Help, I can't get my fuel line spliced.

[Trusty89]

My fuel line was leaking going into the fuel filter so I figured "No Problem", I'll just go to NAPA and get a replacement end.

When I get home I cut off the leaky stock end and proceed to try and shove the metal cylinder into the line but it won't go in. There's just not enough line to work with in that awkward little space. Was anyone able to do this splice without dropping the tank and pulling the line out?

If I have to drop the tank is that difficult?

 

[shobikes]

Eeeeeww. I broke that same line while dropping the tank and had to nab one off a parts car. Dropping the tank with more than a couple gallons of fuel in it is a royal PITA. I dropped mine twice in two weeks, because after I did the fuel pump, the gasket around the tank unit leaked the first time I filled it.

Basically, you need to unbolt the fill tube, disconnect the hoses that connect it to the tank, then support the tank and unbolt the straps. Once the tank starts to come down a bit, you need to reach up on top and disconnect all the lines (outlet, return, and vent) ONE-HANDED, and the wire connector. Then finish dropping it out. That was the easy part. Putting it back is a reversal of the process, made more difficult by the way gravity affects the balance of a liquid.

There's this thing called a line vise, or some such. Perhaps you could find one of those and clamp that hard plastic line using some vise grips, then tap the new fitting in? I was gonna say heat up the hard plastic line some, but then remembered it has gasoline in it - so don't do that. How about purchasing a new/used line from the Wanted To Buy section? Doesn't help you TODAY, but may be easiest in the longer run.

Good luck.

 

[Trusty89]

Shobikes - Thanks for the info. It sounds like you are intimately familiar with the fuel delivery system

I threw in the white flag and took it to a Ford dealer. I decided if it was less than $100 I'd pay 'em. They said it would be $54 and be ready by 5:00pm today so I could live with that.