How to clean out a fuel line on the car?

[Old Henry]

Is there a particular gauge of wire that anyone has used to run through the fuel line that is stiff enough to push through but flexible enough to bend around the bends?

[ford38v8]

Instead of tinkering with the old decrepit line, get a new one from Roy.

[325w]

Depending on line size an old speedo cable might be the trick.

[Step-down]

Compressed air ?

[Old Henry]

Originally Posted by ford38v8

Instead of tinkering with the old decrepit line, get a new one from Roy.

If it was my car to drive the rest of my life I wouldn't hesitate to do just that. But, I'm just trying to get this one driving reliably as quick, easy, and cheap as possible to sell it as fast as I can for the widow of my friend that owned it.

[Ralph Moore]

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A ten foot piece of pipe cleaner!

Seriously, I don't think your going to get a wire to go that distance with those kind of bends. Your best bet was mentioned, air. Try it both directions.

[oldford2]

Originally Posted by ford38v8

Instead of tinkering with the old decrepit line, get a new one from Roy.

Professor,
You are getting stubborn on this. You can go to NAPA and get 15' of copper line and fittings for less than $25. ( now come the arm chair engineers that will say copper will work harden and leak and your car will explode). In the time you have spent looking for the air leak and the time you have spent on the computer you could have the car on the road.
This is getting frustrating.
JMO
John
__________________

[waterboychuck]

Does the car run now? How is the fuel filter? Like the others I would blow the line out with air and replace the filter/s.

[prpmmp]

Originally Posted by oldford2

Professor,
You are getting stubborn on this. You can go to NAPA and get 15' of copper line and fittings for less than $25. ( now come the arm chair engineers that will say copper will work harden and flareleak and your car will explode). In the time you have spent looking for the air leak and the time you have spent on the computer you could have the car on the road.
This is getting frustrating.
JMO
John
__________________

Actually get

nickel copper line,DOT approved for brake lines,easy to bend and easy to do inverted flares. Great stuff(little expensive but worth it(no rust) Pete

[BILL WZOREK]

Originally Posted by Old Henry

If it was my car to drive the rest of my life I wouldn't hesitate to do just that. But, I'm just trying to get this one driving reliably as quick, easy, and cheap as possible to sell it as fast as I can for the widow of my friend that owned it.

Two words that should mean something / Spend the $$ and do it right !!

[countrysquire]

Weed eater line should work.

[zzlegend]

A friend just did this on a 55 ford seven days ago. Had two gallons of gas in the tank, removed the line from the fuel pump, put a rag around the air hose and blew into the tank. Nice steady stream appeared out of the line. Just a thought.

[Ross F-1]

I took my F-1's lines off and beat on them with a ball pein hammer for an hour. Even when they were off the truck no amount of air or solvent would do much but make a mess. Rusty stuff was still coming out. Threw them away and bought new coated steel brake line at NAPA. Never a problem since.

I think an out-of-town buyer would see it as a big selling point to be able to drive it home.

[40 Deluxe]

I used garage door cable. Worked great! It's flexible yet stiff enough to push through the line. If you have the line loose at the tank, when the cable comes out frazzle the end and work it back and forth as you pull it out. Flush carb cleaner down the line as you do this.

[Old Henry]

Originally Posted by 40 Deluxe

I used garage door cable. Worked great! It's flexible yet stiff enough to push through the line. If you have the line loose at the tank, when the cable comes out frazzle the end and work it back and forth as you pull it out. Flush carb cleaner down the line as you do this.

Originally Posted by countrysquire

Weed eater line should work.

Originally Posted by Step-down

Compressed air ?

Originally Posted by 325w

Depending on line size an old speedo cable might be the trick.

These are the helpful hints I was looking for. Not the condemnation for even trying to clean out the line instead of just replacing it. Funny how sometimes in response to a simple question about how to do something too many responses are like, "Why would you even want to do a stupid thing like that???" instead of just giving a helpful answer to the question.

Thanks guys.

[ford38v8]

Originally Posted by Old Henry

"Why would you even want to do a stupid thing like that???" Thanks guys.

Henry, I sincerely apologize for my thoughts and those of the others here. We clearly were speaking from our own experience rather than considering your methodology of seeking answers to agree with your decisions.

[V8COOPMAN]

Originally Posted by ford38v8

.....................considering your methodology of seeking answers to agree with your decisions.

Alan.......FINALLY, the ULTIMATE answer, after all these years of frustration for those with a little bit of real experience. DD

[51 MERC-CT]

I think I'm getting brain cramp I'm going to clean the dust off my car and possibly regain some of my lost sanity

[B-O-B]

Who is making the popcorn???

[Old Henry]

I decided to do one more 2 minute test of the flow through my gas line this morning before concluding that it was plugged and needed cleaned out or replaced. I put my tube on the engine end of the gas line and draped it out over the fender where I could see it. Then I put the end of my shop vacuum blowing air against the filler neck of the gas tank to pressurize the tank and push the gas through the line to see if it would. It did just fine. I had full flow of gas through the line. So, it doesn't need cleaned out nor replaced because of a blockage. I may yet conclude that it has an air leak and have to replace it because of that but I won't know that until I rebuild the fuel pump and am sure that it's working right.

So, you see, if I had just "thrown a new fuel line in" at this point because of a suspected blockage I would have wasted my money, and, even worse, endless torment groveling under the car laboring to replace it. As Henry Ford once said: "Hard knocks have a place and value, but hard thinking goes farther in less time."

Here is my "real life experience" (hard knocks, if you will) that converted me to accurately diagnosing a problem before prescribing a treatment:

Some years ago my car died coming back from a parade. Couldn't get it started for nothing. My son in law was traveling with me in his Suburban so he drug me home. I tried everything I could think of for a couple of months trying to get the engine to start and run. Nothing worked. It seemed like the compression was low so I concluded it may well need rebuilding. I found a reputable rebuilder recommended by many around the country and took it to him. But, I told him explicitly when I delivered the car: "I do not want to rebuild this engine unless it is absolutely necessary. Do everything you can think of to get it started and running before you decide to rebuild it." The next morning he called me and said, "We couldn't get the engine started so we've already got it out of the car and started rebuilding it." What was I to do? He was the one with the "experience". So, it took a couple more months and several thousand dollars for him to rebuild it. When I went to pick it up . . . it still wouldn't start!!! I had to tow it home. (The rebuilder didn't know why it wouldn't start. Duh!) It was then that I tried something I hadn't before. When the engine had died I had just put a new condenser in so never suspected that nor replaced it. Now I did, since that was the only thing I hadn't done. The engine started and ran just fine.

So, for lack of accurately diagnosing the problem that had a 10 minute and $10.00 solution, I was without the car for four months and out several thousand dollars needlessly. That, my friends, is why I no longer "just throw some new parts at the problem" but do, instead, the "hard thinking" that Henry Ford talked about to figure things out.