life span of aeroquip fuel hose?

Malcolm

Supporter
Would be interested to know what you guys think the life span of aeroquip fuel hose should be? I have used braided aeroquip fuel lines (GTD factory supplied) for all my fuel runs and today when I started the car up after it had been laid up since last September fuel began weeping quite quickly out the braiding on the fuel line between the filter king and my flash back arrester, just on the one tank. But this makes me wonder about the integrity of all my fuel lines, as if one has perished they might all have perished! The fuel lines are original so are 17 years old.

Any ideas? Thanks
 

Ron Earp

Admin
Ain't nothing but rubber hose under that steel braid. That said, I've got some on the Z that are from 1992 and still seem to be okay. I was thinking about your very question a couple of weeks ago when racing around and smelling some fuel.....I need to check mine too.
 

Randy V

Moderator-Admin
Staff member
Admin
Lifetime Supporter
5 years is about all I see out of them.. A lot is dependent upon how much heat and vibration / movement they are subject to..
 
People are under the mistaken impression that braided steel fuel lines are metal, and thus are immortal. In fact they are nothing more than simple rubber hose with some stainless steel braid, which is designed to protect them from external insult. Sort of like armor plating, perhaps.

A 17-year-old rubber hose is a fire waiting to happen, whether it has stainless steel braid around it or not.

On my Pantera, I have switched to teflon-lined braided stainless steel hose, from Earl's. There is not a speck of rubber anywhere in this system, and thus they really are the next best thing to immortal.

Holley Performance Ultra Flex 650 Hose – Stainless Braid Products

It's a fair bit more expensive than traditional rubber/braided steel hose. I know when I plumbed my Pantera, including a fuel filter, to get from the gas tank, to the fuel pump, and then back up to the carburetor feed cost over $400....:stunned:

I see they now sell the same internal hose with Kevlar replacing the braided stainless steel outer bit:

Holley Performance Ultra Flex 650 Hose – Kevlar Products

I don't know the cost, but would assume they are fantastically expensive. It's a lifetime purchase though, and a far sight cheaper than an engine fire!
 

Dimi Terleckyj

Lifetime Supporter
Under no circumstances would I leave fuel hoses for longer than 5 years without replacing them.

All rubber fuel hoses, other than teflon lined, will suffer from perishing and or hardening due to the fuel, pressure,and heat.

The braided hoses tend to mask the true state of the rubber and or any pinhole weeping which would otherwise be visible is hidden and I personally avoid them.

The cost of replacing a few rubber hoses is insignificant compared to losing the car due to fire.

Dimi
 

Ian Anderson

Lifetime Supporter
Malcom

I guess you'll be making a trip down to Think Automotive in Twickenham.

Probably the closest supplier of fuel koses / fittings etc

Ian
 

Malcolm

Supporter
Ian, that is plan A! Just a bit of a pain to need to do it all now with LMC approaching, but certainly better now than in mainland Europe.

So guess all the above comments relate to braided brake lines as well then? I doubt I am alone in this situation especially as there were about 150 GTDs produced before my car.

Thanks for all the comments.
 
Malcolm,

Braided steel brake lines generally aren't rubber lined (mine certainley aren't) so I guess the lifespan will be longer.

FWIW you'll find that Aeroquip hose & fittings are less than half price in the US compared to UK. I recentley bought some Aeroquip for my oil cooler & found that for a -10 elbow UK suppliers were charging 30 UKP as opposed to 24 Dollars at Summit.

Thats roughly 12 UKP compared to 30 UKP for the same item.

Rip-off Britain I guess....
 
I am just installing my fuel lines. I supplied the engine builder with the hoses I had won on Ebay. I wanted him to cut and install the fittings as I was having some difficulty with variations in the tubing sizes, even though they were the same size. He took a look at the lines and showed me how to tell if the lines are any good, and also gave me some advice concerning the lines in general. The general advice goes like this. If a fuel line has seen racing gas(and probably for regular gas as well) and has been allowed to sit up, or be taken apart, and allowed to dry out for as little as 6 months, it will dry out and crack, making them useless, and should be thrown away. The test for the lines is to bend them in to an arc = to the radius they are made for. If you hear a crunching sound, they are no good and will leak like a sieve. We had to throw out at least 4 lines and go with new. Sometimes trying to save a few bucks is not worth it. He recommended either the teflon lines or going with the fabric covered kevlar lines. Whole nother set of fittings if you do. I guess the other answer is that the fuel pumps should be run every once in a while to keep themfull of gas and from drying out or letting them be expossed to air.

Bill
 

Malcolm

Supporter
I went to Think Automotive today. The line that failed was an aeroquip line not a cheaper imitation. They dragged the boss of Think Automotive out to chat with me and he says the lifespan of aeroquip fuel line should be 7 to 10 years. He looked at my failed pipe and we agreed that we couldn't actually see anything or hear anything wrong with it! Most odd.

As to cost of replacement fittings the fuel line itself was £12 per metre and the #6 straight fitting I got was £6.28, all plus VAT. Not too criminal!
 
