Special preparations to change fuel hose?

It's ALWAYS a good idea to disconnect the battery when working on the car. Better to pull the '-' cable, or use the disconnect if your car has one.

Which fuel line(s) are you planning to work on?

 

I'm afraid I can't help you a lot on the fuel hose lengths, haven't had to do them yet, altho it's getting higher on my round2it list.

I've just been re-using the OEM clamps as they were ing good condition. There have been several threads about hose clamps, in both current & old fchat. Search the body of tests for 'fuel hose' & 'clamps' or something similar. Will be doing the same when I get to that project.


BTW, if you just ran your tanks down until the reserve came on, there's still about 4-5 gallons in them. Be prepared, it'll come flooding out when you pull the hex plug in the crossover pipe to drain them.

No special precautions for fuel in the lines on the pump output, on carb'd cars the pressure bleeds off in a few hours & is pretty low to start.

 

Completely disconnect the battery. If you are working in a garage, turn off the heater and put out the pilot light. Drain the fuel out of the cross rail drain, and out of the driver side tank at the hose that goes to the pump. There will be a lot of fumes. Be aware of friction that could cause a spark like using a creeper with steel rollers on a concrete floor. There are lots of horror stories out there. It is advisable to drive the car as completely empty as you can. I usually get about five gallons coming out, and it always makes me nervous. Keep your wits about you. I don't even keep the lights on in the garage when transfering fuel for fear of a spark!!!

 

FYI, as fuel vapors are heavier than air, they only congregate 18" from the floor. So electrical equipment with motors that may spark or pilot lights should be kept that high from the floor, but the garage lights are probably safe...

 

I'm just shooting off the top of my head here, i also need to change all of the fuel related hoses, particularly since watching some of the burning yellow 308 footage in the general forum.

Driving allmost all of the fuel out is a good start.
Extinguish all ignition sources, water heaters, auto ignition furnaces, standing pilots of any kind, electric motors, no smoking anything.
As much ventilation as you can possibly get.
A BIG fire extinguisher, Halon is cleaner, but a 5+ pound dry chemical will hopefully, prevent a complete loss.
Garden hose close at hand, hooked up, ( this may sound crazy, but as a last resort, it costs nothing and may be of help).
Plan ahead, how are you going to do the disconnect, what are you going to drain it into, what if the container is too small, what are you going to do if there is a spill, or a BIG SPILL?
This is a risky operation, might be good to have a back up person available to move full containers, hold a finger in the dyke, (sorry), or just be there for any needed assistance.
You can drain the tanks almost dry, but the hoses, pump, filter and who knows what else, may still seep/pour gas while you are trying to do the right thing. Have a plan to deal with it. A helper is sounding better all the time, someone to chuck the old hoses out into the driveway, pass dry rags, offer soothing words of encouragement and perhaps non combustible beverages.
Cable cutters work well for cutting hose, tiewraps are handy for routing and securing hose, before cutting to length.
Move whatever you have to out of the way for sufficient room to do the work, before you need to get there.
Hose is cheap, have a bit more than you might need on hand. Hose rated for fuel injection is very probably stronger stuff, worth a thought.
Have the appropriate nut driver(s) on hand for the clamp tightening- vastly superior to screwdrivers. Do not buy clamps that require screwdrivers.
Drive the car untill it is nearly empty, park it outdoors and back up an SUV that is nearly empty, (lots of capacity in the tanks), have a lot of hose to reach from the 308 fuel pump output to the aforesaid donor vehicle, rehook the battery and let the 308 pump move most of what is left into the wife's ride, realizing that you are still ging to have hoses full, corners of the tanks seeping fuel, but happy that you do not have drain pans full laying about.

FOLLOW THE FUEL PATH AND CHECK EVERY CLAMP TWICE - this is serious stuff.

Put a bit of fuel into the tanks and do the carefull leak check. Not a full fill up yet, because if you find a leak, the wife's big ride may not be empty yet.

Turn on the ignition and pump, do not start the car.
Use a light and check every connection on the pressure side, looking and feling for leaks.

You should now be ok to start the car.

Recheck everything as it warms up, drive it.

Check everything again.

Fill the car and look for integrity of the evaporative system - this may take some doing, (mine poured about a gallon onto the sloped lawn when i returned home after buying and fillling the car ).

Have a beer or two, (not before), you should now be able to rest easy.

This may seem a bit anal, but is not. Having the love of your life, (or your wife for that matter), burn to the ground would be worse than tragic.

Buy a good fire extinguisher, someone tell me about a big halon one, please.

hth,
chris

 

I've done this so many times that I have a brass fitting with a valve that fits in the cross over drain, as well as a hose that I shove on the driver side outlet to the pump. This way you can ,if your quick with the connections, run a hose into a gas can and not have to use a five gallon bucket which will fill up quickly. If you do use the pail, have another one handy in case you need it. I've had five gallons loose on the floor and it isn't pleasant.

