Thought I would post this in case it might help someone out.

For the last couple of months I have been spelling gas when I park the car, (2000 D2 161K). I look under the rear and don't see any fuel leaking from around the tank.

Went hiking in the Superstitions (Phoenix, AZ) last week which included a 60 mile highway drive and a 12 mile rough forest road. Started with a full tank, and arrived with a half tank!!

Looked under rear and did see evidence of a leak. So, time to investigate!.

Checked out manual and set about removing fuel tank. Had to remove tow hitch components as they get in the way of dropping the tank. Then realized I needed to disconnect the fuel pump (manual is a bit fuzzy on this point!).

As the Disco is a seven seater I had to remove the RH rear seat. Manual says build some nifty gadget to retain the tension on the spring. I used a piece of wood dowel about 3/8 diameter and a couple of tie wraps to keep it in place.

Removed RH side panels (A pain!) and then lifted the carpet. This was a real pain as the carpet was stuck to the floor.

Anyway: when I finally got to the fuel pump to disconnect it I noticed that the white plastic top was white!, whereas the rest of it was covered in dust and dirt!, this gave me a clue. I started the car up and watched for a
few minutes.
The white top of the pump is circular with four quadrants, one of the quadrants started to fill up with fuel! I checked prices for a new pump ($400), I checked ebay for used ($99). Then I used carb cleaner to clean all the gunk out, and I can see when the plastic moulding has a hairline crack in it.

I am going to get some epoxy resin and basically fill the two quadrants that are visibly cracked with epoxy and see how long it will last for.

Fuel pumps only last so long, so I expect I will have to replace it at some point, but for now I will see how long my $5 fix will last.

 

plastic weld is a life saver!