1981 Chevrolet Camaro Leaking oil from fuel pump

CAMAROGUY123

MEMBER
1981 CHEVROLET CAMARO
139,000 MILES

Hi there I had recently purchased a 81 camaro z28. The car had installed a 350 crate engine with approx 20000 km now on it. It had major leaks so upon bringing it to a mechanic he determined it was the fuel pump spitting oil out from the side of the motor. Makes sense because the leaks would only occur during and shortly after the car had been driven. The amount of oil drops almost puddles underneath on the garage floor was intense. Fuel pump has been replaced and car still leaks same amount almost. Looks like from fuel pump again. I don't know what going wrong here is it the wrong pump? Am I driving it to hard? Would a replacement electric pump be the way to go? But what happens to the existing mechanical one?

1 Reply

CARADIODOC

MECHANIC
33,743 POSTS

It's much more likely the fuel pump gasket is leaking. You can inject white, non-toxic smoke under two pounds of pressure from a smoke machine into the dip stick tube, then watch for where it sneaks out. If the leak is related to something where the oil is not under pressure, like the oil pan, fuel pump, and valve covers, you'll be able to see the smoke escaping.

You can buy a cover plate when you don't use the original mechanical fuel pump but it's not a good idea to switch to an electric pump. On cars that come with them there is always a way to turn them off automatically when the engine stalls. That is so they don't keep on pumping raw gas on the ground after a fuel line gets ruptured in a crash.