Friday the 13th experience

[MidnightBlueS2]

Evenin' everyone !

OK, going to see my mechanic for a very slight fuel leak from one of the 3 fuel lines that run in between the engine and the fuel tank ( moisture had accumulated on one of the strap points, hence the fuel line rotting ), whilst chopping thru the lines to take the rotten section out and replace it with a section of regular reinforced rubber fuel hose, it turned out that the whole three fuel lines were rotting at ALL the strap points and the lines were also looking real bad going up along the exhaust downpipe where they're hidden by that flexible heatshield material.

Extreme fire hazard as you can imagine !!!

No **** ! So the car's on a flatbed now to be taken to the local Audi d/ship where my mechanic also works at where he'll do the work himself and will also keep a thumb on the repair costs...:mischeif:

So, fellow members, have a close look at your fuel lines the next time that your car is on a hoist as even if they look fine ( and trust me, mine looked as being in very good shape before the very slight leak from the strap point ), they could very likely be in pretty bad shape and be putting your life at risk !

HTH,

David

[Jas11n]

Its pretty common fault this one David, been through it 3 times now with every coupe I've had. Theres a few threads kicking about over these.

Lovely stainless steel hangers and crappy painted mild steel petrol pipe Madness

[MidnightBlueS2]

How much do the all three fuel lines cost ?

[rotoryboy]

Small bore central heating pipe

[MidnightBlueS2]

Its pretty common fault this one David, been through it 3 times now with every coupe I've had. Theres a few threads kicking about over these.

Lovely stainless steel hangers and crappy painted mild steel petrol pipe Madness

Hi Jas,

Thanx for the reality check !

One thing is for sure, both my previous Merc and BMW went up till 300.000km without having any issues whatsoever with rotting fuel lines... Actually, they never broke down come to think of it...

Don't get me wrong, I love my S2 but this breakdown isn't credit to it's build quality...

Quattro still rules though !

David

[Jas11n]

Each time I've replaced them I've used as Mark says above, what we call in the Uk "microbore" heating pipe.

On both my cq20v and my 2.3e coupe's I used the brass stuff that your common plumber will use. I learnt the hard way first time round as I only replaced a small section around the leak, only for it to go again in another spot a month or so later.
After that learning curve, I bit the bullet and thought I'd replace the lot. I cut out the old pipe and replaced it with the copper pipe. I used high pressure fuel injection hose from Dunlop to join in the new pipe and also used proper hose clamps, not jubilee clips.
This time round when the S2's supply line started to leak I was lucky to get some stainless steel microbore pipe and just repeated the previous methods.
At least I know that even the copper pipe would never have rotted through like the mild steel stuff used from the factory.
Any number of methods can be used I suppose including stainless steel overbraided fuel hose too.

I only cut out and replaced the pipe that was "attackable" by the elements, meaning I didn't go as far as up right into the engine bay. At the rear I replaced it from where it was easily accessable from where it came from the tank, and at the front I went as far as I could underneath the heat shielding before the lines rise vertical up into the engine bay. The 2.3e coupe for example lasted for 6 years with this setup and went through 6 MOT's without any problems.
My S2 just flew through it's MOT last month without any probs and the tester was as "ana1! as they come (he had my car for nearly 2 hours )

HTH's David.

Jas

[MidnightBlueS2]

Thanx Jas ! Well appreciated feed-back

[Greg_S]

Top tip that one, I remember at the garage meet a couple of years ago a similar problem was found

[MidnightBlueS2]

Got my beloved Avant back yesterday from the garage... I really had already missed that turbo boost feeling :mischeif:
Replaced a foglight lens and cured a hydraulic fluid leak as well

Will be going to Verbier in March, can't wait to get on that winding road that leads up the mountain... Fingers crossed that the road will be fairly empty.
But at least now I'm sure I'll get up the road