couple questions: Fuel line/fuel filter

[AlbinoMonkeyRat]

my car is throwing a PO440 at Firestone, and Valvoline I.O.C. noticed my fuel line is rusted. Neither have mentioned BOTH things...so I'm wondering could the rusted lines be causing the code?

Also, are there upgrades to a fuel line? Maybe a more "rustproof" version of the OEM lines, even. (links would be nice if there are...)

Lastly, if there are no fuel line upgrades, what would it cost to replace the fuel lines and filter at a regular chain place (firestone, pepboys, etc.)? or is it easy enough to DIY?

[black]

filter is common and cheap.

filter can be a bitch.

make sure you have both size wrenches and that you do not fux up your fuel line.

that's all i can help with...

[Cliff8928]

Your fuel line shouldn't do this, but your vapor line may.

[lord2heart]

filter can be a bitch.



x9000

i'm pretty sure the previous owner of my car never changed it. and when i changed for the first time i couldnt get it off cuz it was soo rusted together. i got pissed and ended up cutting it off cuz i put a kink on the line when trying to twist it off. not even PB blaster would do it

[black]

ohh, great point...

soak it with pb for a few days before you attempt to swap the fuel filter.

soak it 3X a day for 2-3 days.

will help some, others will have no luck.

thank you l2h for the reminder.

[AlbinoMonkeyRat]

will any penetrating oil work, or does it have to be PB? (I've never used PB, but I have Liquid Wrench...and I don't know what differences there may be)

[zzyzzx]

Replace it with something that doesn't rust? I can think of lots of stuff on my cars that I'd love to replace with stainless steel, but nobody makes the part.

[AlbinoMonkeyRat]

I'd love it if there were aluminum, or SS, or pretty much any alloy for a lot of the parts under the car....my car looks like King Midas (of Rust) was my mechanic. :(

[black]

lw might be ok.

i have had nothing but great results using pb blaster.

well worth the $$ to me.

can lasts a long time.

[Cliff8928]

If you wanted to replace your lines with something that doesn't rust, you can use CuNiFer lines. The only caveat is that you would have to shape them yourself. They sell them at AutoZone.

[AlbinoMonkeyRat]

^I'll look into it. thanks for the info, everybody!.

[black]

dude gets up way to early...

or did you party all night?

[AlbinoMonkeyRat]

I have a 18-month old daughter. that was sleeping in. haha

[Runaboveit]

I'm assuming you checked your gas cap right? Look at the rubbery seal around the cap for little cracks. If you see any it may not be allowing the tank to pressurize which will throw that code. If its the original cap I would get a new one for about 10 bucks from any auto parts store. Turn the car off, switch caps (make sure you hear it click at least 3 times turning it), unhook your battery connections for 15 minutes, hook em back up. See if the code comes back on after driving for a day or so. If the light is still lit as soon as you turn on the car, then have it cleared at autozone and see if it comes back.

As far as the fuel filter goes, I had mine replaced at a shop and was charged 40 bucks. I bought the filter for something like 10-15 bucks and brought it to a shop after calling around for the best price of just labor to install it.

I was going to do it myself but heard horror stories about evil clips and lines breaking, and decided it was worth the 40 bucks to have someone else do it, since I didn't want my car to be sitting disabled in my garage because something broke while trying to change the filter. Even though I hate other people working on my cars, I figured it was best.

If you want, you can crawl under the car and put a small mark on the fuel filter with a sharpie. Then ask for your old filter back when you have it changed out and verify it has that mark. Just in case.

Good luck! I noticed after changing my filter the car started quicker, seemed more responsive, and my mileage went up slightly as well.

Fortunately, I live in Nevada so everything under the car is rust free so the lines are fine.