My '81 Olds 98 sits in indoor storage for six months during the hot AZ months. When I started it up this week for the first time since February, I got out to see a large pool of fuel forming just under the fuel pump. In the thirty seconds or so that it was running, I would estimate that it left a four by six foot pool of fuel. As you know these pumps are virtually impossible to see from above. I crawled underneath and, sure enough, the bottom of the pump was clean and wet. The pump is about six years old. Suspecting (and hoping) for a cracked rubber line, today I removed the fan shroud to get a better look. The top of the fuel pump was dry and dirty, so obviously no gas leak there. There is now no sign of a leak and I've driven it around for twenty minutes or so. What could have caused this?

 

Check your oil to see if the gas is going in there.

 

No gas in the oil.

 

I would not accept the idea that the fuel leak magically disappeared, keep looking.

 

If there was a puddle of fuel, then there is still a potential problem... If it magically disappeared, rest assured, it WILL magically reappear, and most likely at the most inconvenient time...

 

I had a nearly identical issue two or three years ago. I found the fuel pump was leaking around the seam between the top top cap and the housing body. Weird, but after getting the pump off the whole top cap could be easily twisted back and forth. Got a new Carter pump from the neighborhood auto parts store and was back on the road in no time.