fuel leak under coolant expansion tank

[Kevinlincs]

The fuel return and supply pipes that emerge from the car and curl round under the water expansion tank have sprung a leak.
Luckily I spotted it as I moved the car rather than once driving!
I seem to recall being a bit dubious about how tight they curled around from the connection under the tank around to where they enter the fuel filter pipe, and the one returning to the car connection that sits behind the manifold, always seemed to me to be a bit of an accident waiting to happen.
At this point I'm not sure if it's the rubber supply to the filter that's failed, or the return from the fuel rail as I haven't done more than put it back in the shed once I saw the leak, but I suspect the return pipe as it wasn't a high pressure flood like it would be on full supply pressure, but enough to be dangerous!

My question is, have any of yopu guys had similar issues, and what did you do to make a better repair rather than just replace with more rubber pipe. I had hoped to find a kit available that would replace the lot with braided hoses, surely there must be a better solution that have rubber pipe in such a tight space?

I'd rather fix it now and forever brather than fit another length of rubber pipe which will inevitably degrade..

[SanRemo78]

No specific solution to this problem Kev but from experience don't be tempted to use anything with a steel overbraid on it as you can't see the hose deteriorating. Also be wary of eBay suppliers as some hoses on there aren't what they're cracked up to be! Known suppliers for this stuff, E10 safe and high pressure hose in these applications wold be my advice!
Guy

[lancialulu]

I had to replace both mine recently. They had not cracked to the point of leaking but were extremely perished on the bend. As this was in France I went to my local hose supplier to get a new hose made. Something got lost in translation and  they did not but a new crimp on to the original tail (you must reuse as being Lancia the terminations at the rail are not easy to source), and now I have a nice jubelli clip….

[Kevinlincs]

A good point about the steel overbraid, I had been looking at some motorsport spec stuff on Demon Tweeks website that is E10 resistant and over braided for protection against chafing, didn't occur to me that it would prevent you keeping an eye on things.
I'll take the bottle off next Saturday and have a look, see what size it is (8mm?) and how much length I need. Its an incredibly cramped area down there, wonder if hard pipe runs to somewhere more convenient would be a better solution?

[Rob]

I replaced the fuel pipes on my HF turbo about 20 years ago & it was a right pain in the proverbial. I had to remove half the interior due to the pipes running under the carpet  .

[A1.6HPE]

On my nephew's HF Turbo ie, the pipe burst as it passes through the bulkhead - as above, access is a total pain, especially on a right-hand-drive car. Splicing in an L shaped section of metal pipe worked well.

Leo

[Kevinlincs]

Yes, I did consider that an elbow to bring the pipoe upwards without the tight turn might be a good idea.
I plan to have a better look on Saturday, mock some stuff up so I know what I need to buy.
There's some top quality pipe on Demon Tweeks website suitable for the task, has a liner within so it will withsatnd any level of Ethanol or even Methanol as it's motorsport specification pipe, but equally very expensive at around £20 a length....which I've yet to confirm if that's per Metre or hopefully not, per Foot!
So I want to be sure of what I need before placing an expensive order

[Kevinlincs]

I've ordered 4M of this stuff from Merlin Motorsport, not cheap but seems the best available, E15 resistant so should be up to the job...

https://www.merlinmotorsport.co.uk/p/high-spec-rubber-fuel-hose-by-cohline-per-metre-2240-0600

I need to replace some on the Dedra too, hence the large quantity ordered. I'll also replace the sections from the pressure regulator back, as I say not cheap but cheaper than a fireball!

I'll let you know next weekend when I come to fit it...

[neil-yaj396]

I paid about the same for some Codan high spec hose, but later found Gates hose of the same spec for quite a bit less on Ebay.

[Kevinlincs]

Yes, the Codan stuff seems to be made for Mocal.
Gates do make some Ethanol resistant pipe called Barricade but it's siilarly priced..
The pipes that are on the car now are Gates pipes, beware of cheap pipe that isn't as per spec.