new fuel pump and fuel pump gasket. it's leaking!

i just got the pump in for my new to me 98. the previous owner, a pretty lousy bike flipping con artist, put silicone caulk and bondo over the pump assembly. i chiseled it off and replaced the pump, cleaned the whole thing, and wire wheeled anything that had bondo or silicone on it. i put a fresh pump gasket on it, too. when i threw it all together, i pulled the rubber nipples through the base of the pump bracket, to their corresponding holes, and i stuffed it all into the tank. when i bolted it down, i dont have a torque wrench, but i tightened everything as tight as i could get it before it felt like it would break/strip the threads off.
the tank was leaking very badly. what could i be doing wrong?
i have never messed with an in tank fuel pump before.
please help!

 

I wonder if you tightened things too tight causing a warp between the gasket and the tank or whatever. Where a gasket is used, it is to fill in the gaps that may be present between the two meeting metal parts. The gasket compresses into each side filling in any gaps between the two parts with gasket material. Over tightening this could cause the gasket to loose its pressure against all parts and cause a leak. I believe that using a torque wrench is crucial when tightening bolts where a gasket us used.

Just a thought.

 

Makes a lot of sense
Thank you

 

I'm with Randy. I've ruined a stamped pan or two in my day by overtorqueing bolts.

Get a new gasket, and lookup the torque setting. Also get some sealant as suggested by derstuka, and put a layer on both sides of the gasket. That should do the trick.

Jose

 

i'll give both of these a try today. i dropped my girlfriend off at the airport this morning. she will be off for a month of training, so i guess me and viffer are about to get very well acquainted, and hopefully it will be on the road soon!