Fuel Line Replacement

[Jesse]

I have an '89 New Yorker with a 3.0, 6-cyl. that has a strong fuel odor.
Upon investigation, I noticed a small leak at the fuel inlet, where the
fuel line comes up the left side of the engine and it connect to a piece of
rubber fuel line and continues to the fuel rail.

My problem is...
I know I need to replace the rubber fuel line and clamps *BUT* the inlet of
the fuel rails are really corroded where the rubber line connects to it.
Would it be O.K., if I cut the corroded part out and use A compression
fitting and a piece of steel fuel line to repair it?

Also, When I disconnect the fuel line, will I be sprayed with fuel?

TIA,
Jesse

 

[Geoff]

My problem is...
I know I need to replace the rubber fuel line and clamps *BUT* the inlet of
the fuel rails are really corroded where the rubber line connects to it.
Would it be O.K., if I cut the corroded part out and use A compression
fitting and a piece of steel fuel line to repair it?

Personally, I wouldn't. If it's really that corroded, replace the fuel rail
and pressure regulator. Bandaid fixes like that always seem to cause
trouble later on. I wouldn't concern myself if it was just minor surface
corrosion, by the way.

Get a good rail out of the junkyard if money's tight. There's *lots* of
3.0s in the junkyard.

Also, When I disconnect the fuel line, will I be sprayed with fuel?

Well....it depends on how bad your leak is. The system may leak down to
atmospheric pressure, it may not. If the system was like new, then the
answer would be, yes, you could expect bad things to happen.

You should definitely follow the procedure to depressurize the fuel system
just to be on the safe side. And even when it's depressurized, you need to
wrap the connection in rags, or take some other measure to catch liquid when
you take it apart, because fuel will dribble out of the lines and rail.

--Geoff

 

[Bill Putney]

Well....it depends on how bad your leak is. The system may leak down to
atmospheric pressure, it may not. If the system was like new, then the
answer would be, yes, you could expect bad things to happen.

You should definitely follow the procedure to depressurize the fuel system
just to be on the safe side. And even when it's depressurized, you need to
wrap the connection in rags, or take some other measure to catch liquid when
you take it apart, because fuel will dribble out of the lines and rail.

I'm not familiar with the particular vehicle, but generally you
depressurize by pulling a fuse or relay that powers the fuel pump and
start the engine and let it run until it runs out of gas. Then you do
the rag thing as Geoff suggests as a precaution.

Bill Putney
(to reply by e-mail, replace the last letter of the alphabet in my
address with "x")

 

[Daniel J Stern]

On Fri, 30 Jan 2004, Jesse wrote:

['89 3.0]

I know I need to replace the rubber fuel line and clamps

Be absolutely certain you use EFI hose and the correct clamps. If the hose
does not say "30R9" on it, it is not acceptable. The lesser grades (30R5,
30R6, 30R7, 30R8) are not rated for the pressures involved in your EFI
system. The correct clamps are completely smooth inside, and the edges are
rolled. Standard worm-drive clamps aren't acceptable.

(As usual, of course, idiot "Nomen Nescio" has chimed in with baseless
claims of "improper engineering". Ignore him.)

*BUT* the inlet of the fuel rails are really corroded where the rubber
line connects to it.

Depending on the extent of the corrosion, you'll either need to clean it
thoroughly to remove the corrosion, or replace the fuel rail.

Would it be O.K., if I cut the corroded part out and use A compression
fitting and a piece of steel fuel line to repair it?
No.


Also, When I disconnect the fuel line, will I be sprayed with fuel?

It's essential to depressurize the fuel system prior to working on it so
this does not happen.

DS