I was running around in the beast today after sitting for almost a week. I hadn't been driving it because it was low on gas and I was driving my matchbox instead. I stopped a put some gas in and went along to my next errand.

When I came out to of that stop I noticed something dripping right behind the left rear tire. I dropped down and looked behind the fender and the fill neck was leaking at where the steel and rubber meet. I figured that the rubber might just be tired and headed for home. On the way it occurred to me I had heard mention of issues with ethanol and all gas around here has some ethanol in it "up to 5%" I believe.

I didn't have time to do much more than run inside and grab a soggy sliver of soap out of the shower and run back out and and smear it all over the area that might be leaking. I then had to get ready to get to work and haven't had time to investigate further.

So I need to know if I just have tired rubber fitting or I'm going to need a replace all my flexible fuel line PDQ before the truck becomes Roast Beast. I just replaced my fuel pump could ethanol have contributed to it failing?

 

Ethanol creates problems for these old trucks. It acts as a detergent and breaks loose all the gunk that has formed in our gas tanks and lines over the years. It also accelerates deterioration of the OEM rubber lines which were designed and installed long before thoughts of general use of ethanol blended fuel. Ethanol also attracts moisture which can be a problem for vehicles which are not used regularly.

On my 77, I have replaced the rubber line between the main steel line and fuel pump, and between the steel line and fuel filter. The only rubber fuel line I have yet to replace is from the fuel tank to the steel line running to the front of the truck. Haven't been inclined to drop the tank so far.

I would just get some rubber fuel hose and start replacing those hoses, especially if the hoses on your truck are original, or replacement hoses that were not not manufactured in the last few years.

As far as fuel pump failure, ethanol could have contributed to it I guess, but if it was the original pump it could have just failed from age and use.

 

Thanks,

The rubber actually looks to be in pretty good shape, it isn't faded or have any visible cracks or cuts. I do know the PO dropped the tank and drained it and I was assuming he replaced the rubber fill hose. Even the hose clamps look fairly new as they would be less than a year old. It's possible they just loosened up a bit and need to be tightened. Is there a way to tell if the rubber is ethanol safe?

If I have to drop the tank I might as well replace it as the bottom has a repair where it looks like the rim of the spare had worn a hole. I'm thinking there was originally some sort of pad that went between the spare and the tank to keep this from happening.

If anything I should probably replace the rubber near the engine so I don't get a fire. While I'm at it, is there a particular reason the fuel line runs from the pump on the lower right of the engine block, up across the top of the water pump housing and around the left side of the distributor? There is so much stuff on that side of the distributor it's total pain to get at anything there. I was considering just running the line straight up from the pump to the carburetor. There is absolutely nothing on the right side of the dist and it would give plenty of room to put a bigger filter on and run a regulator. I would just have to make sure to leave myself enough room to get at the distributor clamp for timing adjustments.

 

You need fuel hose with 30 R9 printed on it.. R7 is not ethanol resistant.

 

I have run fuel lines on the other side where there is more room . It kinda depends on what kind of carb you have and where the line goes in. I have put a 45 degree angle fitting at the inlet to the carb so i can get the line in with out kinking it. Most of the time there is more room on that side depending on what else is there ,air comp. ect.

 

Ethonal will kill a carb faster than anything. I talked to a repair shop and they tyell me that the ethonal has been the best thing for their business. There is still none ethonal stations around. Cost more but you won't have the problems of gas with ethonal. Here is a link to where you can get ethonal free gas. Ethanol-free gas stations in the U.S. and Canada

 

On my dent, I replaced all 3/8" flex fuel lines and the carb with reman. The old soft alcohol soaked fuel lines were collapsing and causing power loss and stalling. The 35 YO carb was plugged. The new stuff (including carb) should be alcohol resistant. It runs fine now.

 

Thanks for the input guys.

I went to my local parts guy and he is going to track down some ethanol safe rubber for me.

What does this stuff do to carbs? I rebuilt it just a few months ago and definitely can't afford to buy a re-manufactured one at this time. If I'm going to replace the carb I'll go all out and get a new manifold and aftermarket etc. which is going to be quite a ways down the road. Anything I can do to counteract any carb damage or other issues?

Although I'm in the Salt Lake valley, the station listed on that site is about twice as far away from where I usually drive these days, especially in the truck and it would probably take a good portion of my tank to run up there and back with any type of regularity.

 

Be sure to replace ALL the rubber fuel lines on your truck. Back in the late 70's and early 80's when I drove a tow truck (Yes it was a dent!) I noticed that the two most common vehicles that caught fire where VW Bugs and Ford Trucks. This was usually caused by leaking or cracked fuel lines.

I had replaced all of my fuel lines several years ago and I'll be replacing them again soon as this has become a regular maintenance routine.

 

I was at least planning on getting everything under the hood replaced ASAP. If I can't get what I need back on the tank right away at least I won't have to worry about my Dent turning into a mobile BBQ with a 1/2 ton frankfurter capacity.

 

Ethanol is garbage . On older vehicles as is stated previously it deteriorates the rubber compounds .
It also is detrimental to the newer plastics in fuel systems . It causes fuel gauge sending units to malfunction .
Why make fuel out of food !!?? It causes more problems then it "fixes" it isn't even efficient !
Best thing you can hope to do is keep the fuel in your truck fresh , constantly cycling the old stuff out ( running the engine )

 

Preaching to the choir here.

Until we get some folks in state houses and on capital hill that have enough stones to tell the nature *****, socialists and lobbyists to go pound sand we don't have much choice in the matter. It's all political, there is absolutely no benefit to anyone overall in the use of ethanol. It's not like the ban on leaded gas which did have tangible impact on health and the environment. There were adaptations that needed to be made to accommodate "no-lead" (I actually remember station signs that said that) but they weren't completely impractical.

 

Of course :-)