Okay it's been many years since I posted here, hopefully I can get some good feedback. I still own my 01 vette and it now has about 50,000 miles on it. Hopefully someone can chime in that has had the same exact problem I'm having or knows what the issue is. About a month ago I was filling the tank and when I got to about the three-quarter mark I noticed some fuel dripping from under the rocker panel just behind the driver’s seat. I stopped pumping and watched the drip, it was an even flow and then to a drip and stopped after about a minute or less. Went home and nothing was dripping. Over the next few weeks I drove the car to the fuel gauge went down to about one third of the tank, this weekend I went to fill it up again and paying attention this time. Started filling and at about the three-quarter mark I noticed it started dripping again, and again the same thing happened at drip for about a minute or less only a few ounces of fuel and then it stopped. At this point I have just over three quarters of the tank. I drove home put my vette in the garage no drip nor did I smell any gas. The next morning went to check on it, nothing dripping so I started it up and put it in drive in reverse over and over sloshed the gas around to see if I would smell gas or see any gas leaking, and nothing. So if there is anyone that had the same issue, please let me know and what has to be done, it would be greatly appreciated, thanks everyone.

 

 

Last time I overfilled, gas came dripping out just behind the driver's seat off the lower rocker panel. I waited until it dried up before I drove. (Wasted 15-20 minutes doing so).

Perhaps you simply overfilled and the safety thing-a-ma-jig is doing its job like it did for me. Yes, there is a safety overflow valve that opens to allow excess fuel "leak out".

If you believe something is amiss, I'd say your fuel gauge could be suspect and you are filling when its fuller than the gauge is reading.

Just keep an eye on it and note fuel gauges vs how much your pumping.

By all means, do not drive the car with wet gas on the underside. Hot pipes may ignite the fuel causing for a very bad day.

Good luck!

 

Its not uncommon for the "crossover tube" to leak.

C5s have 2 fuel tanks, one behind the passenger seat and one behind the driver set. They have large tube that connects them which carries fuel mostly when filling up the tank, and could only have fuel in it when the level is more than 1/2 or 2/3rds. It could leak while the car is running, because of how the fuel pumps between the tanks.

Do a search for "fuel crossover tube" or "fuel crossover hose" and you'll see people describe the symptoms.

Hopefully its not your issue. Its a pretty labor intensive repair ($$$$).

Here's a picture of the tanks (yes, technically they're a little different because these are from an '04, but you get the idea). The crossover tube is the large tube connecting both tanks. I believe in most C5s its actually a rubber hose.

 

I had received a recall notice about the crossover tube leak and it mentioned fuel smell or dripping when filling the tank.

 

You probably have a loose hose clamp/fitting on the left side at the top of the tank. You should access it and inspect and at least tighten to hose fill clamp. The left tank is filled first and then fuel flows over to the right tank. I think your leak starts once the left tank is full and starts filling the right tank.

Access can be done by removing the wheel and then the plastic wheel house liner.

I would do that to see if you can fix the issue. If not, then what I would do is to inspect the area while a friend slowly puts in gas from a container. Suggest you disconnect the negative battery cable first.

 

Since its a 01 it's a easy fix I pulled my tank and all out in about 30 minutes. I have a write up somewhere around here

 

I agree. If he wants to perform a DIY I can also send him a PDF of the FSM procedure if you don't.

OP, We can also provide the guidance for pumping the fuel out of the left tank in case you need to pull the tank to replace an O-ring seal etc.

 

I had a similar issue, but the fuel would come out of the fill tube at the top indicating full. I would get in the car turn the key on and the gauge would only show 1/2 full. This happened only at one particular station and wrote it off as maybe a equipment issue there. After a period of time I experienced it again at a different station , but then noticed what was causing the issue. The cement pad area that I was parked on at both stations were not level, Huh!, if I pulled in one way with the gas filler facing the up side of level , no problem, but with filler facing the down side of slope it would puke gas. This was a weird thing, go figure !! Does this make sense, I hope so.

 

Hi everyone, thanks for all the responses. As I indicated in my first post my fuel tank is about a hair over three quarters full and haven't driven it since. So this morning, I took a gas can and got some gas , came home and decided to fill the tank and see if anything drips. Well I poured 2 1/2 gallons into the tank and not one drip. So this tells me a couple of things, the gas tank was not full and my fuel gauge is working correctly. I might note that a couple years after buying my Vette I started having problems with the fuel gauge freezing up, after doing the research and suggestions to use Techron fuel additive, which I've been using ever since, and to date have never had any more issues with my fuel gauge, also the only fuel I use is shell. So after pouring 2 1/2 gallons into the tank, it is pretty much at full mark. Another thing I tried was I got a small bottle of water and poured it in the gas overflow cup see if it would drip in the same place as the gas was dripping and it did, pretty much the exact spot. The thing is when I was pumping the gas, I didn't notice any fuel coming back from the filler tube nor did the fuel handled kickoff. I guess I'm going to have to pay real close attention the next time I go to refuel and see if any gas backs up the filler tube. I'll keep you posted.

 

Good job...thanks for the update.. hope you have no more issues.