Rusty fuel pipe - Options on cutting and rejoining

[pickmeup]

Hey all found a leak on my crx last night, after removing the seats to look at the fuel lines ive found the steel return pipe has corroded very badly ( will post pics up when i get home)

I was half thinking of cutting the pipe and replacing with braided but ideally I would like to put a hardline back in, ive heard people using compression joints but I cant find anything in the motorsport catalogues that I can use.

Does anyone have any suggestions,or can the make me up a pipe to the right dimensions, I need to drop the fuel tank to check what the other side connects to

Cheers
Gaz

[barty]

if its corroded then replace the whole length, its not worth joining as if its corroded there the rest must be suspect too

[hellman]

i'm replacing my fuel lines with nylon pipe.
about a £1 a metre.
will find the linkif you want.

[MrSpeedy]

I've replaced ALL my metal pipes on the Vitesse with copper. For compression joint fittings go to your local plumbing suppliers and ask for 'Wade' compression gas fittings

[pickmeup]

i think replacing the whole line could be a complete interior and dash out job so not really wanting to do that

[barty]

to be honest you should think about changing the whole length, i know its a lot of work but if its as bad as you say then its a no-brainer, do you have the wife and kids in the car???
Fot fittings you can try a calor gas stockist but think about what could happen all your doing is making two joints inside the car under the seats where your wife/girlfriend/kids sit !!

[bl1300]

For safety sake change the whole pipe. A car with a fuel leak (especially a petrol) is a dangerous one. Id get hold of a length of copper pipe and a flaring tool and change the whole lot.

[stevek]

I’m going to say straight out 'I'm no expert, others may advise may be worth more than mine'. However you have spotted a poor section of pipe and are looking to replace it, you already say you’re going to look at the rest of the pipe to check the condition here too. That tells me you aren’t being reckless or short sighted, I'm not sure repairing it is such a bad idea. We all know replacing the whole lot would be the preferred option but the work involved could be massive.

I had a fuel line feed and return line that had rusted through and started seeping on the 924. To replace the entire fuel lines would require the whole back axel off and the fuel tank off as I recall. A job I couldn’t do on a car not worth spending £££ to get someone else to do it. It was only about a 3" section on a bend under the car that had degraded so used injector hose and jubilee clips to join the section. Not the ideal solution but the garage MOTing it were satisfied and the general consensus from asking on here was that it was 'OK' to do that.

If you can join it properly and securely then I don’t really see it as a massive safety issue. After all there are lots of joints and connections in most fuel systems and they don’t scare everyone, what are a couple more connections if they are made to a good quality?

I agree you should replace the whole lot 'if' you can.

If you cant I hope someone with better experience than myself can give you a good alternative solution. Like you say the rally scene may provide something.

Good luck with sorting it,

-Steve-

[Dorset_Clive]

+1 on the copper pipe and compression fittings, if indeed you need any.

On the rally car I wanted to run the fuels lines inside rather than underneath. I ran the 3 lines (flow, return and vapour) in (iirc) 8mm 'small bore' central heating pipe. Maybe I'm lucky but on the Rover each end uses a length of flexi-pipe to go to the tank and the injector rail.

[GeezerGarage]

Copper pipe, BNQ or any other plumbing place sell it. 8mm flexi innit. I got a reel of about 20m for 20 quid or so.

If you don't think changing it is worth it then you are insane. I have gone through what you are now with a ball ache of a job and every time I bodged it it bit me back hard.

I'm not moaning as I hate it when people lecture but try and get in the frame of mind that there is only two ways of doing a job.

[ChasR]

On the 924s/944s you can get Flexi pipe replacements for fuel hose which are cheaper than buying the original solid hoses from Porsche . It is also makes changing the pipes an easier task.

In your case if it is a daily I would look at the rest of the hose and possibly look into changing the lot . If not for safety you may gain a few MPG depending on how corroded the rest of the section is (and when it may leak in the future) .

[barty]

i think everyone is missing the point here, he said he would have to take the seats out to replace the fuel line which implies that the fuel line runs inside the car, even if it on the underside i would replace the whole length.

[popuptoaster]

don't muck about with fuel lines, do it properly its not good when they go wrong.

[pickmeup]

photos finally!

[pickmeup]

yeah been looking at replacement fuel lines from honda, if they can get me one that is? Ive run copper and braided ones through my race cars ive built over the years and I could happily replace the section with a braided pipe after cutting the metal pipe and flaring it, just looking to see what people would do if not replacing the whole pipe.
I'm aware of the dangers of fuel fires as ive seen a couple of race prepped cars go up in flames cause of poor conections and old braided pipes