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HI EricTheCarGuy:
I need some advise on what to do with the return line on my 1997 Honda Accord as it’s leaking…. and the leak is in the worst possible location… It’s the little pipe beside the tank (right about where the left rear wheel is) that connects the return fuel line from the engine to the tank. To make matters worse, the exact location is the 90-degree bend so I can’t put a hose and tighten it on both ends. Unless I’m not mistaken, the part number should be 17731-SV4-A30.
Replacing it, which seem like the right thing to do, would involve removing the gas tank and who know what might break from there as that area is quite corroded.
I’ve tried patch work – I used the waterweld by JB Weld (advertised as tank leak sealant) to try and seal it, but that didn’t work. I’m not going to try and remove it as it might cause more damage.
So the question is, what would be your recommendation? Are there other options for fixing it? am I going to be losing a lot of fuel if I don’t get it fixed? What are your thoughts on this?
Thanks
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First off, this is a dangerous problem. Fire hazard! Fix it properly, regardless of the amount of work involved. If you can’t or don’t want to fix it yourself, get it to a shop (tow it!) ASAP. Do not continue driving it with this condition.
So if I have this straight, there is a leak and tubing can’t bend that much. I would reroute the hose to permit a bend that does not crimp the hose. If that cannot be done, I would get a piece of line and form a 90 degree bent and clamp hoses to it. Failing that, bite the bullet and fix it right. That’s all I can think of, hope that helps.
UPDATE: Finally some good weather here in Ontario and I decided to get it done right – so I dropped the tank and will get all hoses fixed from the pump, return, vent. After all I have easy access now and might as well do it. I’m surprised that there’s a bit more rust on top and side of the tank rather than the bottom.
Aside from grinding out two bolts where I couldn’t get a drip on the nut behind them, it was a smooth drop. now I have to figure out how to attach the bolts in the same location. I suspect the original parts had those welded, but it seems I was stronger than Hercules and managed to break that weld off. The bolt seize may have helped too.
As luck would have it, the e-break on one of the wheels snapped as I was positioning the car. Easy access now with the tank is down. Bit the bullet and will change the other cable – you know… just in case…
Once they get to that point it gets expensive. Then again spilling gas is too along with the already mentioned fire hazard. When I end up with cars like this I get a new tank, lock ring, sending unit and build new lines from the tank up to the motor. Once that rust gets in there it leaves very little choice and not much that will come apart nicely.
Be prepared to do brake lines. Once you start moving fuel lines the rusty brake lines are liable to break and as it is if they are crusty you wouldn’t want them. Last thing you need is to have the pedal drop to the floor and end up crashing the car.
I feel your pain. Wisconsin dumps as much salt on the roads as Ontario does and it eats everything.
Canadian prices are about 2 or 3 times higher than the US ones, so I chuckle a bit when you say it get’s expensive :-).
To that point, I thought about replacing the entire tank, pump, fuel filler pipes, etc but I need to order the parts from the US; so I’ll be using the current set up for a little while longer. There was work done on the car prior to me tinkering with it. The original fuel lines from gas tank to engine are metal, but they were replaced mostly with hose. There are some metal sections left where I’ll put new pipe.
The break lines seem to have been done before me. I didn’t see rust and also the Honda steal-ership where I had the break fluid changed as part of yearly checkup didn’t complain. They quoted $200 for replacing a break light bulb above the trunk so I’m sure they wouldn’t miss a chance to replace breaklines.
[quote=”ScorpionFiko” post=135546]Canadian prices are about 2 or 3 times higher than the US ones, so I chuckle a bit when you say it get’s expensive :-). [/quote]
Don’t you guys get your stuff from China just like the US does?
SUCCESS!!
Parking break cables replaced and new piping on the tank installed. Did the city drive test and the highway test with full tank and all is good. Hopefully the rain holds of today so I can go and have the car oil sprayed.
There’s always the joke about on TV comedies where a ‘husband’ takes an appliance apart and once assembled there’s extra parts lying around, but in my case all bolts are accounted for. and all of them were anti-seized to prevent future headaches.
We do get stuff from China and for things like electronics, there isn’t much of price variance. Car parts is a different story. Biggest example is the shift cable for the gearbox that I did last summer. Honda dealership around my house quoted me CAD$300 for the part (no installation etc.); a US dealership has the same original part for US$130. I start to think that there are items only US gets and Canadian importers just bring it here, so they need to recover the $200 shipping charge on a $5 bulb.
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