Curious as to if anyone has a preferred vendor for rubber fuel lines. I'm chasing down what seems to be a notorious fuel smell in the boot. I've read all the posts and even after some extensive searching by my mechanic, we can't find any obvious source. I do intend to replace the fuel lines in the boot as they are obviously original, however, after doing some research, I'd like to go with the best product I can find. In particular, based on some reading I've done about modern fuels and rubber lines.

I thought this was a pretty interesting article:


Let me know what you think and if you have a preferred source!

 

I've replaced a great many fuel hoses and there is only one that has given me trouble: the Goodyear type with the blue rubber inner liner. Not sure if Goodyear even offers it these days.

Other Goodyear choices, Gates, Dayco....no problems. And I've never experienced the permeation problem, personally.

Fuel odor in the boot can be hard to track down. Don't overlook the rubber seal on the gas caps or the tanks themselves. Fumes from either can migrate into the trunk. I'm battling the same issue on my '85 and have narrowed it down to the let tank...or something in that area. New hoses didn't help....although I was replacing them primarily just on the basis of old age. I was actually surprised at how pliant they were after 30 years.

The condensate traps in the C-pillars sometime leak....but you'd surely smell gas in the cabin if that were the problem

Others will chime in.

Cheers
DD

 

in my car, I traced the fuel smell to the rear of the passenger side tank, where the fuel sender unit is mounted to the tank. (remove the taillight assembly to see it).

I removed the sender assembly, applied a thin bead of Hylomar to both contact surfaces, reinstalled it, left the trunk open for a few days, and the smell finally dissapeared. ( Hylomar is used to stop gasoline leaks).

WARNING 1: removing the sender unit requires a hammer and a brass punch or tool to avoid creating any spark when hitting the round sender plate counterclockwise or clockwise when re-installing it. Very dangerous as the vapors could literally explode. Good practice means draining the tank and leaving it open while you do this.

WARNING 2: leaving the trunk lid open will also turn on the trunk light and it wil drain your battery. Disconnect the battery if planning to leave the trunk lid open or remove the light bulb). I installed a round on-off switch for the trunk lights (I have two lights installed), using an existing 1" hole in the trunk.

 

As far as choice of rubber fuel hose, Gates "Barricade" FI hose is rated very highly as far as permeation rates. They claim it has the lowest permeation rates of any hose on the market.

It's available at o'reilly's auto, amazon, ebay, etc., in 3/8" and 5/16". I've used it and have no complaints.

Gates Barricade 27335 - MPI Fuel Injection Hose | O'Reilly Auto Parts

Using low permeation hoses is a good idea, but I'd also consider buying or borrowing a fuel sniffer like the TIF 8800. It's helpful to spot an unexpected source of a fuel odor.