[Cloud9...68]

I went to pick my car up from the shop that installed the roll bar and did the alignment and corner balance, and the shop discovered a fuel leak while they had the car. It turns out the fitting for the front (so the inlet) fuel line is leaking like a sieve, right onto the exhaust. it's a great thing this problem made itself known while it was at the shop, or two years worth of work could have quite literally gone up in flames on the way home.



Anyway, I'm wondering what the collective wisdom is as far as the best way to correct this. I could either buy new ones, probably from Sunset (hopefully they're still available), or have new ones made. I'm concerned that the threads are probably not the most readily available size, so fittings may be hard to come by. Buying new stock ones would definitely be simpler. Does anybody think there is any advantage to having new ones made? If so, any tips as to what to specify? Thanks.

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[bva]

may want to take a look at Lindsey also, http://www.lindseyracing.com/LR/Parts/968FUELLINES.html. don't know how they compare, but COTS available

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[flash]

fuel leaks are no joke. i think i'd pull it apart and figure out why it is leaking first. is it the line, the rail, or the regulator?

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[MB968]

Dodged one there. I agree with Flash. Make sure you find out the cause so you can be assured the fix will last (and so will the car).

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[Cloud9...68]

It's pretty clear that it's leaking right at the fitting - no sign that it's coming farther upstream. The regulator is new, too. It's a very large leak - pretty much a stream, as opposed to a drip. I really dodged a bullet.



I checked out Lindsey's site. Is there really an advantage to the steel braided lines like the ones they sell (other than the fact that they look cool) over the stock lines?

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[flash]

not really. while braid can hold more pressure, there isn't really enough there that the short lines would have a problem with if they are new. also, without the insulating jacket, they will retain more heat, and that's bad.

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[Cloud9...68]

Yeah, that's pretty much what I thought. Thanks. Calling Sunset in the morning.

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[Lear35A]

Stupid question, I know, but did you try undoing the fitting and then retorquing? It takes a pretty healthy twist to get these properly seated. I'm not sure what can go wrong inside a fitting, but it's a pretty simple concept.What does the contact area inside the fitting look like? Seems to me that if you have a big leak you could see the problem.

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[flash]

that's exactly my thinking too, and why i said to look at the rail and the regulator. if they have a bugger, it won't seal.

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[Cloud9...68]

I agree, but I can't access the tightening nuts with the fuel rail cover in place (Flash was right that I should have left that stupid piece off, this being primarily a track car and all), which means I also have to remove the strut brace. The car is stranded at the shop, and I won't be able to get back there until tomorrow at the earliest, so I don't want to take the risk of doing all this, only to find the fitting is bad, and order new lines then. They're not very expensive, so I think I'd just rather order new ones now (just about to call Sunset), and replace them in one step.

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[Lear35A]

But as Flash said, there are two parts to the fitting that together make the seal. If the problem is on the regulator or fuel rail side, changing the hoses will not help. You really should do some diagnosis first. The brace and fuel rail cover can be off in two minutes, literally.

As always, IMHO. <img src="/forum/images/smilies/968/biggrin.png" class="smilie" alt="" />

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[Cloud9...68]

I got to the shop late yesterday afternoon, and the owner needed to leave soon, so I didn't have a lot of time to diagnose the situation. It's hard to see anything under the fuel rail cover, and I didn't have time to take it apart, and I won't be able to get back there till tomorrow. I went ahead and ordered the braided lines from Lindsey, because there are no stock ones, at least at any dealerships, in the U.S. (the cost was about the same). If I take mine apart and find an obvious root cause of the leak that's easily fixable (like a piece of grit between two seatng surfaces), I'll sent the new lines back. It is a little odd that it didn't leak during the 45 minutes or so that I had it idling in my garage, so whatever it is, it must have happened suddenly, and fairly dramatically, given the size of the leak, which is why my hunch is that the fitting actually is broken. I'll know in a few days.



