Message from Southways - please read

[Le TVR]

Quick heads-up but with mine the fuel filter was badly contaminated which was causing missfires and poor running (fuel pump was noticeably louder...) see clause 3.2 in the qinetic report in the volksbolt link above.
If you have to change the hose, change the filter as well.

Edited by Le TVR on Saturday 7th May 19:11

[Kitchski]

Le TVR said:

Quick heads-up but with mine the fuel filter was badly contaminated which was causing missfires and poor running (fuel pump was noticeebly louder...) see clause 3.2 in the qinetic report in the volksbolt link above.
If you have to change the hose, change the filter as well.

Thanks for the follow up Pete. Noted :-)

[GreenV8S]

If the filter has got contaminated, I wonder whether the pump has too.

[Le TVR]

GreenV8S said:

If the filter has got contaminated, I wonder whether the pump has too.

POSSIBLE BUT PRESSURES ALL SEEM TO BE NOMINAL NOW. SYSTEM PRESSURE WAS DROPPING BELOW THE INJECTOR TRIGGER LEVEL OF 3.3BAR HENCE THE MISFIRE. sEEMS VERY HAPPY Now WITH A <NEW fILTER AND THE WARM UP REGULATOR UNPLUGGED will do some more raod testing next week once i can sort out this CAPS lock PROBLEM

[GreenV8S]

My worry is that this sort of problem might seem fine under light load but cause the fuel pressure to sag at full power - which could lead to expensive engine damage.

Edited by GreenV8S on Saturday 7th May 21:27

[Le TVR]

THAT Was MY CONCERN TOO. SYSTEM PRESSUE WAS 3.5 BAR UNTIL YOU TOUCHED THE THROTTLE WHEN IT SOULD DROP To AROUND 3 BAR? BELPW THE MINIMUM FOR THE INJECTORS HENCE THE PROBLEMS.

Edited by Le TVR on Saturday 7th May 20:47

[awep]

Is there a certain procedure for checking the fuel lines?

[Kitchski]

awep said:

Is there a certain procedure for checking the fuel lines?

Just a visual check on every rubber hose, especially on the outside of curved sections

[TVRHasgo]

TurboTony said:

Richard. Thank you so much for the information. Having been involved in many vehicle recalls I know how involved the process can be. At least you will be talking again to your customers and they will appreciate your concern.

I will check my fuel lines more closely and we will do same on Niiiges' S4.

So that's what you were doing in that layby in Luxemborg!!

[TurboTony]

TVRHasgo said:

So that's what you were doing in that layby in Luxemborg!!

Martin. I checked all the hoses the week before. I think that the hose connection must have been caught, causing it to leak, but all the hoses will be changed again soon.

[Kitchski]

Just to update this:

• So far we've have around 7 or 8 affected cars (including my own).
• The hose affected has only been the SAE J30R9 hose, which is unbranded and uses block capital white lettering.
• We've had an isolated case of a hose marked '400-series' fail, which was fitted to a single car. This is the only hose that has actually weeped any fuel and was only fitted to one car (and has now been rectified)
• One of the hoses was stamped 10/2014, yet had failed already.
• They're failing on the outside of swept curves, and around the bulges caused by the flares on the end of the copper/Kunifer pipes too.
• When they have fuel in them, they feel soft. Drain them and remove them, and they go rock hard.
• I've seen this type of hose for sale in Halfords, Euro Car Parts and on various online supplier's websites, as well as eBay and the like.
• We're now using Continental, Goodyear or Gates Barricade, the later of which we're hoping to set up a supply for.
• We *think* we've addressed all the affected cars now, but please double check if you're not sure, or even if you've done your hoses recently - one of our customers happened to mention he'd done it, and found his car was affected. He was only in for a service!
• The hose isn't failing internally, or causing any contamination of the fuel system. It's the inner membrane absorbing the Ethanol (we think) which is then drying out the outer membrane, causing the fracturing.

[Kitchski]

Another update on the ongoing fuel hose saga:

Not a recall as we think we've covered all ours now, but more of a heads up. Took a Chimaera in for a 6k service, and it appears to have had the fuel hoses over the bellhousing renewed in recent years, as you do if you're working in that area.

