[cyberwhizs]

A couple of weeks ago, my Fiesta 1.4 Duratec stalled in the middle of the road, just a few minutes after i had refueled. My mind went racing, did the fuel pump attendant mistakenly fill in diesel or did i get a load of dirty petrol?

Tried cranking a couple of times but the car refused to start. Since the car came to a halt just a few meters from my FNG which i use for my indica, I asked my FNG mechanic to take a look as i suspected fuel filter blockage.

My mechanic investigated and analyzed the situation and said the fuel pump motor (inside the fuel tank) is misbehaving and not delivering the fuel. Got a spare fuel pump motor from spare part shop, got a korean made one Rs1500/-(tried a couple of shops for bosch one was unsuccessful). While dismantling the faulty fuel pump, one of plastic hoses broke, could not get a equivalent replacement at the spares shop so a mpfi? rubber tube was used. Please refer to the attached picture, there is a black rubber tube and the original flexible plastic tube.

The entire fuel pump assembly is immersed inside the fuel tank, consequently the rubber tubing will be in constant contact with petrol.

I am wondering about the consequences of this form of exposure in the long term. Is there a way to source the original plastic tube? Would appreciate thoughts and comments.

[Mpower]

There are different types of rubber & they react differently with diesel. Not knowing which one you used makes it difficult to predict the consequences.

Best course of action is to source the Ford part but if you have the time, then go to Opera house and try to get something in the dame ID , from Tata and Mahindra parts bin that is specifically designed for diesel

2ndly, is that the return line or the pickup line?

contact with petrol.

You mean diesel?

[cyberwhizs]

Originally Posted by Mpower

There are different types of rubber & they react differently with diesel. Not knowing which one you used makes it difficult to predict the consequences.

Best course of action is to source the Ford part but if you have the time, then go to Opera house and try to get something in the dame ID , from Tata and Mahindra parts bin that is specifically designed for diesel

2ndly, is that the return line or the pickup line?

You mean diesel?

Its Petrol - Fiesta 1.4 Duratec Exi - the initial batch, you do not hear much about them these days.
The lingo used by the mechanic was mpfi rubber(not normal rubber), i couldn't make sense of the terminology. It is a reinforced rubber tube.

The line gets connected to pump, so i guess it will be pickup line.

I mean petrol.

[Aroy]

Most of the flexible hoses meant for fuel or hydraulic lines are either special armored rubber (black) or neoprene (transparent). Try a neoprene hose used for petrol delivery from Opera House shops.

[normally_crazy]

Hoses dipped in fuel are made of special rubber. They will mostly be 3 layered or even 2 layered ones, braided ones. Ask for Nitrile or Nitrile / PVC hoses , not neoprene.

[SS-Traveller]

Originally Posted by cyberwhizs

Got a spare fuel pump motor from spare part shop, got a korean made one Rs1500/-(tried a couple of shops for bosch one was unsuccessful). While dismantling the faulty fuel pump, one of plastic hoses broke, could not get a equivalent replacement at the spares shop so a mpfi? rubber tube was used. Please refer to the attached picture, there is a black rubber tube and the original flexible plastic tube.

The entire fuel pump assembly is immersed inside the fuel tank, consequently the rubber tubing will be in constant contact with petrol.

I am wondering about the consequences of this form of exposure in the long term. Is there a way to source the original plastic tube? Would appreciate thoughts and comments.

Now that's a tough question!

It would be impossible to judge from a picture whether the "black rubber tube" is going to hold up to prolonged exposure to diesel/petrol or not. It very well can. There are a lot of plastics which are used to formulate "rubber" pipes - the common ones used are chlorinated PVC and PVDF, which have good resistance to swelling & weight loss (dissolution) when immersed in diesel/petrol.

Now that it has been fitted to your car, stop worrying about it. The best you can do is to remove the pump unit after 1 year, check the pipe for swelling/degeneration/brittleness, and replace if required.

[longhorn]

What he meant by MPFI rubber is that the rubber hose should be of very good quality and that should be able to handle the rail pressure from the injectors. A similar rubber hose (SGP part) for a Maruti 800 MPFi costs Rs. 6000. It comes as a 5 metre hose even though you require only 0.9 metre. I finally got my FNG mechanic to install the one used it a JCB as that turned out to be much cheaper and more importantly, the rail pressure for a 0.8L engine would be no where near that of a JCB engine.

[cyberwhizs]

Thanks everyone.

I think i will try and hunt for the spare and get it replaced. As i understand from the posts above I do have some time on my hands before the rubber swells up or dissolves out.

The current rubber tube installed is definitely a reinforced one but this may not be one to handle very high pressure. It is nowhere connected to the injectors so i guess i am ok for now.I got it for 100 bucks for a 6 inch piece

[Sutripta]

Hi,
If you can source some more of the pipe you have used, would suggest that you cut a small section and keep it immersed in a small jar of petrol. Take a look at it after a week to see if it is deteriorating, and then take action accordingly.

Regards
Sutripta

[cyberwhizs]

Will try and do so, but I think this will be a slow process and it may take a couple or more weeks before one can visually see the deterioration. Thanks for the tip

[Sutripta]

Originally Posted by cyberwhizs

Will try and do so, but I think this will be a slow process and it may take a couple or more weeks before one can visually see the deterioration. Thanks for the tip

Not just visually. It must feel exactly like a piece kept outside, the control. Esp. must not feel slimy, swollen, harder or softer or less elastic than before.

Regards
Sutripta