To be perfectly honest, it doesn't break my heart that I won't have the car at home this weekend (the shop owner says it's no problem keeping it at his shop for a few days). After two solid years of working on it practically every free minute (when I wasn't doing something with the family, or fixing a really pressing problem on another car or something around the house), I'm WAY behind on a lot of other things that need attention, so not having the car at home will give me a chance to get at least partially (OK, VERY partially) caught up.

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[Lear35A]

Amen to that. Since I'm down for seat recovering and PDR, I'm flying down to St. Augustine for a long weekend of good seafood and I hope good weather.

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[tamathumper]

If it's a problem on the supply side, the regulator can't be involved, as I understand it's on the return side of the fuel rail?

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[flash]

it is. did i miss something though? do we know it's on the supply side?

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[tamathumper]

[quote name='Cloud9...68' timestamp='1365037665' post='140871']

... It turns out the fitting for the front (so the inlet) fuel line is leaking like a sieve, right onto the exhaust.[/quote]



From the post at the top of the page.

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[Cloud9...68]

Yes, it really looks like the fitting on the supply line has given way, and the rate of the leak is downright scary, as in ready-to-turn-into-a-fireball scary. It looks like it's coming from the fitting as opposed to the thread. I should have it back together early next week, allowing me to drive it home. Unfortunately, we've discovered some bigger (maybe MUCH bigger) problems. Hoping for the best, but if it's the worst case scenario, it could be a very long time before this car is road (or track)-worthy <img src="/forum/images/smilies/968/angry.png" class="smilie" alt="" />.



The biggest concern is with the lower mounting bolt of the passenger side rear shock. Since I've eliminted the torsion bars, the full weight of the car rests on these mounting points, so I need to torque these bolts to 150 lb-ft, as opposed to the standard 65 lb-ft (iirc). This is within the specified range of an M14 8.8 class bolt, but not by a whole lot (I think the max allowable is around 165 lb-ft). While it was on the lift, I asked the owner of the shop to check the torques on these two mounting bolts, as it was very difficult to get 150 lb-ft on them on my back at an awkward angle with the car on jack stands. The drivers side was dead nuts on 150 lb-ft, but the passenger side is only taking about 140 lb-ft, and then doesn't tighten any more. Feels really bad. The bolt was definitely not cross-threaded. I'm praying the problem is with the bolt, and not the thread on the banana arm. Karl Poeltl tells me he's never seen one of these threads fail, as they're cut into a steel insert in the arm, but I won't know until I have it apart. If it turns out to be the thread in the arm, does anybody think there's a safe way to repair the thread without having to remove the arm? Replacing the arm would be an absolute nightmare, because it means I'd have to remove the spherical bushing, which is held in with the nuclear-grade loctite, so I'd have to take a torch to it, and probably ruin the bushing. Not to mention probably having to crack open the brake line (not as sure about this).



If it is the thread in the arm, I'll start a new thread, but I thought I'd "borrow" some time out of this thread to give the experts a preview. Options include simply trying a longer bolt (I understand the thread goes very deep into the arm, and since the coil-over shock arrangement utilizes a pretty large spacer between the arm and the shock (I'll post a picture later), maybe a longer bold would do the trick), some kind of heli-coil-like thread repair (do they make them this big?), or maybe even drilling through the arm, using a much longer bolt, and putting a top-lock nut on the other side. Could use a huge community reach-out to the universe on this one...

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[flash]

what do you mean it won't take any more torque? does it start slipping?



p.s. - plenty of guys running straight coils on that point, of course they are also running the adaptors there, which help take axial load off of the arm.

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[Cloud9...68]

Yes, it starts slipping. Feels horrible. Not sure what you mean by adapters - I'll post a picture of my set-up, but it looks exactly like that of someone else (don't remember the individual) who posted pictures of his set-up recently.

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[Lear35A]

I like the longer bolt idea. Actually if it will hold 140 ftlbs, with a little locktite it's not going anywhere.

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