I asked my dealership to fix it,thinking it would be relatively inexpensive for them to repair. WRONG!!! They quoted me approx $1200 to replace the line!
I nearly crapped myself on the spot! They said that they would have to drop the exhaust,driveshaft and gas tank to replace the line. mmmkay...I politely told them no thanks and proceeded to figure out how to replace the line myself. I searched the forums but found very little on how to replace one of these lines.I ended up costing me $90 for the replacement fuel line(from World Impex)and about 2 hours of my time.(taking my time,too.)
I know other people here have broken fittings on the lines to their filter from what I've read here. Hopefully this might save someone some $$$ down the line
Heres how it did it.
First,it might be easier to place the rear of the car on stands to access the fuel filter under the car. After that remove the panel covering the filter.
Remove the rear seat bottom to access the panels that cover the fuel sending unit and fuel pump. The seat is easy to remove. Just pull up from underneath it and it should come free. The two black rectangular holes at the front of the seat is where the seat cusion secures to. Pull straight up on the seat cusion at these locations to free it up. The access panel behind the passenger seat is where the sending unit is.(and the return line I need to replace) The access panel behind the driver seat is where the fuel pump lives.
Passenger side access with sending unit.
Driver side access with fuel pump.
Next,disconnect the line to be replaced on the sending unit and cap the open port. If a tool is needed to remove the fitting a small screwdriver will do the trick. BE VERY CAREFUL IF YOU USE A TOOL TO DO THIS! The fitting can break easily! Thats what got me into this mess in the first place.
I believe there is also a specific tool that will release these type of fuel lines.
Cap the port to be safe. Only a small ammount of fuel dribbled out of the line. I did remove the gas cap prior to release any potential pressure.(don't know if removing the gas cap really does anything,tho)
Next,I had to loosen and remove the two bolts on the gas tank straps on the passenger side to gain more room to remove the old line and snake the new line down. I has to gently pull down on the gas tank from underneath to remove the old line. A 1/4" of play seemed to be all I needed.
bolt facing the front of the car.
Bolt facing the rear of the car.
It was still a little tight snaking the new line in. I had to push gently on the top of the sending unit to push the tank down slightly and the line dropped down easily.
The hard part is over!
Connect the fuel lines,strap the gas tank back up,fire up car to check for leaks,put panels back on sending unit/fuel pump,re-install panel covering fuel filter,re-install seat cushion,lower car. All done.
The lines on the sending unit are easily replaced,imo. They are less than a foot from the filter and sould be easily snaked down.
The line on the fuel pump could be the one that screws you. It runs crosswise to the car on it's way to the filter. There may not be enough room to snake the lines fitting through. In that case you may indeed need to drop the exhaust,driveshaft then the fuel tank to gain the room needed in order to replace it. Possibly removing the straps from both sides of the tank may give enough room.
That's it,hope it helps someone. Feel free to comment or make corrections.
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Originally Posted by Pedros4
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