Here's An Odd One...Fuel Leak at Schrader Valve?

[The Fixer]

Did some searching, but this certainly doesn't seem to be a common thing. My daughter came home from work tonight, and says "Dad, the Jeep smelled like gas on the way home." So I put on some shoes and walk out...sure enough, I smell fuel too. Start looking around, and everything is dry on the driver side. Walk to the passenger side, and the cap for the Schrader valve is wet, and so is the rail right in that area. Hmmm, not good!

My son is a Ford tech, so I called him outside. He dried it off, and suggests to prime the pump and lets see what happens. So, key on, key off. A few seconds later, we see a wet spot on the rail. Then he opened the cap and fuel starts squirting out of the Schrader valve - odd, since normally you have to press in on those things to get fuel!

Does anyone know if the valve is serviceable? Or do we need to replace the whole rail?

 

[ltd02]

Most are serviceable but not sure if these are. Wonder if it's worked itself loose. Probably need a special valve tool to remove or tighten it. Tool should be something like that used for a tire valve stem core or the Schrader valves in AC systems and heat pump units. Probably a large valve core tool.

 

[LibertyTC]

Mine has a black protective screw on plastic cap on passenger side of fuel rail, used a flashlight to better see inside.
I wonder if you tried screwing in a fuel pressure tester may help seal it again?
Take the fuel pressure readings while there. Not running for 10 minutes, Vehicle running etc..
Hope this helps.

 

[RazorKJ]

So the valve should work like any other Schrader valve. It’s going to have an o-ring in it that is made to handle fuel. Depending on the mileage the valve could be starting to go bad as the seal may just be giving up. If I recall, I think you can get a new one and un-screw the old and screw in a new one with a Schrader valve tool. I would ask the auto parts store if they stock them.

 

[The Fixer]

Thanks for the responses! The KJ only has 106K on it, but it it's going to be 22 years old in September. I have a valve core tool, so my son checked today and found the Schrader had worked itself loose. He was able to tighten it up and now it's dry and not squirting fuel when pressurized. I imagine we'll need to replace either the whole core or just the O-ring if it's available, but for now I'm going to monitor it and see how it does. My daughter only drives it locally.