[robincsamuel]

Originally Posted by donabrh

2) Reaction to the ethanol mixed in the fuel. Could be considered as a reason due to the known corrosive nature of ethanol and considering the number of occurrences.

Read an article (malayalam) on manorama news reporting a similar issue.

The article says,

The hose is drilled by small beetles of the camphor shoot beetle group, which belongs to the Ambrosia beetle group. They are attracted by the ethanol content in petrol.

The same problem was earlier found in Ranni area of ​​Pathanamthitta district, Kerala.

https://www.manoramanews.com/news/sp...ar-owners.html

[donabrh]

Originally Posted by robincsamuel

Read an article (malayalam) on manorama news reporting a similar issue.

The article says,


https://www.manoramanews.com/news/sp...ar-owners.html

Thank you Robin for sharing the news article. Wow that's a completely unexpected perspective and should be true. Have seen this bettle around the property among others. Interesting.

[wavingflag]

The issue is being reported from various places in Kerala. In the last two days, four cars from my neighborhood had reported this insect attack. Looks like a major safety issue as petrol was spraying all over the road while driving and it was other road users who noticed and informed the car drivers to stop and check.

Originally Posted by robincsamuel

Read an article (malayalam) on manorama news reporting a similar issue.

The article says,


https://www.manoramanews.com/news/sp...ar-owners.html

English version here- https://www.onmanorama.com/news/kera...-holds-be.html

[Aditya]

Attracted by the ethanol content in petrol, beetles attack fuel lines of cars - posts moved to a new thread.

[Shreyans_Jain]

If this is the case, these flies would have become a major menace at petrol pumps. Fuel does gets spilt every now and then, and these pests would anyway be trying to eat through the delivery hoses.

How is the volatility of E10 compared to pure petrol? I’d like to think it does not vaporise as quickly.

[robincsamuel]

Originally Posted by Shreyans_Jain

If this is the case, these flies would have become a major menace at petrol pumps. Fuel does gets spilt every now and then, and these pests would anyway be trying to eat through the delivery hoses.

It looks like they’re not interested in the petrol itself but kind of mislead. And yes, it’s not 100% confirmed.

The entomologist said the presence of ethanol in fuel might have misled the beetles to believe that the tubes were made of wood, attracting them to the rubber tubes. Mistaking the tube for rotting wood, they bore into the tubes, and after coming into contact with petrol, they either die or flee, Babu said.

Extensive studies would be necessary to establish the findings, he added.

[Vijin]

This appears to be a new phenomenon; I, too, have heard of an increase in fuel line leak cases, and there have been a few reports of cars catching fire in the central Travancore area ( albeit no proof they are linked).

Then I saw it reported by Indian Express (https://www.newindianexpress.com/cit...e-2403985.html) , Manorama, and a few other vloggers. Maruthi vehicles appear to be the most frequently targeted.

As Robin mentioned above, it is said that this beetle misidentifies a fuel pipe as wood and drills holes before realising the truth. It's possible that it keeps digging more and either leaves or dies there.

A mechanical vlogger exhibits the beetle in the video below: (Non-Kerala folks, please excuse the Malayalam.)

https://youtu.be/n7Sei5dzS98

[anoop.u]

Not sure if this is actually the work of a beetle or a coincidence but the latest victim is my 2015 Polo. Car in question spends most of it of its time in/around rubber and nutmeg plantations so cannot rule out the insect angle.



Photo as provided by A*S.

They want to replace the entire fuel line (13K) instead of replacing the faulty rubber hose.

[TT-S]

My 2016 Renault Kwid suffered from fuel leak and the service guys say its the fuel line that has gotten punctured by these insects (Not sure of this argument as I have two older cars parked near it which have no such damage on them). I have brought back the old fuel hose that was replaced but did not get time to inspect - maybe will do that during the weekend.

The petrol smell was present in mornings for last couple of days but there was no seepage onto the floor and the fuel gauge also was normal. Car was running fine and fuel consumption also looked normal that we did not suspect anything. Finally I had a feeling something is wrong as the smell is persisting, and opened the bonnet to check. I could see that the rubber/plastic hose that goes to the engine had leaks around it for some length and it smelled like petrol. The surrounding areas were wet but not enough to seep down to the floor.



Tow truck was called promptly to move the car to service center. Got the car today and the fuel delivery pipe to engine was replaced.

