The fuel valve on the Subaru 360 sedan sits directly below the gas tank
and directly above the engine.
Mine would leak whenever I turned the key! Not good.
The first step was to drain the gas tank. To do this I sat a gas
can next to the engine bay,
disconnected the fuel line from the carb and ran it into the gas
can. I then loosened the screw
on the fuel valve and moved the diaphram (the round part) forward until
gas started flowing.
Be aware that if you move it too far gas will start to leak out.
It took a while but eventually the tank was empty.
I removed the valve, removed the locking screw and pulled out the
diaphram. This is what I found.
The rubber tip that closes off the flow of fuel (and pulls away under
vacuum from the engine to open the fuel line)
was torn, which was the cause of the leak.
There is a glue that one can get at any hardware store that is gas
resistant, so I figured I would give it a try here.
It is quite thick, so I heated the tube in a glass of hot water, which
helped it flow around the cut.
Here is the patched-up valve tip
There is a gas strainer that sits at the top of the fuel valve.
It protrudes up into the gas tank and keeps out the worst of whatever
is floating around in the tank. Mine was badly flattened; a
screwdriver helped to re-shape it.
The nut that sits between the fuel valve and the gas tank has a rubber
gasket in the center in it; unfortunately that gasket was crumbling.
To be sure that the connections would not leak, some "plain old" teflon
tape on the threads of the valve and the tank is keeping the gas in.
The fuel valve in place. the clear tube is the vacuum line coming
from the carb. The gas line is behind it in this picture.
The ethanol mixed into "modern gas" apparently plays havoc on the
rubber tip of the valve.
Fortunately I have a spare; we shall see how long they last!
