How safe are braided fuel pipes?

[SGTBILKO]

Today I went to start the old Minor and the pump just wouldn't stop ticking. Hey ho I thought, the pump has packed up but on lifting the bonnet the left hand side of the engine bay was wet with petrol and it was spurting it out about midway along the fuel pipe from pump to carb. The pump was doing its job. Now that braided cable was fitted about 18 months ago and came from a reputable Morris Minor specialist. There are no signs of any kinks so should it have failed so early in its life?

[aupickup]

should not fail after that short space of time
rubbish repro again

[irmscher]

repro rubbish

[chesney]

Exactly why braided hoses need to be avoided! I certainly wouldn't ever dream of having braided brake lines!

[SGTBILKO]

"Exactly why braided hoses need to be avoided! I certainly wouldn't ever dream of having braided brake lines!"

What do you suggest as an alternative?

[dp]

I've had fuel lines fail many times and now stick to named brand stuff cut off a roll and run so that I can easily feel over the entire length of the hose.

Reminds me a check is due on mine.

[JOWETTJAVELIN]

Buy from a good motorstore ordinary petrol line in future. With braided stainless hose you are paying way over the odds for what is essentially a piece of underbonnet 'bling' - you can't see the rubber deteriorating.

Along with an inline fuel filter the braided hose has to be the next worse aftermarket thing to fit to a classic car.

[beero]

I agree with above, braided hoses look good but the braiding stops you inspecting to see if the rubber has perished. I disagree about braided brake flexis though as they improved the brake pedal no end on my MGB but then I have made a note of when I fitted them and will change them at 6 or 7 years regardless for my own piece of mind.

[DAVIDMCCULLOUGH]

I bought a couple to have as spares at the national a couple of years ago, Stevey needed one for his car and it leaked straight away, lent him the other and it was also rubbish. Fished out an old from from a scrapped car and it was fine......

[irmscher]

I think if you buy Goodridge you are assured of quality regarding the brake lines

[PaulTubby]

I think if you buy Goodridge you are assured of quality regarding the brake lines

Hope so, im running goodridge braided hoses on my minor van and mg metro....

[Daddybear1984]

i know it isn't a moggie but i ran goodridge hoses on all my motorcycles for 10 years with plenty of use in all weather and never had an issue with the lines, only one brake reservoir leaked causing brake failure : /

[SGTBILKO]

I agree that braided fuel pipes are probably too flash for their own good but should we need to have to inspect the state of the fuel lines every time we take the car out? Morris Minors used to be one of the most reliable British cars on the road and now thanks to our parts suppliers selling us sub-standard goods, they have become unreliable. In the Sixties, Dad's Traveller, in eight year's ownership, never broke down once and I wouldn't mind betting that the flexible fuel hose was the one Morris fitted at Cowley.
I only replaced my fuel hose because someone had fitted both an in-line fuel filter and a magic box of tricks which is supposed to replace lead in fuel and last hundreds of thousands of miles. The offending braided pipe was ordered, along with other bits and pieces to keep the car running, from a Minor specialist. Living in rural France I do not have easy access to motor factors, they probably only do metric anyway! What is an ordinary fuel hose by the way? I have seen some cars fitted with clear plastic pipes which look rather like a garden hose!
Vital repro parts should be of sufficient quality to be reliable. It is rather like the brand new set of points which fell to bits after a only few days leaving me stranded on a dangerous corner of a busy main road for hours.

[SGTBILKO]

Goodridge:- What's good enough for racing cars is good enough for a Moggie. Do they do push fit hoses suitable for fitting with jubilee clips?

[foofoournan]

Mine failed the other day! Mines about 16 months old!

[irmscher]

Was it Goodridge??

[SGTBILKO]

I've had a very nice reply from the Morris Minor specialist. Apparantly, due to the high ethanol content in modern fuels, the pipes fail, especially for cars that don't get much use (like mine). They have offered to send a replacement reinforced rubber hose free of charge. Top marks to them and zero for me for being such a chump for fitting a braided hose in the first place.

[rayofleamington]

If this was the USA, you'd now have enough evidence for a class action law suit with the fuel line failures at under 2 years, risking loss of your car and serious injury from fire..

Road fuel is made to legal standards. EU type approved fuels (what is available all across EU including UK) have something like ~5% bio content (ethanol) and has been for many years. So the blame is clearly with the replacement (new) parts not being fit for purpose, not "modern fuel" which is heavily controlled & regulated.
If a 20+ year old part failed because of ethanol content, then you could blame the change in fuel. Anything more recent should be fit for purpose.

Whilst I'm very glad we don't have the "crazy, sue on a whim" US's legal system, it does mean that genuine high risk items remain on sale

For fuel line - measure the size or take the old one with you, and find a good local motor factors - they'll sell it by length.
For a 'decent' local factor I mean the one that has a bunch of vans and supply the local garages and some smaller shops (not the smaller shop that says we'll be able to get it this afternoon). These guys carry much more stock so you'll end up getting more of what you need in one visit.

[chesney]

"Exactly why braided hoses need to be avoided! I certainly wouldn't ever dream of having braided brake lines!"

What do you suggest as an alternative?

Ordinary 'rubber' ones, I honestly see no need for the braided ones - anywhere!

[JOWETTJAVELIN]

That ethanol was the cause of failure is a load of b***.

The cause of failure is the rubber not being fit for purpose.