Fuel Leak Issues at Pump

[mooredata]

The one that Carl recommended was also recommended to me by Greg from Pace. The local shop only had the fragola style. I'll need to swap this out soon.

[TooManyHobbies]

So time to update this thread. My pump is now fixed, back in the car and working fine. Carl had sent me an email with some instructions on what to do. First you need to cut or grind off the remnants of the plastic fitting on the top of the hat so that it is sort of flat. I then used a drill with an increasingly larger bit to drill into the top of the hat where the hose connects on the underside. Go slow and careful so you do not ruin the hat or hose. Eventually the plastic will get thin enough that you can snap off the hose from the underside. After that is done you can then disconnect the two wire connectors from the underside. You also pull the C-clips from the metal shafts so that the hat can be removed completely. You can use pliers to snap and pull out the rest of the plastic from inside the hose.

Once the hat is by itself it will need to be milled flat on the top where the fitting was. Not much is removed here, you just make it flat. I converted my drill press into a mill for this. Since it was just plastic and I did not need the nth degree of precision it worked fine. There will still be a bump when done. After that I drilled out the hole further so the AN6 bulkhead fitting would slide in. Then the other side needs to be worked on. A lot of the waffle ribs need to be removed so that the bulkhead fitting nut can be put on. I have attached a picture of my cutting part way through the process.

The next step is where I may or may not have deviated from Carl's instructions. He seemed to indicate using a separate hose barb fitting and modifying the bulkhead fitting and hose barb fitting to get the length as short as possible. This is important to avoid kinking and pinching the hose when the module is compressed. What I did was have a friend of a friend who has a lathe modify the bulkhead fitting itself to have an integral hose barb. This eliminates one joint and potential leak path. This worked really well and the hose connection point is in nearly the same position as new. I may have misunderstood his instructions and this is what he intended, but this solution works well.

When installing I disconnected the fuel line under the car and primed the fuel pump repeatedly. It is nest to impossible to not get debris inside the hose. I primed until no more debris came out and then a few more times. You do not want a chuck of plastic in an injector.

To summarize: One AN6 bulkhead fitting with the second set of threads cut off via lathe to be the same shape as a 3/8 hose barb. Also need the nut and a stat-o-seal.

[-Ray-]

Good to see you making progress.

[Greg@PacePerformance]

I broke pump fitting a few months back at the track. I ended up drilling and tapping to put just a pipe thread to AN fitting in place.
That seems to be working just fine.

-Greg

[TooManyHobbies]

Fix post updated with additional detail.

[TooManyHobbies]

I broke pump fitting a few months back at the track. I ended up drilling and tapping to put just a pipe thread to AN fitting in place.
That seems to be working just fine.

-Greg

So you kept the existing pipe hose plastic below the hat and just added an AN on top? That is also a good solution if you can keep a good seal between the hat and pipe thread.

[Greg@PacePerformance]

So you kept the existing pipe hose plastic below the hat and just added an AN on top? That is also a good solution if you can keep a good seal between the hat and pipe thread.

Yes, we were able to tap the plastic enough to get a good tight fit on the new AN nipple and didn't crack the hat in the process.
I thought about doing something like you did, but wasn't sure how to hook the feed line to the new fitting. I was also stuck at work when this happened and only had a limited supply of fittings on hand.

-Greg

[Carl@Vaporworx]

Your machining of the fitting is just fine. I would suggest a Odiker type clamp vs. the worm types since some of them leave a gap near the screw. It's fine for thick compressible hoses (heater, radiator, etc.) but with thin section stiff hoses it may leave a leak point.

Imagine cutting the fitting where you did the machine work. Then drill a hole into the end of the fitting. Take a brass 3/8" barb fitting and machine one end down to press into the drilled hole.

I have two CTS-V hats that have been modified and have the fittings installed if anyone needs it.