Cold start fuel leak 72 911T

When I start my 72 911T I notice that there is a fuel leak when starting the car. The leak is not gigantic and it appears to be where three pieces of fuel line meet at one of the plastic tees. Once the car runs for a few minutes the fuel leak is not evident. I can not see any damage to the plastic Tee or fuel line.

1)Should I replace the line and Tee?
2)Are the Tees available, where?
3)Should I get a 5lb fire extinguisher in the meantime?
4) Any other thoughts?

Ian,
1) yes!
2) yes, most quality auto parts stores will have them.
3) a fire extinguisher is never a bad idea
4) I speak from experience: my '72 had exactly this problem, (thanks to a PO who thought the car was a Pinto and not a Porsche). When coupled with a set of extremly worn sparkplug wires and some questionable wiring, my engine compartment caught on fire.

good luck,
Jim

My strong recommendation is to stay with the OEM hose as a replacement, even if you have to get it from a dealer! And, be VERY CAREFUL when you remove the old tubing from the nozzles, cut between each pair of nozzles with diagonal cutters, then carefully cut the crimp at each nozzle and remove the old tubing. Replacement nozzles are NOT AVAILABLE any longer!!!



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Warren Hall
1973 911S Targa

I looked further and found a few more slight leaks. Does anyone have experience replacing all of the fuel lines on 72T? What would I pay for this if I had a shop do it? How difficult is it to do the whole thing? Looks fairly simple, which is what always scares me the most. . .

Ian,

Yes, I've done it on my '73, and I'm not aware of any differences between '72 and '73 MFI systems! The only tricky part is the 'T-shaped' recirculate line from the fuel pump to the return line at the filter assembly, and back to the return line at the fuel tank ... as it is a mixed steel/rubber line with swaged coupling at the 'T'! It can be disassembled by cutting through the swaged steel compression rings diagonally with a hack saw. There is a 'restriction pill' in one of the rubber lines going to the return fitting of the fuel pump, which should be removed from the old line and installed in your replacement line ... worm gear clamps can safely replace the swage rings. This is not a difficult task, but it would be easier to have a Haynes manual on hand to view the overall line routing and organization. The MFI articles here at Pelical may help you become familiar. The exploded diagram from the parts catalog is:
http://www.pelicanparts.com/techarticles/911_MFI/filter_MFI.jpg

It really isn't that complicated!

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Warren Hall
1973 911S Targa

Ian,

If you finally got a job, you wouldn't have to do this work yourself. Don't worry, I'll spot you the $20 for the fire extinguisher!

See you soon,
David

Ian,
YES!!! Stop the leak and replace all defective parts immediately before driving the car again. I have just seen a perfectly good 911 that caught fire in the engine bay due to a fuel leak that was not addressed immediately, even AFTER noticing the problem prior to the accident.

Clint