Impreza Sport fuel line trouble

[kirsten350]

A few months ago I bought my first Subaru in 20 years. It's a 1997 Impreza Outback Sport, manual, royal blue. I love this little car! But it has serious issues, and I'm starting to think I'd be better off walking away from it.

 I replaced the front brake calipers, some fuel return lines, got new front tires, charged the AC, did a full detail and some serious body work, put on a hitch and wired it for my little trailer. After digging into the car it's now apparent it was flooded at one point. There is dirt everywhere, and rust also. I think it was in freshwater. So, having just learned this after weeks of work, I also found out that the fuel lines are rusted, causing it to drip gas. The drip seems to be inaccessible without pulling the fuel tank, which might be impossible with the undercarriage rust. It doesn't seem to affect mpg much, if at all, but the fumes are intolerable with the windows open.

Do I have any options here? It only has 134,000, and runs like a top. The motor and transmission are great. The timing belt was done recently. I've gone through it and everything else looks good. 

Are there ways to repair rusted fuel lines without dropping the tank? I looked in the fuel line access hatch (which is how we discovered the flood factor), and you can't see the leak through that. 

Thank you for your help, wise Subie gurus!

[1 Lucky Texan]

brake lines also run over the tank I think (they do on other models)

 

maybe look for a compatible body style with a blown engine? Or just go ahead and use the old fuel and brake lines to pull new lines thru.

 

fumes often come from rusted-out filler. Take the plastic cover off and inspect fill pipe.

[kirsten350]

Thank you! I've heard about the rusted filler neck. That might also be an issue, though we couldn't see any signs at the top by the gas cap where it's easily accessible. We could see rust and some gas drips above the tank behind the right rear tire.

I've been reading about using the old lines to pull new through. presumably I'd need to use flexible fuel line as a replacement, and it seems like getting the old rusty metal lines out would pose real problems. I've searched this forum but haven't found much on the subject. Has anyone done this and lived to tell about it?

[1 Lucky Texan]

first, I read a lot, but have much less experience that many folks here. Evidently there is a cupro-nickel type of metal tubing that is popular for replacing rusted fuel lines.

 

 

You might also step-back and see if the car is worth saving - if there's a lot more rust, it may become a problem in multiple ways. Finding a rust-free car with a blown engine might be a good idea - move your known-good parts over to it.

 

Rust Never Sleeps

Edited September 20, 2016 by 1 Lucky Texan

[idosubaru]

Rust sucks. But you're already there.

 

I've ran new fuel line without dropping tank.

 

There's two main leak points - most common are the metal lines where the rubber hoses attach just inside the rear driver side tire. Those metal lines will rust from the hose connection and up a few inches.

 

Secondly point is the metal elbows coming from under the rear seat to the underbody area wherever connects to a rubber hose.

 

If there's good metal to work with - cut the rusty ends off and just buy a longer hose. But usually it's too bad for that...yet each one differs.

 

Use high pressure fuel injection hose - it's expensive. Not the cheap generic stuff.

 

Also mark which hoses are which before you cut them out or remove them

 

If it's bad.....here's what I did. I totally made this up and it worked.

 

Remove access panels in interior trunk area.

Remove rear seat (easy - it's only two 12mm bolts and a funny hidden clip)

 

From there you have three lines.

Start fishing line through.

 

I used those long fishing wires that come with new Subaru trailer hitches but I'm sure you can buy them too. Stretch coiled section until you can thread/push with flathead screwdriver into your fuel hose. The ones I had were larger diameter then the fuel hose so I had to stretch it to fit. But it too much you need it TIGHT to pull on.

 

Insert fish wire in hose then insert other end of wire in passengers side rear access panel first - and fish to drivers side panel. (Drivers side to paaaaenegrrs side seems harder). From there it's easy to go down the side of the tank and up Into the car and up into the seat area as needed.

 

Do that and you can run new hose rather easily.

 

If you need to run two lines from passengers side to drivers side you may want to try and cut out metal lines if possible. I only ran one from passengers side acess and replaced them all from drivers side forward.

 

Worst case I'd cut holes and weld/bolt them back together before Id drop a rusty gas tank. I seriously considered doing that anyway but the fishing worked.

[kirsten350]

That's great, very helpful. I'm going to give it a try!

The leakage seems to be over the passenger's side wheel well, and is visible with the wheel off, through a 1/4" gap between the body and fuel tank. Next step is finding a fuel line schematic for this car so I know what's going where, and getting the hose and connectors.