 

One other thing, a real problem leak area is the fitting on top of the canister fuel filter. It's hard to get at and get tight. I replaced several expensive braided lines before I found the leak up there.

 

Greg
Is the German fuel hose braded and where did you find it? Thanks

 

There is a drain plug in the lower crossover pipe there are two hoses there, always replace these. BTW disconnect the neg cable on the battery. I usually run the car till then gas is low then syphon or drain into a large pan, make sure you dont have any pilot lights in your garage!
I use awab SS clamps they are the best!! I also used BMW CA fuel hose and used alcohol to remove the lettering dont forget there are a bunch of small hoses on above the right gas tank also going to some vapor recovery system

http://www.abaofamerica.com/products.asp
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assuming you have a small gas can for a lawnmower or something, the simplest way to get most of the gas out is clamping the hose between the tank and the fuel pump, then remove the fuel pump end. A little gas will come out of the hose, but nothing backwards through the pump.

Stick the hose end in the gas can, release the clamp. When can is about full, re-clamp, then empty the can into another car. Repeat until tank is empty. Of course, save the last (partial) can to put back in so you can get to the petrol station

That'll leave a little in the crosspipe. If you want to get rid of some of that, jack up the passenger side a bit. Finally remove the crosspipe drain plug to get the rest.

I think I just repeated what glassman said...oops :-(

 

If at all possible, do your draining outside so that there is sufficient ventilation. The Stable Limited lost one of their buildings (and a lot of cars) years ago when "supposedly" a mechanic was pumping out the fuel from a Lambo on a hot muggy day and the fumes settled down on the floor. One spark did it. You can not be too careful with gas vapors.

 

Not to poo-poo safety or anything, but are you guys going to the moon once you're done with these fuel line changes?

It may be partly because of the years I worked at a fuel testing lab (with only 1 fire during my tenure, not my fault! LOL), but these will be some super-safe fuel line changes going on, that's for sure! I just re-worked the fuel pressure regulator on my 308 and I took precautions, too... I pinched off the line from the tank to minimize the amount of spillage. Now here's the part that's likely to get me banned from Fchat forever... I used an INCANDESCENT TROUBLE LAMP in the wheelwell for illumination! And I didn't open the garage door till it was time to start the car. I know, I know, thank God I'm still alive!
Still, more safety is better than less, so follow all the suggestions you feel you need from here. But remember also as I mentioned above, gas fumes stay within 18" of the floor, so it's still safe if your next door neighbor has a BBQ. Really.

Dare I say it...? FLAME SUIT ON ! LOL

 

With gasoline I go to extreme's. I read somewhere that someone suggested wearing an approved face mask for asbestos when changing brake pads. Now I think that is going a bit far, but with my girlish good looks at stake, I will error on the side of caution.

 

Wouldn't the easiest way to get most of the gas out the tanks be just to jack up the right side of the car, take the gas cap off , stick a hose down the hole & syphon it out the old fashioned way??

I.

 

Ive done this several times and wolftalk's seems to be the best and safest way,(Thanks) you could jack the right side of the car up to move more to the left tank. the hoses are 40mm water OEM hoses. i have some fuel hose data but will have to post it later. I bought the ABA's at a local store but they can be ordered get the SS ones.

 

Kind of similar to others, but ...
When I did my 328, after trying to use-up most o the gas, the car was parked just outside of the garage and minimally jacked-up with LH wheel removed. Pulled the line at the pump and drained fuel into a cheap plastic tub/container (approx 5 Gal). When the container got full, I put hose back on and emptied into 5 gal can.
When tank was empty, slid tub under crossover drain plug and pulled that.

Put wheel back on, lowered car and pushed into garage for the rest of the work.

One caution about the small fuel tank hoses going to the vapor canister is that they are small and all dried-out. It is probably better to either leave them alone (they are only vapor) or drop the tank. They are very difficult to get-off and the tank nipple is very fragile--don't ask me how I know this. On the 328 there are several of them and they are intertwined. It would be best to mark each one (and the tank nipples) with a dab of paint prior to removal so you can get them back in the right place. A picture or two would help too. Be careful with these small hoses.

Enjoy,

Mark

 

Hi,

The evaporative lines on top of both tanks on a 308 should definitely be changed and as suggested, be careful as the nipples are thin aluminum.

Although these lines are for vapor recovery (into charcoal canister), they have the potential to carry fuel when tanks are topped off and the vehicle is pitched into a turn. Treat them the same as as fuel lines - not good if they emit vapors!

Fuel lines are 8mmID, evap lines are 7mmID, except the two larger ID short pieces on top of each tank connecting to the upper breather pipe - not sure of this size off the top of my head - 16mmID??

Anthony

 

Are these sizes the same on a 328 does anyone know?

rgds

Iain

 

Oops......should have mentioned the size lines I specified are for a carbed 308.........

Anthony