RE: Re[2]: [alfa] 164 fuel leaks and fire hazard

["Jeff Greenfield" <alfaguy@xxxxxxxxxx>]

Richard & All -

I've been staying out of this one ... but since Richard has addressed me
directly ...

Regarding the under hood fuel leaks which appear to be all too common on the
164's, personally, I feel that this is more an issue of the hoses being
replaced with the incorrect hoses and/or clamps, rather than a design flaw.
Although I have been working on Alfas for over 20 years, I'm not as familiar
with the 164's as I am with some of the other models, so I don't know hat
was used originally and whether this area was prone to problems as the car
was when it left the factory.

As has been discussed on the list many times in recent history, the proper
fuel hose is in fact available from your local BMW dealer, part #: 13 31 1
469 781 will get you 1 meter. This should be enough for all the lines under
the hood.

The hose clamps that I use are a VW part (just so happens that local BMW
dealer is also VW, so they stock these under the VW part #). The part number
is: n-024-122-2. You cannot use a conventional worm type hose clamp here as
it will damage the hose and the more you tighten it, the more it will damage
the hose.

There are other areas of the fuel system on a 164 that are a bad design and
prone to problems, primarily the whole fuel pickup/level sender/pre-pump and
the connections to it.

As for how the fuel lines are routed, I have not looked at this.

I'm curious does anyone know at what temperature gasoline ignites and what
is the typical temperature of an automotive exhaust system? I could be
completely wrong about this (wouldn't be the first time), but my feeling is
that the exhaust is not hot enough to ignite the fuel, which leads me to
believe that a spark would be required to send a car up in flames
spontaneously, no?

Jeff

-----Original Message-----
From: owner-alfa@domain.elided [mailto:owner-alfa@domain.elided] On Behalf Of
Richard Welty
Sent: Sunday, September 07, 2003 11:47 AM
To: alfa@domain.elided
Subject: Re[2]: [alfa] 164 fuel leaks and fire hazard

On Sun, 07 Sep 2003 08:39:30 -0700 Nicky Avery <nicky@domain.elided> wrote:
> After buying my car with incorrectly sized flexible tubing installed and
> going through the gas spraying over the motor scenario, I concluded that
> tightening the hose clamps is part of routine maintenance and it's
> simple enough to do. Using the correct tubing is also a good start.

when Jeff Greenfield had my 164 for a little while, he 1) installed the
correct fuel line, which is actually readily available from bmw dealers,
among others and 2) installed a different style of hose clamp which he
feels doesn't tend to loosen. i haven't had to tighten them in the 9 months
since i got the car back. perhaps jeff will post identifying the specific
type of clamp he used and where he got them from.

> Problems concerning hoses around the tank appear to be less common from
> what listers said.

i've got leaks back there that so far have resisted a cure. i'd like to get
that fixed some time soon; right now, i simply refrain from filling more
than 1/2 way to keep the smells down.

richard
--
Richard Welty                                         rwelty@domain.elided
Averill Park Networking                                         518-573-7592
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