fuel line concern

[gserlenga]

I have a 93' Beretta with the 3.1 motor. Recently while doing work I crossthreaded the fuel feed line where it goes into the fuel rail. I used the correct size o-ring (3/8") but realized when it was about 3/4 in that it was crossthreaded. At first it leaked, but for some reason later it sealed itself (o-ring swell? i also did'nt put a few drops of oil on the male end).

The thing is I am smelling gas from time to time, can't pinpoint where, and was going to put some jb-weld on the fitting to seal it. It still doesn't leak, but must be the source of the smell, right? I never smelled gas before this happened. Tomorrow I might try sealing it with jb-weld. Any comments/ideas?

[sil]

geta new fuel rail dude, thats not really safe, even jb quick weld, is not gas impervious, meaning gas will eventually soften it, and it may leak

you can most likey salvage the fuel line that was cross threaded, becuase i think that it goes directly into the aluminum rail? (steel threads vs. aluminum... aluminum is softer, and most likely the aluminum was distorted not the steel)
just clean off the aluminum on the fuel line threads, and it should be good
you can visually inspect the threads if you wish

also if you cross threaded it then there is a chance that aluminum shreds have gotten into the fuel rail, possibility.... which could clog the injectors.


i have a trick that i do when screwing all sorts of screws or bolts and that is to turn in counterclockwise (loosen) it and youll notice that you feel a click.... that means the threads are lined up and thats when i proceed to start tightening

havnt crossthreaded anything in almost 10 years

[prophiseer]

havnt crossthreaded anything in almost 10 years

where's the fun in that?

[gserlenga]

I'm actually afraid to try to pull it off and rethread it since I don't have the parts to replace it if necessary. On my car its a fitting that screws into the fuel pressure regulator on the other end, i think you can order an AC Delco kit that includes the fittings for the fuel feed and return. I would still need the section of fuel feed line, probably from a j.y., to do this though. I might try the jb-weld anyway for now.

[gserlenga]

"When fully cured, J-B Weld is completely resistant to water, gasoline, and about every other petroleum product or automotive chemical"...."can withstand a constant temperature of 500 degrees F"...."Tensile Strength: 3960psi"...

Found this on the Jb-Weld website

[prophiseer]

marine grade epoxy might work also, it is impervious to fuel . . . but you need to give it the full cure time and then some, usually 2-3 days just to be safe

[gserlenga]

yeah, i'll have to find a time when I can apply it and then let the car sit for a couple days

[sil]

i havnt bought jb quick weld in a while, but i do remember using it on a crankcase on one of my dirtbikes, worked good, oil didnt do anything to it.

my bro used it on a gas tank on a dirt bike and it started to leak after a week or so lol
he might of not let it cure long enough though :P

[Syn]

i put reg jb weld on my gas tank and gas ate threw it put the waterproof shit made for gas tanks and shes fine

[prophiseer]

hey, whatever works quicker than marine epoxy!!

[gserlenga]

Yeah, maybe i'll try the waterweld instead of the regular jb weld, seems more suited to this application from what Syn said, but the thing is as I said, its not actually leaking fuel anymore, but i smell fuel vapors, which started to be noticable coincident with the stripping of the threads on this line.

[gserlenga]

Ok I discovered a section of badly rusted fuel line that is just wet with gas, not leaking or even really seeping, just damp with a bit of gas all the time. The fact its right behind and underneath the drivers side door would explain the smell. Specifically, its after the fuel filter where it runs along the drivers side underbody of the car, right before it splits into 2 steel lines (which are not rusted) and near/under the back edge of the drivers side door. Hopefully waterweld will fix this too...I jb welded the fuel feed fitting and it seems fine, but it did before so maybe it didn't need it to begin with, oh well. This was probably the source of my fuel smell problems all the time but it happened at exactly the same time as when I stripped the fuel feed line fitting, why I don't know. Maybe it built up excess pressure which came out at a weak point along the fuel lines.

[tractorman]

dude... don't treat your car that way. You've already got a stripped out fuel rail, and now you're gonna fix a rusty fuel line with epoxy?? I don't even treat my rusty old ford pickup that bad.

Seriously- you gotta start fixing stuff right. It ain't THAT hard.

[sil]

lol
ya i agree, wouldnt you rather have peace of mind, knowing the parts you fixed arent going to break down on you in the middle buttf*ck nowhere

[gserlenga]

Actually i've sunk close to $2K on this car in the last 6-8 months. Its running mint except for this and a few other minor problems. The wallet has run dry on this car and I'm a full time student so I'm looking for cheap solutions that will work, maybe i'll splice in a section of high pressure nitrile hose between the rusted out sections, its about 6-8" of really badly rusted line, the fuel lines elsewhere on the car are not rusted out, and the fuel feed to rail fitting, which was a slow drip leak when it was leaking, is not leaking at all now or emitting any smell, and fuel pressure is good. Obviously I don't want to drive around with questionable fuel lines so I'll deal with the rusted line problem ASAP.