>>> As to cost of replacement fittings the fuel line itself was £12 per metre and the #6 straight fitting I got was £6.28, all plus VAT. Not too criminal!

Agreed, not too bad for a small quantity & convenience etc, however, the same fitting from Summit is 7 dollars & the hose 30 dollars for 6 feet.
 
Agreed, not too bad for a small quantity & convenience etc, however, the same fitting from Summit is 7 dollars & the hose 30 dollars for 6 feet.
I agree with this. This is still a rip off. One can buy a fuel hose for more or less 4 dollars a feet. I asked a salesman and he said that it can last from 4-9 years but it i think no one can really predict the precise life expectancy so it needs to be regularly checked for wear and fatigue
 
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Please excuse the dumb question here.... I have another couple cars for which I need to entirely re-plumb the fuel lines as they're 20+ years old. The existing fuel lines are nothing special, just rubber lines with a cloth woven cover and cut ends w/o any special end fittings (just hose clamps). I like the durability of the new teflon lined fuel lines available such as the Ultra-flex from Earls. I'm just wondering if these Ultra-flex lines need to use special purpose-designed end fittings or can I just use this line with cut ends and hose clamps? Recommendations appreciated.

Thanks!
 
You can get informed opinions here, but I'd be inclined to call Earl's and ask their tech department.

FWIW, my Pantera fuel tank has a traditional barbed fitting, so my Earl's teflon/braided steel hose is just pressed onto the fitting (not an easy task) and secured with a hose clamp; it uses proper fittings everywhere else in the system.

No issues so far, after 10 years or so.
 

Dimi Terleckyj

Lifetime Supporter
Hi all

The one thing you have to be careful with when using teflon lined hoses with barbed fittings is that the teflon is not very thick or as flexible and forgiving as rubber.

If the barbed fittings have sharp edges on the barbs it will cut through the teflon when you tighten the clamps and is then only held on by the outer covering.

Even if the barbs are not sharp over tightening the clamps will also cut through the teflon.

Always best to use the correct hose ends designed for teflon hoses.

Dimi
 
We have aeroquip hoses fail quite often at work, seems to be when they have been left unused and dry for a while they seem quite happy to perish, like people have said already they are only rubber hoses under metal braiding at the end of the day.
 

Randy V

Moderator-Admin
Staff member
Admin
Lifetime Supporter
http://murdockindustrial.com/bullitins/hpcat.pdf

Hoses we would use for Fuel / Oil would either be FCA or FBA hose (sttel braid)

from that Eaton/Aeroquip document ::

AQP racing hose is compatible with petroleum and synthetic lubricants, hydrocarbon fuels and liquid engine coolants. It operates at higher temperatures for longer periods. Light and flexible, it is easy to work with, and its stainless steel cover will ensure long-lasting durability. AQP Racing hose also features a patented AQP Elastomer inner tube that is resistant to oxidation, the effects of ozone and other various agents present in the air. Changes in physical properties due to shelf aging are non existent.
Applications: Fuel, Lube, Coolant, Air.



 
I have used a combination of Aeroquip AQP SS braided racing hose and the "socketless" AQP hose for sometime, without any problems.
 
Hi folks ,
Had a hose fail on my own GTD in June, (filter to carb) all the hoses were renewed 2 years ago, as one hose had failed I decided to change all the fuel hoses to be safe and sure.
Within just 24 hours the car smelled badly of petrol, on sniffing the hoses it was obvious there was an issue.
I had in stock sufficient hoes and fittings of an alternate top quality supplier so I made up another full set of hoses with new fittings etc, 24 hours later same overpowering petrol smell in car and garage, the car was undrivable, the hose and fittings I used were from top quality sources that I have used on previous carbuilds with no problems at all.
I then received a call from a customer who had had fuel hose leak, this hose was 5 years old, same hose,filter to carb, the hose that is subject to engine torque shifting.
On reading various threads on other forums and research into modern roadside retail fuels it became obvious that hoses sold as fuel hose is not resistant to modern fuels containing ethanol , a chemist has explained to me the acidic attack such fuels have on rubber fuel conponents is destructive and will lead to leaks and possible fire disasters.
So after twice renewing the fuel system at a cost in excess off £500 I had a car which was a fire risk and undrivable.
My research lead to a Teflon fuel hose sytem made by BMRS, brown and millers racing solutions, the UK technical guy has a gt40 in build so our conversations were fully understood by both of us.
I decided to go with the BMRS system, it is sold by agents, I got mine from Rally Design, delivered next day and only £213.00 over £100 cheaper than the rubber based hoses that have let me down.
The assembly procedure is slightly different from other types of hoses but is very easy to complete.
I have tested the new system with a 280 mile round trip to Silverstone and can report all is well with no fuel smell or leaks.
I can only advise that if you are using rubber or nitrile rubber lined braided fuel lines with ethanol added petrol change to Teflon lined hoses before you have a fire disaster,
cheers
John Oxborough
 
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