Well,

I just redid my return lines before I broke my motor down to do the head work. I used a good return line kit, but still had to chase leaks in three or four places, and still had a leak when I tore it down. I decided to go a different route. I used the new caps I had from the last kit, and the o-rings I got with my Fel-pro top end kit, but then I started looking at alternatives for the hose and clamps and came up with this.





The hose is from a commercial truck parts store, and is made by Gates. It is supposed to be good for anything from hydraulic lines to trans cooler lines, including diesel fuel. The clamps are a pinch clamp which I have used a lot in the fountain beverage industry, and are stainless steel. They are now available at Home Depot in the Shark bite plumping section. They are great clamps. They take a special tool to tighten them down. Shark bite sells one, I use a pair of special pliers I have had for years, made by Oetiker who originally made the clamps. (and still do, but are harder to come by. Grainger has both the tool and the clamps. You can also use a pair of tile nippers if you have them!) The clamps are not removable, but can be re-tightened. They fit so tightly around the hose, that I have not even tightened them yet. I think I will try them the way they are and tighten them as needed if I see leeks. I also put a small amount of gray rtv on each hose barb before assembly. I don't know if it will work, but I know the existing system is suspect at best. I'll update this thread with progress and results.

Mac.

 

Looks good!!!

 

Very cool. Always good to have alternative options. Those clamps look similar to ez-clips used on some air conditioning hoses except adjustable.

 

These are the same connectors used at my job for air hoses. The "shop pressure" is 150 psi and they hold up very well. Only problem is they are a real b**** to get off if/when you ever need to. It will definitely destroy the hose section (that will be shot anyway) but I think you could still salvage the plastic caps with a little patience. Please keep us updated, as the leaky return rails are such a weak point on the IDI and account for half of those "Please help, my truck won't start" threads.

 

we use something like that on out air lines too, they hold very well, but a pita if you ever have to take them apart

 

I thought the whole point to the spring-loaded ones like the ones in Russ' kit was to ensure you had just the right amount of pressure. These look good, but aren't they a bit overkill and potentially damaging to the plastic tees?

Mike

 

i hope it works for you but i think most of the air issues come from the o-rings inside that caps. a couple of my caps are original and i can play with them all i want and they don't leak.

 

Whiteboy,

These clamps are just about as tight as the spring clamps without even tightening them, I am going to leave them the way they are for now and tighten them down as needed.The hose is a little more rigid too.

94,

I don't doubt that the o-rings eventually fail, but as the post says, I just did all the return lines with new caps, o-rings, hose and clamps and I definitely had fuel leaks at at least three hose to barb locations, and if you have not heard me say it before... I HATE LEAKS!

I don't know if this will work any better or worse than the current system, I just know it is different, and in this case, different is good. I am willing to give it a try.

We will all find out in about a week!

Stay tuned,

Mac.

 

i had those issues too with the cheap kits.i switched to the delphi kit from amazon and no more trouble with the hoses.it comes with good grade good year hose.i used viton o-rings separately.high and dry ever since.
just ordered another kit cus iv new injectors coming.i don't think we need to reinvent the wheel,we just need to stay clear from those cheap kits from pensycola diesel and the like is all.but it looks good Mac.

 

So I said I would update, so here it is...

So far I am 2 weeks into break in, and absolutely no signs of fuel. I did have one leak, but it was o-rings on the #1 cylinder. I swapped them out and no more issues. What I do know is it will be near impossible to get to some of these clamps if they do need to be tightened, but so far two thumbs up! If I do it again, I will pay attention to where to position the clamping portion of the clamp for access.

The finished product:

Stay tuned,

Mac.

 

Looks nice mac!!

 

Another update. Over 500 miles now and not a sign of a leak. I like the way this has turned out so far. Time will tell!

 

Right on!!!!

 

May be slightly off topic here, so i do apologize, but is there any notable amount of fuel that passes through the return lines? I unhooked mine at the back of the engine near the firewall just to see, and i have naught. At idle, high idle and under load... for some reason this does not seem normal...

I like your idea mac, when we were having problems with my dads 92 we were looking at the same clamps, then opted to just go with regular hose clamps. The kit i ordered did not come with new "spring clamps".

A note to people having leaky o-rings and air intrusion also, dont forget the o- rings in the fuel lines leaving and returning to the tank and at the tank selector switch, took us forever to figure that out.

 

hairybox, i don't think that is right. when i have had injector o-rings go out i can watch the fuel run out of the caps when the engine is running.