Cheap Fuel lines Fail. | FerrariChat

Cheap Fuel lines Fail.

Discussion in '348/355' started by 348pilot, Sep 14, 2018.

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  1. 348pilot

    348pilot Rookie

    Sep 18, 2006
    41
    Lancashire
    Full Name:
    Phil Price
    #1 348pilot, Sep 14, 2018
    Last edited: Sep 14, 2018
    I dont post here often but this is important.
    4 years ago I sent my 348 in to a local independent service centre (highly recommended by the dealer who sold me the car many years ago) for a cam belt. I'm getting too old to tackle things like that anymore.

    When done, one of the items on the invoice was 'make up & fit new fuel lines - 2 metres @ £7.84 /m'

    I thought no more about it until a couple of days ago when I started the car up after a couple of months of disuse and there was an immediate smell of fuel. The impressive looking stainless steel braided pipe was spraying fuel over the exhaust manifold and cat. Fortunately as the exhaust was cold there was no fire. Had it been hot, this would have been the end of the car.

    I pressure tested the hose which had catastrophically failed. on dissection and examination the thin rubber liner was degraded, split and cracked. Cheap hose is not worth the risk.

    As a pilot, I'm familiar with Aeroquip hoses which are used for fuel and oil lines on aircraft and last for many years without degredation. Routine practice is to replace them at 10 years.

    Aeroquip 601 #6 hose with aviation certification is about £50 per metre and would be gold standard. It is also available from automotive suppliers without certification for £25 per metre - but be careful of fake Chinese hose. If genuine, this hose would be fine too.

    Hose at £7 a metre is not fit or safe to use on a Ferrari.

    Phil.
    Picture of offending hose and the liner stripped out of a section of pipe.
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  2. INTMD8

    INTMD8 F1 Veteran
    Owner

    Jun 10, 2007
    6,485
    Lake Villa IL
    Yes I've seen this quite a bit.

    I use only teflon a/n hose.
     
  3. steved033

    steved033 F1 Veteran
    Owner Silver Subscribed

    Apr 12, 2017
    7,672
    Atlanta, GA
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    Steve D.
    THIS!!! 100% this!

    I just replaced all the line in my 1971 Plymouth GTX becasue after a drive, it just smelled of fuel. Seems that Summit Racing's braided line isn't meant for ethanol fuels, in fact, it's "vapor permeable" and you should use teflon.

    Replaced everything with hardline and teflon, and problem solved.

    sjd
     
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  4. 348pilot

    348pilot Rookie

    Sep 18, 2006
    41
    Lancashire
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    Phil Price
    Teflon lined Aeroquip 666 is also a great choice - but I noticed that Ebay is full of 'teflon AN pipe' of uncertain origin. I would avoid that too.

    My point is hose from unknown manufacturers may not be all it seems.

    The hoses that failed looked identical to Aeroquip 601 but the construction under the nice braid is very different.
     
  5. INTMD8

    INTMD8 F1 Veteran
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    Jun 10, 2007
    6,485
    Lake Villa IL
    SoCal1, carnutdallas and 348pilot like this.
  6. steved033

    steved033 F1 Veteran
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    Apr 12, 2017
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    Atlanta, GA
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    Steve D.
    As a note, the fittings are different between rubber and PTFE hose.

    sjd
     
  7. Ferrarium

    Ferrarium F1 Veteran
    Rossa Subscribed

    Jul 28, 2018
    5,624
    Central NJ
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    Eric
    Someone have part diagram for the hose in question? Are those hoses clamped or is there an AN fitting on them?
     
  8. Jh348

    Jh348 Karting

    Sep 5, 2015
    187
    Finland
    Full Name:
    Jesse Heinola
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  9. SoCal1

    SoCal1 F1 Veteran
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    Jun 14, 2011
    8,562
    SoCal LA/OC/New Mexico
    Full Name:
    Tim Dee
    Use the best hose you can get

    More crap pretty hoses today then ever before.
    Areoquip and goodrich are the only 2 I use. goodrich is an OEM to diesel sever duty for a reason, areoquip as your in the air.


    :)
     
  10. phrogs

    phrogs F1 Veteran
    Silver Subscribed

    Apr 13, 2004
    7,113
    Michigan
    #10 phrogs, Sep 14, 2018
    Last edited: Sep 14, 2018
    Aircraft hoses fail too but I get what your saying.

    I had hydraulic hoses that the teflon would buldge out of the braid when they went bad, but hey fuel pressure isnt anywhere near those pressures not even close.

    Good thing it was cold.
     
  11. Wayne.348.458

    Wayne.348.458 Rookie

    May 14, 2023
    1

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