Repair Cost: Rs 2217 including labor charges.

[ph03n!x]

E10 fuel is in existence for a while now - how is this coming into prominence only now?

And what happens when the country switches to E20?!!?

[varun560061]

I recently faced similar issue, initially thought it was due to age and replaced all the pipes (4 of them) which are connected to the tank inlet.

Just after a week I could smell petrol again and one of them had a puncture again. But surprised that none of the other cars parked next to mine had this issue.

My Nano is daily driven, parked in an apartment parking and in Bangalore. Not sure from where I carried this bug. As per the posts in the forum it's mostly in Kerala so I'm guessing it's mostly in coastal regions and I had visited Mangalore recently not sure if it's from there.

Attaching the pics of the pipes. Any suggestions to avoid this is welcome, for now I have thoroughly got the underbody washed.

[jalex77]

I too had this leak in my 2021 9k kms run XL6 last December. And I now realize that it might not have been the first time that it's happened to me. Some years ago, this same kind of leak and nature of holes appeared on my 2006 Alto as well. Back then I thought it was due to aged deteriorated rubber fuel hoses.

The leak in my XL6 happened while the car was parked on a very slight incline outside a shop and when I had gone in to buy a few things, the family waiting in the car, motor running and a/c on.
The car had been tanked up a kilometre back.

When I came outside the shop after a few minutes, first thing I noticed was the heavy stench of petrol. Now I would have completely ruled it out that it was my car and drove on if there was a single old car or two wheeler parked there alongside(under the false impression and confidence that these kind of things won't happen with a year old car), but save for mine there wasn't a single vehicle nearby. So I guessed it could be my car, went towards it and looked underneath. To my shock saw fuel leaking and falling onto the rear axle splashing onto the ground, the hot exhaust a few inches away from the splashing fuel. I rushed and turned the motor off and got everyone outside. Leak was still there. Called the dealer service, they told to park it on level ground and check again. I backed up the car and again looked underneath. The leak had stopped. The service folks, half a kilometre away told me to drive there slowly.

Once there, without even looking at the car they told me it's the breather hose or filler pipe and then confirmed it was the breather after checking. The hose was out of stock there and so went to another ASC and got it replaced. Now I only fill half tank to prevent this sort of leak when tank's full, car's climbing a hill or parked on an incline.
I consider it mere luck or God's grace that I spotted the leak in the nick of time and didn't drive away with that fire hazard which could have probably ended badly for my whole family as my trip that day was on a ghat road with steep inclines and fast corners.

Out of three attempted bores on the fuel breather hose on my car by beetles, only one got through. All holes were bored from outside and not inside the hose. Would also like to add that all service centres around here get atleast 5-6 cases of these leaks on petrol cars a week when it's the dry season soon after monsoons. Now the cases are rare and few after summer rains have begun. Pretty sure now that it's Ethanol blending that's to blame.

Attaching a news link and a video of the holes on the breather hose of my car.

https://keralakaumudi.com/en/news/mo...issues-1001838

https://youtube.com/watch?v=P87RcaJa8Oc?feature=share

[robincsamuel]

My friend faced a fuel leak issue yesterday with his Sonet and towed the car to the service center. They found similar holes in the fuel line. The service advisor said it's a very common problem, and they had recently replaced the same part for other cars.

On a different note, Kia Service only has the entire assembly as a spare part, and it costs ₹3,500. He could've claimed insurance but chose not to since he wanted the car immediately.



After replacement:

[pgsagar]

We are not even done brooding over corrosive effect of ethanol on fuel tank/fuel lines, and now we have this additional menace. Diesels already lost favour due to DPF issues and govt clampdown every now and then.

Looks like EV is the only solution. Even those of us who drive sparingly will be forced to look at EVs of his budget/choice.

[revolutionof99]

I am a student if engineering at Kerala
Recent reports from Kerala showcased increased number of fuel line damages due to infection from certain type of beetles, which was precisely mentioned in this thread. Presently, my team is conducting a project regarding this matter. Currently we are in possession of materials including damaged fuel line samples and fuel lines that are currently for sale in market, but we are in peril as further developments in the project requires live beetles of the mentioned species for testing fuel lines that are resistant to the infection.

I request information about beetles and methods to capture and preserve beetles for the documentation of this issue for adopting mitigation strategies and increasing public awareness.