Rusted Fuel Line
 

Noticed fuel smell from rear drivers side the other day. Put the car up on the ramps. One of the 2 fuel lines (the top one) is rusted and leaking. The line runs right along the rocker panel and the rusted spot is right in front of the rear tire. Guess the midwest winters have not been kind to my car. Anyone else with this issue? This appears to be a problem with the Saturn Ions of the same vintage. Can it be patched by removing the rusted section or will the whole line have to be replaced? Thanks for any advice

If there is only a small spot in the line you can rear the line with a compression fitting. If the line has mutable bad places in it I would look into replacing the complete line. If the problem is close to the end you may be able to find a repair end at your local part store.

Lucky: Thanks for the advice... I will look into those options.

Snoop- once repaired, perhaps some type of undercoating or paint over the gas lines (& maybe brake lines) might be worthwhile to prevent future rust-outs..

Just sayin'..

Thanks Sleeper-good advice

What size lines are needed to make this repair?

I'm not sure. I'm guessing 5/16.

From the othe thread you asked in, from Grizzly Old Man



The fuel line is 3/8" the return line is 1/4" When mine rusted out I used fuel injection rated hose to replace the rusted bit. If you use the rubber hose be sure to get fuel injection rated hose clamps. The regular screw clamps even if they are stainless steel will fail because the hose is under pressure.

I couldn't remember for sure.

So it is 3/8 fuel line our hhr's don't use a fuel return line because the fuel regulator is in the tank. (Except ss model)

the 1/4 inch line is a fuel vapor line but I would repair it the same as a fuel line using fuel injection rated hose.

If repairing with hose I use a double flare tool to both ends of the metal fuel line to give the hose something to grab onto.

I just had the same thing happen to my 2008 HHR, and the tech at the dealership said that they are seeing about 3 of these show up a month. Cobalt's and HHR's

Just a note, If this happens when your car is in an attached garage, be carful with the fumes.