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ethanol and rubber fuel lines

3K views 8 replies 5 participants last post by  ogre 
#1 ·
i bought a fuel tank for my 58 chevy truk from no limit engineering a couple of years back. it has an in-tank fuel pump for the 350 ramjet efi. according to the ramjet manual, i only run premium fuel in the tank. the original in-tank fuel line that connects the pump to the tank outlet lasted exactly zero miles.

when i pulled the tank and pump the fuel line was in shreds. it was clearly marked ''not for submersion'' on the line. i wrote no limit and got no response from them. i replaced the line with a gates rubber line that was marked ''for submersion in fuel'' on the side. it cost me $29 for a one foot piece.

i get an average of 6 months or 2500 miles between fuel line failures. the last time was coming back from dallas on the power tour. i lost fuel pressure in the middle of kentucky. luckily i knew someone nearby with a garage, no tools or a jack but at least i didn't have to drop the tank on hot asphalt. i bought a $19 jack and $19 jack stands from a parts store, dropped the tank and cut an inch of the line to get back home.

the pump is your basic gm in-tank pump. the current line is 5/16'' rubber line from the pump to the outlet with screw clamps on each end. every fuel line replacement i have seen is rubber line.

what can i replace the line with, that will not be affected by the ethanol in most fuel now days?

this is the typical failure for the last 3 times. the line fails right above the clamp.
this time the whole line is soft from ethanol exposure, but the repair got me home...



 
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#5 ·
bullheimer said:
I'M SEEING that people have had great luck with PLASTIC hose.
Plastic is the way Ogre.
If you can find it. You can buy short pieces of black plastic fuel line in a repair kit. It usually has acouple barbs in it to join the lines together.
Here is the deal, the line is pretty tough, and it takes a strong hand to push the plastic on the barbs. But it will stay once it is on and withouth clamps. I have done this many times, it works. However... I realize you have no barb on the pump OK. You can buy a brass compression fitting that goes from tubing on one side to a hose barb on the other, that will work good for the sender tube side, as far as a Barb on the pump probably not going to happen.
If it pushes on and goes on tight, and you can put a Small fuel injection style clamp on it, (real small, but available) youre in business.
One other option , many newer GM pump modules with the sender and pump, have a convoluted plastic tube on them from the pump to the sender tube.Those plastic flex hoses are very durable, in fact They last quite well for 8-10 years in the stock application.
I see it all the time when I replace a pump.You could buy a pump assembly for say... a Vortec engine, and take out the pump and hose and put it on the sender you have. You will notice that they use a very small oetecker style clamp on them. These dont fail, and neither does the plastic hose.
I did 50 fuel pumps last year, and only one I saw had a split in the plastic line. It was 15 years old.
You may be abl to scrounge the plastic line from an assembly that is being replaced, and re use it ( I bet you dont like the sound of that ) taking care to get new Oetecker stlye clamps or carfully removing the old ones for re use.
I Know ...used parts. Hey, I know it will work, and it wont remove a limb just to purchase it. peace man.
 
#7 ·
hard line won't work, the pump has a barb on it.
i'm trying to find find a plastic line that will work on both ends. we just tossed a bunch of old units that may have worked from mustang pumps. i had to google Oetecker, i've seen them before and successfully reused the clamps with pliers on oem apps. i'm not happy with the response i've gotten from no limit eng.
i'll try to find a plastic convoluted hose to reuse. all the oem's have gone to this it appears.

thanks for the replies.
 
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