2001 fuel line replacement (aftermarket)?

[lost_cause]

i've got a 2001 3500 cab/chassis and i've developed a fuel leak under the driver's side door. i dropped it off a a friend's place today - he's a former long-time gm mechanic, so he's capable of working on most anything. he called me and told me it was the fuel return line between the fuel cooler and injector pump.

according to what he could find, the lines only come as a pair from gm, and his cost was over $500. i don't know if there are more fittings that also need to be replaced in this process, or whether the $500+ cost was everything. as he had never replaced these, he was also unsure on how easy it would be to do - i guess the lines come in from the top, and he was wondering about being able to get in between the cab & cooler?

is anyone familiar with this repair? up here road salt has been the cause of a lot of rotted lines (i've had brake, transmission, and now fuel lines) for people, so i'm hoping someone else is familiar with this. is there any sort of aftermarket supplier of fuel lines and fittings, or is the gm part the only way to go. also, can this repair be made easily, or is there not enough room between the cab & cooler? he's a good friend and he didn't want to just order several hundred dollars of fuel lines for me without letting me decide whether there is any other way.

he also suggested the possibility of splicing with a rubber-type line. he didn't recommend a normal fuel line as he said it does not hold up long term to diesel. he also was unsure of the pressures involved. he knew i'd do some research, so i'm also asking whether it is possible to use some sort of rubber(or similar to) fuel line here safely?

any suggestions?

[DmaxMaverick]

If it's only rusted in one spot, you can splice in a flared coupler, or a section of line with flared couplers if larger. I don't recommend using compression type fittings. As a last effort, you can use hose. Get Viton hose, and double-clamp it, or use a flare tool to barb the line (or both). The pressure is minimal, and only as much as you'll ever see at the tank. If you are able to remove the entire line as an assembly, you can clean and treat it with corrosion inhibitor and/or paint. This would be good to head off future rust issues.

[lost_cause]

If it's only rusted in one spot, you can splice in a flared coupler, or a section of line with flared couplers if larger. I don't recommend using compression type fittings. As a last effort, you can use hose. Get Viton hose, and double-clamp it, or use a flare tool to barb the line (or both). The pressure is minimal, and only as much as you'll ever see at the tank. If you are able to remove the entire line as an assembly, you can clean and treat it with corrosion inhibitor and/or paint. This would be good to head off future rust issues.

thanks. i haven't seen it to be sure, but i believe the leak is back near the fuel cooler, and i don't believe there is any straight place past the bad spot where the line could be spliced with a metal line. i'll look into the viton route though.

[DmaxMaverick]

Post some pictures if you can.

That complicates things. Hose is a bad solution where bends are involved. Kinks are very difficult to avoid. If you can, remove (tubing cutter) the section needing replaced and fabricate (or have it done) the section. If you [don't have, don't want to have, can't successfully use, or don't have a friend nearby who can] have and use a tubing bender, any farm equipment or machine shop, and many full-service auto parts outlets (some Napa stores, no Autozones) can do it for you. Usually, cost is minimal, and services more available in rural agriculture areas. Flaring tubing ends in place is simple with a good flaring tool. Flexible tubing (hose, usually more robust and kink resistant than fuel line, such as braid jacket aircraft type) can be used in the same manner, with flare fittings used to mate the existing line (about 3-4x the cost of tubing). Pre-made pieces can sometimes be found at performance auto outlets, like Summit or Jegs.

Hose (clamped in place), in my experienced opinion, is a temporary solution. You can use it as a temporary means until a more permanent repair can be made, but history almost guarantees it will fail at some point. Rarely will the failure be at a convenient time or place. That's how my luck goes, anyway.

[lost_cause]

i gave him a call early this morning and told him to go the rubber line route for now. i'm just having him do this for me, as he has a full garage with a lift and this would be a real pain on the ground, even with the truck on jack stands. not to mention i'm generally real busy right now.

i agree on this being a temporary repair. the one luxury i have in this situation is that i'm unlikely to be much more than 5 miles from home at any time - maybe 25 if i have to run to town to pick up something that won't fit in my 3/4 ton. i may check a few places that do lines and hoses and see if they can do something custom after the fact. right now the biggest thing is getting it all back together so it is mobile again.

[lost_cause]

well, i didn't take any pictures, but i got a look at it while it was up on the lift. i'd have to say this was definitely a temporary repair. there's a whole lot of rusty spots in these lines. it's got several flexible sections crimped to the steel lines, and the ones down low are certainly rusty.

we were able to cut the line near the fuel cooler and then remove the fitting. we threaded in a steel nipple and then cut the steel line a couple feet away (about 8" straight line distance, but nearly 2' of line). after flaring it and using a section of fuel line to bridge the gap, everything is in working order... for now.

i guess i'm still looking for a replacement method other than the stock gm part if anyone has any ideas. for reference, the lines are probably 10-12 feet long, and comprised of several sections of pre-bent steel line coupled with several sections of steel braided rubber lines. i can see why they are over $500 for the pair, but it doesn't mean i want to pay it if i can find an alternative :D

[More Power]

If you can remove the line, take it to a hydraulics shop and let them reproduce it. There may be some special fitting ends, but they could splice the good parts of your old lines onto the new one.

Why GM doesn't use more corrosion resistant fuel & brake lines is a mystery. You'd think this would be a safety issue.....

Jim

[lost_cause]

If you can remove the line, take it to a hydraulics shop and let them reproduce it. There may be some special fitting ends, but they could splice the good parts of your old lines onto the new one.

Why GM doesn't use more corrosion resistant fuel & brake lines is a mystery. You'd think this would be a safety issue.....

Jim

are you talking about just using regular hydraulic line hose in place of the fuel line? i'm totally uneducated in this, so please bear with me. would certainly be a much cheaper alternative if it's possible to do that. only thing i can think of would be having to figure out ways to tie the hydraulic line to the frame and other points, as it's going to want to flop around where the steel line is rigid.

for what it's worth, there's really no good parts left in my line. it's rusted everywhere. we had to remove the short nipple/quick connect from the fuel cooler and replace it with a standard hose nipple - even the quick connects are too rusty to come apart. i suspect the line is ok once you start getting higher off the ground behind the engine.

[DmaxMaverick]

I'm pretty sure he meant to have the existing (rusted) steel lines fabricated, and coupled to your existing (good) flex lines. This is what I would do, or perhaps even replace the existing flex lines with Teflon/braid. I'm an expert line fabricator (military aircraft, ag equipment), so it would be no biggie for me, but it could cost nearly as much as the OEM replacement to do that at a qualified shop, at shop rates (machine/hydraulic shops have some of the highest rates). You can often do better, cost-wise, at a local high-performance/speed shop. They should have the materials, and ability, to do it, and are generally geared more toward automotive.