How can tell if fuel rubber hose used?

[My Nameis]

Was driving today and started smelling gas. So stopped at a local shop as I was worried.

Sure enough could see a puddle forming as one of the lines under the car had rotted.

They said the entire line would need replacing eventually because it all looked to have some corrosion but they could repair the leaking part for now for $60 so I agreed.

Started reading up on how these lines can be replaced and discovered there’s a difference between a regular rubber hose and a fuel rubber hose.

Now I’m worried that they used just a regular hose as I see regular clamps used.

Anyway to tell? Here’s a quick picture I took on side of the road. Can’t get under there to look for any writings at the moment

[IMG]http://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20161024/99210899129660f9b8998efa534f0936.jpg[/IMG]

Topic

[Andrew Harris]

Most hose has writing on it that will say what type of hose it is.

[Alexander B]

Looks like (generic) braided fuel hose so I wouldn’t be too worried, but as ArmedsouthernEr said, there should be writing on the side of the hose so you can check to make sure.. Usually something along the lines of “brandname, fuel hose, max xxx psi”.

Generic screw clamps shouldn’t be a problem.

[My Nameis]

[quote=”AlexanderB” post=178133]Looks like (generic) braided fuel hose so I wouldn’t be too worried, but as ArmedsouthernEr said, there should be writing on the side of the hose so you can check to make sure.. Usually something along the lines of “brandname, fuel hose, max xxx psi”.

Generic screw clamps shouldn’t be a problem.[/quote]

Thank you. So why do they say to use fuel clamps? A good chunk probably little over a foot was replaced with the rubber hose. Would that matter?

[Alexander B]

Because generic screw clamps also exist in really really sh*tty versions that rust at the slightest provocation, and/or cut into the hose and/or don’t clamp very well causing leaks..

Or to put it in pictures:

Factory part

Yes please, this is probably what people mean with a “fuel hose clamp”

Still acceptable (to me at least.) Not the best, but at least its not:

F*ck no!

Absolutely love these on coolant lines, wouldn’t use them for fuel.

But thats just my opinion as a non-licenced DIY’er. 🙂

[My Nameis]

These were the ones used. He put two on each side [IMG]http://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20161024/5bcae01f9ebcf62a4dbf903d8dc96b36.jpg[/IMG]

[Alexander B]

Hm, not great. Probably won’t fail right away or soon, but depending on how bad the clamps really are they might rust, so keep an eye on it?

Or get some proper clamps form the parts store and replace these. A single set (1 each side) of proper fuel clamps should be plenty, and they’re pretty much $1 each, so its kind of a pity they decided to go with the worst, Home DIY store bargain bin clamps to save a few pennies. Makes you wonder about the fuel hose as well, doesn’t it..

[My Nameis]

[quote=”AlexanderB” post=178143]Hm, not great. Probably won’t fail right away or soon, but depending on how bad the clamps really are they might rust, so keep an eye on it?

Or get some proper clamps form the parts store and replace these. A single set (1 each side) of proper fuel clamps should be plenty, and they’re pretty much $1 each, so its kind of a pity they decided to go with the worst, Home DIY store bargain bin clamps to save a few pennies. Makes you wonder about the fuel hose as well, doesn’t it..[/quote]

So the only real issue is they’ll rust? Also he used what looked like over a foot of the hose to replace the line. Is that ok? For some reason I thought rubber lines like that are intended for only a few inches

[Alexander B]

They’;ll probably hang on for quite a while unless you live in an area where they salt the roads a lot.. They’re probably not stainless, so they’ll rust eventually, unless you live in a very dry state, in which case the rubber hose will probably die first. Its hard to put a precise time on it, but I’ve seen these clamps turn to rusty dust in a few years out in the weather.

If you have to take them off for anything, don’t expect them to be reusable though, they’re really not well-made, its all too easy to completely strip them out when tightening them to get a good seal, or fall apart when undoing them after.

Longer lengths of fuel hose isn’t a problem, I have about 12-15 ft of the stuff in my car divided into ~3 ft sections at both ends of some 10 ft plastic hard lines, and that is stock.
Just keep an eye out for dry rot (as you should on any rubber component, really), and I guess in your case, probably rusty clamps at some point or another.

[My Nameis]

Yeah I’m up in the east coast. I mean as long as it lasts a couple years ill be happy. Probably get a new car by then.

Does it matter that the protective cover was cut up and there’s gaps in between the pieces when they reinstalled it?

[My Nameis]

Just thought of this, that fuel line he added slipped over corroded line.

Could they continue to rust if they’re hidden from the elements inside the hose and fragments come off into the supply?

[Alexander B]

Well, the protective cover is useful but missing some bits of it is not the end of the world I guess if you don’t go offroading it or something..
It seems they did quite a bodge job at your local shop though..

Hm, I don’t think the corrosion will be a significant problem, certainly any surface that comes in contact with fuel is pretty much sealed off from oxygen and won’t rust any further.

[My Nameis]

Funny actually read about some people removing that plastic cover because it traps salt from the roads causing rust to form faster. Seeing as it has openings in it I suppose it’s not a big deal it’s not back the way it was. What’s the point of having a protective cover if it has openings in it anyway?

I was wondering that about the corroded lines, if rust continues to rust if hidden from the elements which those portions of the lines would be inside the rubber hose

[Alexander B]

Yeah, protective things don’t always do their job, and salt kills cars. The cover is probably as much or more to protect it from impact though, so something like accidentally running over a curb doesn’t rip the lines and potentially cause a fire.

oh, well, I guess the rest of the lines will continue to corrode from the outside at their own pace, eventually the next hole will form somewhere, if thats right at the end of the hose or somewhere else, no real way to know for sure. you could try cleaning the rust off with sandpaper or a wire brush and then painting the lines with something like POR15? That way they’ll pretty much stop rusting.

[My Nameis]

Thought about that but probably not worth the effort at this point. I’m hoping they’ll last a bit more and if I still have the car I’ll just change them out when another leak occurs.

I found kits online to replace them. Consist of a stainless steel main feed line and rubber fuel hose for a return

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