Help needed- Fuel line to fuel filter nut stripped

[celticbhoy]

Hey everybody,

So this morning I went to go replace the fuel filter on my 1996 Toyota Avalon. It’s a very simple procedure but I encountered a huge problem. I went to go unbolt the bottom of the filter from the fuel line with my flare nut wrench but it wouldn’t break it, neither would a regular 14mm open end wrench. I got a mirror to see the nut underneath and saw that whoever replaced the filter before crossed the threads on the nut. I took vice grips and tried to loosen it, and it did somewhat before it wouldn’t come loose anymore and when I tried to tighten it, it wouldn’t. Now it’s loose and when I went to start the car gas poured out from underneath the filter.

In order to fix this, do I need to force that nut out of the filter and then replace the fuel line or can I somehow just get a new nut onto the existing fuel line?

Any help is much appreciated.

Topic

[skim3544]

You can cut the fuel line with tube cutter and re-flare with new fuel filter mounting nut or you can replace the entire fuel line. (I am assuming that the line itself is flared, and only the stripped nut is threaded)

[college man]

sounds like you will need to cut the fuel line back and
flare in a new piece.

[celticbhoy]

Ugh alright haha. Guess there’s a first time for everything. Thanks guys.

[EricTheCarGuy]

In the future use a flare wrench. Those filters are a real pain to work with so it’s really not your fault but you do need a good flare wrench to get those loose. That doesn’t help you now though.

As for what to do, I’m not a fan of cutting the line but it may be your only option and I honestly don’t have any other solutions for you that I can think of right now.

Keep us posted.

[celticbhoy]

Thanks for the help guys. I did fix the issue. What I did was I went to the scrap yard and got an old filter with the fitting and the line still attached, then I cut the line on my car, then got a fuel hose and attached the two lines together using a couple of clamps. It was at a very awkward angle where I couldn’t flare the line to just attach it to the filter, but so far so good with this method. No leaks!

[college man]

not the best repair.but it worked.thanks for the update.

[celticbhoy]

Yeah, i’m doing this as more of a temporary repair as I do plan to install a new fuel line in the future, but I needed the car and didn’t have time to do the whole line. I would have flared it but the space was so tight and I had to cut it further down the line, more than I wanted to, so the line wouldn’t even reach the filter. And those filters are a pain in the ass to replace.

[EricTheCarGuy]

If you don’t have any leaks call it a win and use a line wrench next time. Thanks for the update and for using the ETCG forum.

[Author]

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