Hey all heres a question:

2 years ago my girlfriends explorer caught fire after we had it towed cuz it wouldn't start here(My theory is the mechanic working on it was smoking under the hood and was checking the fuel rail for fuel and fuel+cigarette = fire, I've seen him work and he's always got a cig in his mouth) anyways after that they said they didn't know why she wouldn't start and we had her towed to a dealership - after checking out the car they said there was a leak in the 'schrader valve' which I guess is a $700 part and with their $100/hour labor it didn't look like it was worth fixing a car valued at $2000. Long story short my girl ended up buying a jeep their by taking out a loan...

Anyways the other day I had some spare time so I popped the hood, found the fuel rail/schrader valve, unscrewed it fuel came out - tightened it back on. Got a new battery(she's been sitting for 2 years) hooked it up and she fired right up sounding pretty normal actually. Anyways I'm lookin at the schrader valve with the rpm's up at 2.5k and can't see/feel any fuel leak coming out of it. My heart is sickened at the thought that a dealership may have lied to us to get my girl to buy a new car she can barely afford...

Anyways how can I check for a leak in the schrader valve?? Visually I see none, would the next step be to hook up like a fuel pressure tester to the thing and checking pressure assuming that if it's in the normal range their is no leak?? I'd rather not pull it off if I don't have too, I'm no mechanic myself but am working class/hard worker ready and willing to do what's necessary.

Thanks.

Food for thought:

If there is a leak/hole in the rail, would all the gas have leaked/evaporated out in the 2 years sitting?? She still has a half tank in her, not sure what it had when it broke down though.

 

The schrader valve works on the same principle as the valve in your wheel stem. If it's not dripping gas, it's not leaking.