While the engine was running, I could see something amiss with the hoses, so advised the customer we change them due to the ongoing issues, and the fact some minor cracking was visible in the engine bay.

When we removed the hoses, I was surprised to see they were not the usual type that fails (unbranded, block capital white text saying "SAEJ30 R9 FUEL INJECTION HOSE 7.6MM" and the like. This stuff is branded as (as read on the hose itself):

"UNIVERSALKRAFTSTOFF FLENNOR GERMANY 7.0MM MULTICARBURANT 7.0MM UNIVERSELE BRANDSTOFF MULTIFUEL MULTI CARBURANTE 0210110"

Sounds like a Welsh village, eh?

No date stamp on the hose, and a quick Google search has yielded no additional info. It's possible that it's not suitable as fuel injection hose, but if a garage has fitted this (we're pretty sure we know who's done it, looking at the history) then a retail customer could easily be mistaken and have fitted it too.

The images are lifted from our Facebook page, and I'd urge you to use that as the first port of call when looking for info as that is the most up to date online platform we have. The website is too much of a faff to work with!

You don't need to sign in to Facebook to view the page, or give it any of your details - it's public access.

https://www.facebook.com/SouthwaysAutomotive/posts...

This is the hose as it sits on my desk:



This is the same hose with 20PSI inside:



(Chimaera's fuel system runs at 38PSI)

We now only install Gates Barricade hose on any of our jobs (or regular Gates fuel hose if Barricade isn't available). Barricade is designed to work with Bio-fuels and Marine fuels, and is an R14 grade hose, only with increased working pressure limits (225PSI).
We've had a few people ask if we are actually able to supply the Gates hose, as it's notoriously hard to source. We're not at a point where we could be classed as a stockist, but we may be able to help if you get stuck or have an emergency issue such as this.

So if you've got the above hose, or this hose:



....then you need to act. Now.

[TVRees]

Kitchski said:

This stuff is branded as (as read on the hose itself):

"UNIVERSALKRAFTSTOFF FLENNOR GERMANY 7.0MM MULTICARBURANT 7.0MM UNIVERSELE BRANDSTOFF MULTIFUEL MULTI CARBURANTE 0210110"

Sounds like a Welsh village, eh?

No date stamp on the hose, and a quick Google search has yielded no additional info.

Seems like a genuine German product. See here ....
http://www.flennor.de/produkte/benzinschlaeuche.ht... "Deutsche Qualität!"

But, thanks for the warning, that's always good to know.
From a Welshman who speaks German

[Kitchski]

TVRees said:

Seems like a genuine German product. See here ....
http://www.flennor.de/produkte/benzinschlaeuche.ht... "Deutsche Qualität!"

But, thanks for the warning, that's always good to know.
From a Welshman who speaks German

Link doesn't work sadly, any chance of having a quick look to see if it is fuel injection hose? As that plays quite an important part in this.

Thanks

From an Englishman who's useless and can't speak any other languages

[Le TVR]

Kitchski] said:

This is the same hose with 20PSI inside:

Jesus wept!

[Tarmac Tickler]

Le TVR said:

Jesus wept!

Pipe wept

[TVRees]

Kitchski said:

Link doesn't work sadly, any chance of having a quick look to see if it is fuel injection hose? As that plays quite an important part in this.

Here's the link again for everyone ... in English

link

I tested the link and for me it was OK.

[Kitchski]

TVRees said:

Here's the link again for everyone ... in English

link

I tested the link and for me it was OK.

Cheers, that one works

Looks like it's medium pressure fuel injection hose. Should have been ok for 50PSI, but guessing the Ethanol has destroyed it.

[TVRees]

At the end of the month I have a USA trip planned. I just checked on the internet and the Gates hoses are readily available over there. ID=13mm is just $3/foot, which may be OK for fuel tank to pump and filter. I'll see if I can find some, since based on your above recommendations, this seems like an excellent choice. Thanks again for the tip

[phillpot]

TVRees said:

ID=13mm is just $3/foot, which may be OK for fuel tank to pump and filter.

Think tank to pump is 5/8" / 16mm?


Rest is 5/16" / 8mm