Injector line fuel seepage

[pkhoury]

Hopefully none of these posts are stupid questions...

Fuel line seepage. What's considered normal on an ALH? I was fiddling with replacing fuel lines the other night, trying to get rid of some steady dripping. I mostly got rid of that, but I can still get some diesel on my fingers underneath the fuel line for injector 3, and some seepage at the top of injector 2 and 3. Is this even worth f**king with, or just don't worry about it and drive along? Not wild about buying new injector lines at $88/pop, but I only have so much patience to try junkyard injector lines...

 

[STDOUBT]

What's considered normal on an ALH?

No seepage; no seepage is normal.

Is this even worth f**king with

Yes, it absolutely is worth f**king with. Once your engine catches fire, you need to pretty much just walk away.
And given the running pressure involved, it's not inconceivable a small leak/drip could turn into a pisser and get things pretty wet.
The flashpoint of diesel fuel depends on what kind of fuel it is. The most common diesel used on the road today is known as #2 diesel. According to a Material Safety Data Sheet published by ConocoPhillips, the flashpoint of diesel fuel is between 125 and 180 degrees Fahrenheit (52 to 82 degrees Celsius).
I read that to mean, a fuel leak, should it happen to reach flashpoint temp and then somehow ignite starts your fuel system on fire from the outside. Rare, yes. Horrifying, [omg]

Have you inspected the fuel lines' bubble flare fitting? is the 'bubble' flattened a bit compared to the others? Is it smooth?
I think torquing them down too tight can deform them and they lose seal. How about the top of the injector (bowl). Any pitting or abrasion? Each end of the line should be tightened "together" so as to have no tension between the ends - which translates into torsion along the pipe.

 

[jmodge]

Definitely fix it. Seems I had to lap a couple before. Don't over tighten them. Draw the nut down to where you can still move the line and rock or rotate a little until it feels seated and snug it up. Sometimes you have to screw around awhile to get the feel of it.

 

[pkhoury]

No seepage; no seepage is normal.

Yes, it absolutely is worth f**king with. Once your engine catches fire, you need to pretty much just walk away.
And given the running pressure involved, it's not inconceivable a small leak/drip could turn into a pisser and get things pretty wet.
The flashpoint of diesel fuel depends on what kind of fuel it is. The most common diesel used on the road today is known as #2 diesel. According to a Material Safety Data Sheet published by ConocoPhillips, the flashpoint of diesel fuel is between 125 and 180 degrees Fahrenheit (52 to 82 degrees Celsius).
I read that to mean, a fuel leak, should it happen to reach flashpoint temp and then somehow ignite starts your fuel system on fire from the outside. Rare, yes. Horrifying, [omg]

Have you inspected the fuel lines' bubble flare fitting? is the 'bubble' flattened a bit compared to the others? Is it smooth?
I think torquing them down too tight can deform them and they lose seal. How about the top of the injector (bowl). Any pitting or abrasion? Each end of the line should be tightened "together" so as to have no tension between the ends - which translates into torsion along the pipe.

I did look at the flare fitting. Two of my lines had some minor rust, that I wipped off on a coarse towel. They were a lot worse before. I actually need to do a compression test on my Ute, so depending on how those lines look, I might just steal them and put them on my car, since that car doesn't see a lot of use, and I'm concerned it has s#it compression anyways (light haze of white-ish smoke at idle, even when the engine is up to temp).

 

[rocky raccoon]

Even if your ride does not burst into flame (unlikely) a fitting that leaks fuel out also leaks air in. Air in your Diesel fuel lines will result in rough idling/running and the possibility of driveability issues.

 

[pkhoury]

Definitely fix it. Seems I had to lap a couple before. Don't over tighten them. Draw the nut down to where you can still move the line and rock or rotate a little until it feels seated and snug it up. Sometimes you have to screw around awhile to get the feel of it.

I think I finally fixed my issue. Someone told me I needed to put on the anti-vibration clips first, with the nuts finger tight, then snug up.

I wasn't sure if the lines were my problem, so I bought 3 new lines. All of them have incorrect bends on them, but I was able to reuse older lines and got everything snugged up. It passed my midnight road test, and the car seemed to be performing good as well.

 

[jmodge]

Good to hear, I also put the grommets on first. I remember my first time trying to get those to seal up was pretty frustrating, but after a while I found a way that worked also,

 

[pkhoury]

Yeah, I didn't know there was a proper order, but I do now. IT's still crappy that the brand new lines I had inadvertently ordered all had weird incorrect bends to them, though.