2001 Tacoma leaking fuel line help

I need some info/help with a gas leak on a 2001 Taco crew cab 4WD with the 3.4 V6.
My son has it at Fort Carson (Colorado Springs), so I don't have access right now. (great kid, just not real mechanical.)

It's leaking fuel somewhere between the tank and the external fuel filter. He can't see the leak and it's dripping off the undercarriage. I'm hoping to look at a similar vehicle here in Arizona and trace the fuel lines, looking for weaker areas that are prone to leaking (rubber hoses, fittings, etc,). Does anyone know if that portion of fuel line is the same on all first gen Tacoma/4 Runners or if I need to look at a 3.4 liter 4WD crew cab only. Also, any suggestions on what normally fails would be greatly appreciated.

He deploys in 5 weeks and I'm hoping to visit him with some parts, get it repaired and bring it back to Arizona soon.

Thanks in advance for any help.
Jim

 

Fuel line connections to tank are on top of fuel tank and only accessable by removing or raising the bed or dropping the tank.
If the truck lived in a rust belt state the fuel pump access door may be rusted out causing a leak.
I would rule out damaged visible lines before proceeding further.

 

That being said, removing the truck bed is an easy DIY with 2 people - I think its remove the taillights and something like 5 bolts, no specialty tools required, just a socket wrench and screwdriver & some PB blaster if the bolts are rusty

 

Thanks for the responses.

I was able to look underneath a 2000 4Runner that was being parted out. The gas tank was removed but the 3 lines were there. The high pressure line had a short rubber section with threaded fittings on each end. The return and canister lines had short rubber sections that were clamped at each end.
Is the Tacoma identical to the 4Runner ?
The owner gave me the threaded short rubber section of the high pressure line. It appears undamaged, should I reuse it or head to a dealership and buy a new one?
Thanks Jim

 

If the fuel is not spraying out just dripping most likely it is the return line has cracked some place.

Truck fires are not pretty

 

Threaded short rubber section? I can't picture what that might be. The only connections I can remember are the ones inside the tank itself and the two hooking into the fuel filter - those do leak if not tightened to the extreme.

 

Short rubber line male flare on both ends ( I think) from the fuel tank bracket pressure side to the metal line .

I can only guess to take up vibration and make the connection to the fuel pump bracket have some flex

 

thanks again everyone for the responses
Bivouac- Yes, short rubber fuel line with fittings between the tank and where the metal fuel line begins. Unfortunately, not the problem.

My son finally had some time off on Saturday and climbed back under the truck. Well, it turns out that he was mistaken about the general area of the leak. It's not coming from the tank area , but it's leaking from somewhere closer to the engine. He could not see the leak from under the hood or by crawling underneath. The gas was dripping off the skid plate area. He found the fuel filter, but lost track of the lines headed toward the engine. I'm hoping he can narrow down the leak so I can make a one trip and bring the right parts. Deployment is coming up in April and I prefer not to leave the Tacoma on post.
What is between the fuel filter area and the top of the engine as far as fuel lines ? Any weak spots that are likely to fail?
thanks Jim

 

Maybe I should ask: are you sure it's fuel? Leaks towards the engine are exponentially more likely to be coolant.

The only thing between the filter and the rail is the threaded fittings as far as I've noticed. There are other fuel things like the evap canister on the way though, but you shouldn't have liquid fuel coming out of those.

 

Hi Treyus
Yes, definitely raw fuel.
Thx Jim

 

There is a high pressure line and a low pressure line on the driver's side, both pretty easy to see. They both go along the side of the intake manifold to the rear of the engine, you might need a mirror to see where they connect to the fuel rails, high pressure on the pass side rail, low pressure on the driver. The high pressure is a banjo fitting to fuel rail, low pressure is push on regulator (2 screws) with a O-ring - this one might be the culprit. Pretty easy to remove, replace o-ring with intake off, probably doable with intake on but have a magnet tool handy if you drop the screws.

Of course it could be the O rings for the injectors also. Removing the intake is easy, you might want to bite the bullet and replace all injector rings, fuel pressure reg o-ring and of course you have to replace all of the fuel rail washers (non reusable). This is after you eliminate leaks where the rubber hoses connect to hard lines on drivers side although I think a leak there would more likely end up following the cab sheet metal to the ground.

The high pressure is a very thick, double walled hose (mine is 98). I wanted to check mine for a fuel leak and checked FSM to see if there is any way I could turn on fuel pump w/o starting engine. No easy way, you need the Toyota diag tool AFIK.

 

Thank you Alex. I’ll definitely look at those areas. Jim