My fuel pressure regulator and fuel pump have been leaking. My neighbors were kind enough to help me reseal the fuel pump and they used silicon. At the time I just wanted the fuel to stop draining onto my drive way and they seemed like they knew what they were doing so I didn’t question using silicon. I talked to a mechanic today because since sealing the fuel pump there have been seemingly random fuel cut outs usually when I am just maintaining a constant speed and I think they occur more when the car is cold.

Is silicon alright to use for a sealant or will it degrade in the gas? If so is there risk of engine damage from the silicon getting to the engine. Should I replace both the fuel pump and fuel pressure regulator, clean out the silicon sealant and reseal with another sealant or find gaskets for them. If so what brand/type of fuel pump or pressure regulator do you recommend. The pump is not stock and I believe the fuel pressure regulator is from Mallory (both were installed before I bought the car and I am new to RX-7's and vehicle mechanical work in general). I apologize if any of these questions have been asked hundreds of times before. I did a search about silicon and couldn't find anything dealing with the fuel line (probably because other people know better…) and came up with nothing so I included everything I have questions about. Thanks.

Adam

 

Oooo, bad move. Silicone will degrade with gasoline present and plug things up.
Your eventually going to be back to where you were before with the leak, but possibly with more problems.

Make sure to dig all that **** out, clean it up and reseal it with a product made to seal gas-tanks, or some sealant that is resistant to gasoline.

Might be a good idea to run some seafoam through the system?

 

Thanks for the help.

Is there a threat to engine damage, as in could I make a drive out to a place where I have access to an air compressor to blow out my fuel line?

Adam

 

if you have a fuel filter by the carb then you can see the silicone in it.

if not, go to the autoparts store and buy some fram G-12 clear plastic fuel filters. put one before the fuel pump, and one before the carb. watch the one in front of the carb fill up with silicone. keep changing it until it no longer has silicone in it. purolator has a similar filter. either is about three bucks

i had the same thing happen recently in my rotary truck when i used silicone to seal the fuel level sender in the top of the fuel tank. the filter before my pump keeps filling up with orange silicone. filter's doing it's job!!!!!

 

Well you learn from your mistakes. Don't we all though?

 

no, no real threat of engine damage, although it could possibly clog the filter or the jets in your carb and make you run lean.

Another thing is that real soon you will start leaking again. Silicone does not degrade gas, its the other way around...the gas breaks down the silicone. the reason you get chunks of it stuck in stuff is because the gas is slowly dissolving it.

pat

 

If the areas that are leaking are threaded fittings, the easiest solution is gasoline-safe thread sealant - there's the liquid pipe-sealant kind or the teflon tape kind (it's the yellow teflon tape). You should be able to get either from the hardware store.

 

Hi, I am starting to reassemble my engine and noticed that the regulator doesn't have a gasket. This is for an 88 GXL NA.

I found mentioned in my Haynes manual to "replace the gasket with a new one." All I can find is a replacement "O"-ring, no gasket!

This is not the screw-in type, mine has a nipple with an o-ring on it, and bolts to the secondary fuel rail using two bolts.

If anyone has a part number for this gasket it would help.

Can I assemble it using RTV gasket sealant?