In need of braided fuel line 97 4.0L SOHC :-(

[Jeffair10]

Thanks! I will call them tomorrow

 

[cvinfamous]

Fuel Lines

If you find the cheaper then please let me know. I am looking for the same lines that hook into the fuel rail. I have a 1998 Ford Explorer 4.0 SOHC. Same thing happened to me. If you get these for a better price than the dealership let me know, the quoted me 472.00 with a military discount still to much!! Thanks

Chris
cvinfamous973@yahoo.com

 

[spindlecone]

If you find the cheaper then please let me know. I am looking for the same lines that hook into the fuel rail. I have a 1998 Ford Explorer 4.0 SOHC. Same thing happened to me. If you get these for a better price than the dealership let me know, the quoted me 472.00 with a military discount still to much!! Thanks

Chris
cvinfamous973@yahoo.com

Chris
How did this also happen to you? jump starting? where did you connect the cables? any pics?

 

[cvinfamous]

I was in Iraq for a year came home and smelt a strong fuel smell, I had a bad o2 sensor changed that out and it smelled stronger, started to inspect and came upon the lines. Car is rarely used for jump starting, and never connect in that area. I am not sure how it happened. Any find any lines for a decent prices?

 

[Jeffair10]

Hi,
Well I haven't found these darn lines for under $415.00, therefore I spliced the bloody thing with 1/4 tube splicer that is made for an airhose; bought at Home Depot for $2.99..
I had to use a belt sander to take off 1/32 or so of the high edges off both sides of the splicer, as it was too tight without doing so. I soaked the two ends of the line in really hot water for a couple of minutes, and then jammed the lines on as far as I could - which was just shy of all the way. I then secured both sides with two hose clamps per side.

I let it run and drove it for about an hour and there is no trace of a leak I will continue to search for a proper replacement though.

What a PITA to get the brackets back on...especially the bottom one :fire:

FYI if you don't yet know, this forbidden bracket that caused the leak is DIRECTLY below the oil fill hole. Look there and you will find those "golden" (stainless steel braided) fuel lines running behind it.
I am not yet allowed to post pics so I will upload a pic to my website and direct you there in a few..

 

[BrooklynBay]

Is this tube splicer a tubing cutter, or just a hose cutter that is used on rubber hose, and sometimes pvc tubing? They have something like this that is the squeeze type.

 

[Jeffair10]

THIS is what I purchased, and just used the splice barb. It works!

 

[BrooklynBay]

Could you please fix that link? A bunch of power tools, and generators came up.

 

[Jeffair10]

I did
I got mine at Home Depot, but you can do a Google seacrh for Hose splicer barb and gain all sorts of choices.
Keep in mind that 1/4" a is a bit too big, as I intially tried to jam it in w/o shaving and it started to split the inner liner I used my beltsander to shave it down very little, while being careful to not shave a flat spot. You don't want to shave it so much that it becomes smooth either. Also I used a small hack saw to cut the line; *** be sure to make a mark 2 or 3" away from the leak so you can reference it after you wrap the line with tape (I used electrical). Cause if you don't wrap it first, it may fray quite badly...

I had no choice really but to try this, as my other ride is having rear end problems and the weather is not appropriate for the bike yet.

 

[BrooklynBay]

Did you buy this as a kit, or was it just sold as individual pieces?

 

[BrooklynBay]

They sell the same thing in plastic, but I'm not sure if it could be used with that kind of heat, and pressure. There are other kinds of clamps that don't dig into the hose like these. They are used on fuel injected lines. These types are known for having rubber coming out of the holes on the sides. I guess you didn't have that problem, since they are going around braided stainless steel.

 

[white95explorer]

Correct me if i'm wrong but i thought you could buy kits to make your own braided lines?

 

[Jeffair10]

I bought the kit just as shown, and added another hose clamp. I checked the other smooth type hose clamps for fuel injection lines and they seemed like they wouldn't tighten small enough. As you mentioned, there was not a problem with the braided lines coming through the above clamps.

Yes there are kits to make your own braided lines, but I do not know how to attach the tubing that bolts to the fuel injection rail or the spring clamp at the other end. Furthermore, I haven't found any aftermarket braided lines that are as small as those on the truck.

On a side note, I had never had a working cruise control, even though the "test" checked out all systems go. But when I took the intake cover off to work on the fuel lines, I noticed that a cable that was supposed to be attached to the outside of the throttle body was broken off and just hanging there... So I cut the broken nub off said throttle body and drilled a small hole in it where the nub was. Then I drilled a larger hole in the plastic end of the cable where it would have clipped on to the nub... I then threaded a small screw in through the plasic end of the cable and into the throttle body. I left it loose so the cable could move with the throttle body as it was supposed to....and now my cruise works

 

[BrooklynBay]

Home Depot, and plumbing stores have braided hose that is 1/4", and 3/8". The ones for a washing machine are 5/8", and the ones for a hot water tank are 3/4". 1/4" is used on ice maker lines for refrigerators, and 3/8" is for faucets, and toilets. You would have to slice the ends off, and use the braided hose in the appropriate size. If you ever want to replace the whole line in the future, you would have to use a fuel line disconnect tool, and connect one of these hoses onto it. You wouldn't need the brass fitting kit for that. The hose would go from end to end without any adapters, just hose clamps on each end.