FUEL LINE LEAK

[jscheib]

Some of you may know, but I am hoping to clarify a problem.  After driving to and from Allentown and a lot of driving around before and during (and after), I put quite some miles on my '90 conv.  After getting home Tuesday, the next day, I was starting to move the car from my home garage to my storage garage, when I had what I would describe as a small fuel leak behind the driver's door, but the engine seemed to run fine.  I proceeded to drive 20 miles to the garage, to find it was still leaking.  I had it towed to a service garage and we found the fuel line just ahead of the fuel pump was leaking.  So, I called Marck Barker and soon  a used replacement was on the way.  After installation we were on the road again. 

 

My questions are:

 

Have others had this problem?  Could the line become over- pressurized because of failure of a valve in the system?

 

There was no evidence that the damage was caused by abrasion, but there is about a 1/2" split in the line about 8" from the filter. 

 

I understand there are no replacement new units available and the line has warnings that they should not be repaired.  And there are no GM or aftermarket replacements available.

 

Anybody have any ideas on replacement?  I am taking about some people that could possible built a new unit, not cheap because of the unusual fittings involved. 

 

Thoughts welcome!

 

John

[NCReatta]

John,

 

yours is the second line thag I've sold. Another customer with a select 60 had the same issue. I'm not sure where his break was, but it was the same line from the filter to engine bay.

 

Not to say it's a common issue, but I've seen it once before. 

[harry yarnell]

Barbed metal splices are available to splice the plastic fuel lines. I've used them to repair lawn rats (squirrel) bites on the fuel lines.

[Barney Eaton]

The warning that they should not be repaired may just be a CYA statement from the GM legal department.   25 years of technology should have a solution to this problem.   I have helped replace a couple of fuel tanks and as noted by John, the convertible and coupe have different designs external to the tank. I have not run into the cracked or broken line problem.  There are some Utube videos on repairing the ends and there is a $100+ kit on Ebay with an assortment of fitting and some tubing, but I did not find the tubing for sale by itself. 

.  

I hope this is a subject that we can work on together to find a repair solution.   If this was my year to go to SEMA I would talk to people there and look into this problem

Edited November 5, 2016 by Barney Eaton (see edit history)