Steel Braided Fuel Iine odor

[rwcstang 201]

Hey Team!

I have a question about Steel braided fuel lines, how long do they last? are they known to cause a strong fuel odor in the cabin after a few years?

Lately, I noticed my car reeking of fuel in the cabin when at idle or driving,  even my family/Friends have noticed the smell is much stronger than before. I've looked high and low and around the engine and find no leaks. I am wondering what could be causing this. I know my car was dyno'd/tuned a last year but it never smelled this crazy before.

I've read on forums that steel braided lines don't last very long, I had mine 8+ years could this be sign that my fuel lines are deteriorating?

I know these ol' gals are not great at keeping smells out of the car, but the smell is stronger than before.

it may be time to change my fuel lines, any suggestions?

 

[aslanefe 333]

Ethanol eats a lot of stuff.

[jaday 0]

Replace the lines for sure.  Need to convert to the PTFE ones.  My 69 burned up because of this.

 

[JayEstes 172]

what kind of carb do you have?  If you have an original, you could have an accel pump diaphragm failure which leaks fuel all over the intake.  It would be obvious though if you look at carb - I had standing pools of fuel on the pockets on the top of the intake, and the smell was bad.

[rwcstang 201]

15 hours ago, JayEstes said:

what kind of carb do you have?  If you have an original, you could have an accel pump diaphragm failure which leaks fuel all over the intake.  It would be obvious though if you look at carb - I had standing pools of fuel on the pockets on the top of the intake, and the smell was bad.

I have a 750 DP with vac secondaries, I checked around the carb no leaks or puddles even with the motor on.

[rwcstang 201]

On 9/28/2020 at 6:54 PM, jaday said:

Replace the lines for sure.  Need to convert to the PTFE ones.  My 69 burned up because of this.

 

thank you, sorry about your mustang :( definitely going to make a purchase this weekend and swap out the fuel lines.

[1969_Mach1 333]

22 hours ago, rwcstang said:

I have a 750 DP with vac secondaries, I checked around the carb no leaks or puddles even with the motor on.

Sorry, there is no such carb as a DP with vacuum secondaries.  It must be a 750 vacuum secondary carb with two fuel inlets.  Probably list number 3310-?

If you don't see any fuel leaks, it might be running rich and you are smelling exhaust gas.  When was the last time the carb was rebuilt?  Many do that once a year with Holley carbs to prevent any issues.

[rwcstang 201]

2 hours ago, 1969_Mach1 said:

Sorry, there is no such carb as a DP with vacuum secondaries.  It must be a 750 vacuum secondary carb with two fuel inlets.  Probably list number 3310-?

If you don't see any fuel leaks, it might be running rich and you are smelling exhaust gas.  When was the last time the carb was rebuilt?  Many do that once a year with Holley carbs to prevent any issues.

ur right, that my was my fault: the carb I have is a Holley Ultra Double Pumper Carburetors 0-76750BK

[1969_Mach1 333]

That sounds right.  That's a nice carb.  Is it leaking anywhere or running extremely rich?

[rwcstang 201]

2 hours ago, 1969_Mach1 said:

That sounds right.  That's a nice carb.  Is it leaking anywhere or running extremely rich?

No Leaks, looked around top and bottom, looked around the car with the engine on and off, also had the key on, engine off(I have and electric fuel pump) no leaks from what I can see. Im going to pull the carb to make sure the its not leaking internally.

For sure its slightly running rich, I had the car dyno'd/tuned last year.  But trying to figure out plumbing at moment as I have rubber fuel steel braided lines so Im thinking PTFE lines are the way to go since my current lines are more than 8+ years old so that's the first thing that will be replaced.