3.2L with huge gas leak -- how bad?

[86Carrera]

I was driving back from the store today when I smelled a strong odor of gasoline. The girl in the truck next to me said I was leaking gas.

Pulled over and noticed I was leaking gas from the engine compartment. Someone with a 85 Turbo was coming out of his front door and let me use the hose to wash down the engine. When I backed up to get closer to the hose (with deck lid up), he said he saw fuel spraying out of the upper left side of the engine.

I left the car there and will have it towed to mechanic on Monday. Has something like this happened to any of you? Is it an easy thing to fix?

[Max Von]

Same thing just happened to my '88 Carrera. I too smelled fuel and discovered a small weeping leak on the rubber section of the high pressure fuel line that connects to left and right fuel rails as well as the pressure regulator. I figured a fuel line like this would sell for around $200 or so bucks.....boy was I wrong. The dealer wants $512.00, Pelican $490.00, OUCH!!!
I am investigating if I could have the assembly repaired by someone who specializes in hydraulic hose repair.
I called my tech in Boston and he said I would have to remove the intake manifold to access the rear fitting on the pressure regulator. Nuts.
I guess this is not that uncommon as these cars get on in years and heat and time take their toll.
Anybody had any experience replacing this line?

Regards,

Max

[MGN54]

Hey!

I had this same problem too and have seen several posts of the same. It happened to mine right after I bought it and fortunately the dealer I purchased it from covered it even without a warranty!
Anyhow, I told my mechanic about it later and they said that they would have taken it to a hydraulic fitting place to have new hoses crimped on. Have to be cheaper than what Porsche wants for a new one. Just a thought.

Mark

[APKhaos]

Search the archives - a recent post [last few months] on this problem described having a new fuel line fabricated by a shop that specialized in aircraft fittings. The specific shop was close to Andrews AFB, but you should have no trouble finding one in LALA land. Cost was around $150 for a beatifully made SS braided line assembly.

[wellsmokey]

I too have just recently replaced the three high pressure fuel lines. My wrench reccomended replacing the other two lines since the entire intake manifold has to come off to replaced the main line. I still have all three lines if anyone is interested in purchasing them cheap. I too have heard of having them rebuilt by a hose shop. You can contact me at wellsmokey@aol.com if anyone is interested.

[john walker's workshop]

personally. i think it's faster to pull the engine that the intake system. with the engine out, the hose can be swapped without removing the intake. i'm surprised there is no recall on this problem. there will be a lot of fires. there was a recall on a similar hose problem on 944s.

[Max Von]

That's a reasonable suggestion John.
I am at the mercy of having a one to two day window for using a friends garage to perform this repair. I have some fears about removing the intake and God forbid, dropping a washer or nut into a cylinder.
Is it possible to partially drop the engine and transmission as explained in the "partial engine drop" tech article on this site, to access the pressure regulator?

Thanks,

Max

[Max Von]

Just a quick update. I went ahead an took the plunge on Monday morning. Spent three hours to remove the intake and fuel rails complete. Had a new hose made up at a local race shop. Bought 6 new intake gaskets from local Porsche shop.Took me 4 1/2 hours to re-assemble. Started leak free.
I figure to have saved at least $700 or more by doing it myself. The hose alone from Porsche was $512.14
Moral of story, don't be afraid. Take your time and use the vast amount of knowledge and experience on this board to make your car more affordable and enjoyable.

Thanks everyone.

Max

[Superman]

Yikes! Fuel spraying in the engine compartment? I guess there are components that I expect will be beyond "reliable." Brakes for instance, and fuel lines in the engine compartment. Zero tolerance. I'd agree with Mr. Walker. Again.

[Roland73S]

I had the same leak on my '88. I think I figured out why the original $125 part was superceded by a $500 part. The $500 part has slightly different dimensions than the original such that it can be swapped without removing the intake system. It did take a lot of wiggling, but I can confirm the $500 part can be installed in about an hour and change. As a testament to the tight fit of the original, I wound up having to cut it into three pieces with tin snips before removing it. Sounds like Porsche priced the part to reflect the additional R&D and smaller run of parts.

I wound up buying mine from Hendrick Porsche, and after their 25% discount, $380 was a little bit more tolerable. Anyway, it's an option for those who encounter the problem and want to do the repair without removing the intake system.

Cheers
Roland

[Boss]

I replaced this hose without removing the intake. I also got the old one off without cutting it. I took me about 4 hours and I'm not sure I would do it that way again. I was concerned about getting dirt and pieces of rotting soundproofing into the engine and also getting the intake sealed well.

The current replacement fuel line that lists for about $500 is definitely different than the original. I was told the reason was to reduce the amount of bend in the rubber sections so as to extend the life of the hose.

[Harold_89_911]

I just snagged some hood shocks on e-Bay from Europroducts ($15.50 for the set new). In their e-mail, they gave me their website and said they have a special until 12/21 for parts at cost. They have the fuel line listed at $324.49. Their site:

http://www.eurowebparts.com/

[86Carrera]

Harold,
Many thanks for the hot tip, that's a great price. I can't do this kind of work myself so I will have mechanic do the installation. I'll check to see if he's OK with me providing the part but usually they don't like to do that, they need to make money off of part sales.

BTW the fuel line had a small leak in it last year when I had the engine out and I had the old mechanic fix it at a machine shop (that was my decision he recommended against it).

If I had listened to him and installed a new part I wouldn't have to pay for the labor to R&R the part now and could have avoided the huge fuel leak (which could have been a major disaster).

I agree the $500 or so that Porsche charges is ridiculous but the $324 part is not that much more than getting the leak fixed and there's the added benefit of a longer lasting, safer part.

I'm surprised at how many of you have had this same problem I think Porsche should help us out. It's not normal to have fuel lines fail at such a high rate.

Pete

[R22tech]

I just ordered the fuel line for $332.44- thanks for the tip! I have a question though: Mine is not a big leak at all. It leaks at the fitting that you attach to the fuel filter right at the crimped metal to rubber transition. I have it temp. fixed with an alligator clamp over the crimp. Can I just cut the new fuel line, say 5 inches from the fitting, at the rubber and attach it to the old fuel line, cut in the same place, by using a coupler and (2) alligator clamps? This way I wouldn't have to do much work in the way of removing intake or dropping engine. Will it be safe? How much pressure , at most, does this fuel line have?

[Zendalar]

Is there a specific reason why the new fuel lines cannot be made with steel reinforced rubber hose?!? (Well I did it) Its soo much cheaper, just add clamps and thats it. I could have done it with stainless steel pipe (inner diam 8mm) but I chose rubber because it has no seams and I can get the line directly from fuel pump and at the other end are the carbs -> No leaks!

Total rebuild of fuel lines is like 20$ if you do it with rubber fuel hose.

//Zen

PS: My fuel pump is located at smugglers box, its an aftermarket FACET so therefore long and even fuel line with no clamps in between.

PPS: And why on earth people insist on buying Porsche specific fuel filters when you can get normal inline filters for 1$! Well of course if you use Porsche specific fuel lines you might have to use more expensive filters. Use more cash to rebuild fuel lines so you have buy expensive filters too, how stupid is that? Excuse me flaming out, but while you are doing it, do it with reason.