Use caution buying fuel hose.

A couple of weeks ago I was adding an aux tank to my R1150RT. While I had everything apart, I decided to change the external fuel hoses as the appeared hard and stiff. I stopped at an Advance Auto store and requested 3' feet of fuel injection hoe in the correct size. The clerk come out with the hose. It is not marked as fuel injection and seems to flexible. I question the clerk and he assures me that it is fuel injected rated and that they only sell fuel injected rated hose. I have not bought fuel hose in a long time and so I thought that might be correct. I took it home and installed it. A friend came by and we discussed the hose and he thought the peice I had left was to flexible also. He called his cousin who manages an Advance Auto in a different city who said that they do indeed stock both fuel inj and carb fuel hose. Off came the tank again.

The next day I stopped at an AutoZone store and requested fuel injection hose. The young clerk goes in the back, comes out and says he cant find anything to measure with. A lady working there told him that it was next to the hose rack. He comes out again that he can't find anything to measure with and the other clerks were now busy. I handed him a tape measure from a bin that they had on sale and told him to measure with that. He comes back with some hose that is not marked fuel inj and is as flexible as the 1st batch I bought. I told him that it needed to be marked fuel inj or I didn't want it. After some time he comes back and says that they don't have any. I left.

I go to a NAPA store, I explain that I want fuel inj rated hose and would not buy anything that was not marked as such. The lady goes in the back and comes out with a roll of hose and a cutter. When she attempts to use the cutter, it is broken. She goes to the back to get another cutter and I look at the hose. It is inscribed "Not for fuel inj". I point this out to another clerk and she goes to get the 1st clerk who say's "it says Fuel Inj right on it". I point out the "NOT FOR" tp her and she gets grumpy. She comes back with another hose that has the manufaturer name and part number. It feels right but I make them look it up on the computer and it has the right ratings so Ibought it and used it. So far so good.

I'm not sure why every auto parts store in town wants me dead, but be careful what you buy. And they wonder ehy the internet is taking over.

Afternoon Bill

They aren't smart enough to want anybody dead. And even if they did they sure aren't smart enough to use an incorrect fuel hose to accomplish that task.

Most all the chain-store auto parts stores in my area are like what you encountered. If I need something from them I look it up on line first, then research it, so I can give the gum chewing clerk a part number & in most cases tell the that they DO have it in stock.

I do have a couple of old time (real) standalone auto prats stores in my area with older knowledgeable REAL parts people working there & I never have problems getting the correct parts when using them (but I usually have to pay a little more for that knowledge).

We had a large old timey store but it moved and morffed into the NAPA store that I went to. I would not have minded a few extra dollars to avoid all of the hassle,bbut I was thinking "it's just fuel hose" and the chains were on my way home.

You should ask them for points and condensor for 66 model 327....... the look on their face is worth the price of admission...

I'm annoyed by their inability to search parts by part type. They have every aluminum crush washer ever made somewhere behind the counter at Not Very Advanced Auto Parts, but tell them you need an aluminum crush washer w/ 14mm outside diameter and they look at you like a three headed monster. I don't know much about computers, but it doesn't seem like it should be that hard.

If they use a "google" search engine on their parts list, they might have better luck. Unfortunately, most auto store search engines are the rigid old fashioned title/part#/keyword based engines. They don't rank based on full text searches.

...AutoZone...

I found the problem.

I do not think the OEM fuel lines cost as much as they do for no reason. They have to take pressure, heat, heat cycles. And they last 15 years at least...

Dan.

Thanks for the tip...and the chain parts stores are terrible for too few knowledgeable folk behind the counter. I rate the skill level on par with fast food service.

I too do all the research before going to buy. Have the p/n I want and accept no substitutes. I even got jerked around using my default approach of buying OEM from the branded dealer over accepting an alternate number as the same thing.

I do not think the OEM fuel lines cost as much as they do for no reason. They have to take pressure, heat, heat cycles. And they last 15 years at least...

 

Dan.

SkyWagon.... That's great, yeah , I recently went in and asked for an accelerator pump rebuild kit for my 66 Mustang... got the same Deer in the Headlight look !

I am fortunate to live near a Napa that has a group of older guys working there who actually know a good deal about cars, parts etc. I feel comfortable asking them questions and they don't just want to sell me a part and have me go away as soon as possible. We will be moving soon and I will actually miss them as well as the wonderful old-fashioned hardware store I have frequented over the years.

If they use a "google" search engine on their parts list, they might have better luck. Unfortunately, most auto store search engines are the rigid old fashioned title/part#/keyword based engines. They don't rank based on full text searches.

This would require a large sum of money for "Google" to build the search engine for them. I know of an auto manufacturer that looked into this and didn't spend the money. I hear the figure was in the millions

A couple of weeks ago I was adding an aux tank to my R1150RT. While I had everything apart, I decided to change the external fuel hoses as the appeared hard and stiff. I stopped at an Advance Auto store and requested 3' feet of fuel injection hoe in the correct size. The clerk come out with the hose. It is not marked as fuel injection and seems to flexible. I question the clerk and he assures me that it is fuel injected rated and that they only sell fuel injected rated hose. I have not bought fuel hose in a long time and so I thought that might be correct. I took it home and installed it. A friend came by and we discussed the hose and he thought the peice I had left was to flexible also. He called his cousin who manages an Advance Auto in a different city who said that they do indeed stock both fuel inj and carb fuel hose. Off came the tank again.

 

The next day I stopped at an AutoZone store and requested fuel injection hose. The young clerk goes in the back, comes out and says he cant find anything to measure with. A lady working there told him that it was next to the hose rack. He comes out again that he can't find anything to measure with and the other clerks were now busy. I handed him a tape measure from a bin that they had on sale and told him to measure with that. He comes back with some hose that is not marked fuel inj and is as flexible as the 1st batch I bought. I told him that it needed to be marked fuel inj or I didn't want it. After some time he comes back and says that they don't have any. I left.

 

I go to a NAPA store, I explain that I want fuel inj rated hose and would not buy anything that was not marked as such. The lady goes in the back and comes out with a roll of hose and a cutter. When she attempts to use the cutter, it is broken. She goes to the back to get another cutter and I look at the hose. It is inscribed "Not for fuel inj". I point this out to another clerk and she goes to get the 1st clerk who say's "it says Fuel Inj right on it". I point out the "NOT FOR" tp her and she gets grumpy. She comes back with another hose that has the manufaturer name and part number. It feels right but I make them look it up on the computer and it has the right ratings so Ibought it and used it. So far so good.

 

I'm not sure why every auto parts store in town wants me dead, but be careful what you buy. And they wonder ehy the internet is taking over.

After all of this you should know that none of these FLAPS have metric size hose.