like there's some real work involved, and I'll have to take a look into replacing some other stuff while I'm in there. Surprisingly enough, it still started right up, even with the 2 year old gas in there. So I think I'm probably in better shape than most would think for a car that "sat for years". It really only sat 24 months since the last time it's been driven, and I was driving it daily then.

[997_986]

I wonder if these stabilizers for fuel would have avoided that, two years is shorter than I thought ...