Need help replacing fuel hoses.

[autobonrun]

The hoses from my fuel distributor to the injectors and fuel regulator are cracked. According to my maintenance book, the accumulator keeps a positive pressure on these lines to aid starting.

Where is the best place to depressure the system and drain gas so it doesn't spray all over the engine compartment when I disconnect the hoses?

A 5.5 mm OD rubber line attached to each banjo fitting nozzle on the distributor appears to be inserted about half way across the engine into a larger 8 mm OD rubber hose, which then connects to the injector nozzle and regulator. When I tried to get replacement hose from the dealer, they seem totally confused and their drawing only showed a single OD hose between distributor and injectors. Is something screwed up with my setup or are there actually two hoses needed?

[wckrause]

It's one hose with a plastic center and a rubber protective covering. The protective cover gets pretty badly cracked with age. You can buy the entire assembly with fittings on both ends from the dealer for about $60 a piece, or I have read on this board about getting assemblies made at a local hydraulic shop.

[Mike Feinstein]

When I replaced the injectors on my MB I had the same concern. I just let the car sit overnight so that the engine was nice and cold. When I disconnected the fuel lines from the distributor, there was a drop or two max that ran out of each one.

I'm no expert, but as long as the engine is not warm or hot, you should be OK. You might want to get confirmation first though.

[wckrause]

Mike's right. Let it sit overnight and the residual fuel pressure will be low enough to avoid any spray. If you have to do this with the engine warm, loosen a fitting at the top of the fuel filter and wrap a rag around it before loosening it up all the way. Make sure the battery is disconnected, and you've got an extinguisher near by.

[autobonrun]

Originally posted by wckrause
It's one hose with a plastic center and a rubber protective covering. The protective cover gets pretty badly cracked with age. You can buy the entire assembly with fittings on both ends from the dealer for about $60 a piece, or I have read on this board about getting assemblies made at a local hydraulic shop.

Since it's only my protective cover that's cracked, I don't feel in as much danger. The plastic center portion you mention looks in good shape but I guess I'll still replace them if I don't have to pay $60 each. Taking another look at the hoses, I see what you mean. It appears that I will need to remove the entire fitting at the injector and regulator, then unscrew and remove the banjo fitting at the distributor. Before I remove anything however, I'll try to locate a hydraulic shop that can fabricate them using the existing fittings for less money. Even more strange, it looks as if someone intentionally removed over half of the protective covering starting at the distributor.

And thanks to you all concerning the pressure issue. My car has been sitting for over a week, so I'll assume any pressure has bled off.

[Jim Sims]

The lines are hard nylon with a rubber like jacket. The line does not screw onto the banjo fittings. Instead the line ends are gripped and supported using a special tool while the barbed banjo fittings are pounded into them. This tool is hard to find (I'm told most dealers no longer have one). The old lines are melted/burned off the fittings. I found replacement metric hard black nylon line at McMaster-Carr, rigged up a tool using a metric shaft collar and recovered the new nylon lines with black shrink tubing (looks a lot like original rubber sheath but a little thinner). Total cost about $30 but a significant amount of work. Jim