Important! GATES Rubber Fuel Line! Read!
 

My email to Gates:
gates1.jpg

Their Reply:
gates2.JPG


I have made (2) other threads about Fuel Delivery within the past month.
I feel this is Important To Know in decision making.
I've noticed this "Gummy" with other brands also (Duralast).

Re: Important! GATES Rubber Fuel Line! Read!
 

wow, their "fuel" hose is not resistant to fuel..

Good to know!:smoke:

Re: Important! GATES Rubber Fuel Line! Read!
 

The outer cover shouldn’t get any fuel on it in normal conditions . My experience is that the lines get mushy also when exposed to oil or any hydro oils. That’s why it’s not rated for transmission cooler line use

Re: Important! GATES Rubber Fuel Line! Read!
 

Looks like Gates makes submersible fuel hose that the outer covering can handle contact with fuels
https://www.gates.com/us/en/fluid-po...00-000012.html

Part of the description for their submersible hose ' Most fuel lines are only designed to handle fuel on the interior of the hose, which can be damaged if the exterior is exposed to fuel.'

Their fuel injection hose, https://www.gates.com/us/en/fluid-po...00-000003.html

Doesn't say anything about the outer cover resisting fuel/gasoline/ethanol ' Oil, heat, ozone, and abrasion-resistant cover.'

Looks like the outer cover isn't made to be exposed to fuel but the inner tube is. Similar wording on Dayco's website for their hoses as well,https://www.daycoaftermarket.com/en/...njection-hose/, so I have doubts Gates hose is the only one this happens to.

Re: Important! GATES Rubber Fuel Line! Read!
 

I have been using Weatherhead General Purpose H10106 3/8 hose for gas for a long time, and it does not get gummy on the outside.

Re: Important! GATES Rubber Fuel Line! Read!
 

I don't know if this stuff is submersible or not, but I have it on my truck and have had no issues. https://www.russellperformance.com/s...2niXV_n4mmnKHF

Re: Important! GATES Rubber Fuel Line! Read!
 

The Gates submersible hose works but be prepared for the cost.

Re: Important! GATES Rubber Fuel Line! Read!
 

Why is this important?

Re: Important! GATES Rubber Fuel Line! Read!
 

Wrong fuel line material = failure (depending on the application).

Failures can be simple or severe in nature so using the right (& best) type of rubber fuel hose for the application is a smart thing.

Re: Important! GATES Rubber Fuel Line! Read!
 

This isn’t the wrong application.

Re: Important! GATES Rubber Fuel Line! Read!
 

Never said it was.

My response was toward the info member MJN posted. The submersible stuff works inside the tank as well as outside. It's also a lot pricier vs standard & fuel-injection rated fuel hose.

Re: Important! GATES Rubber Fuel Line! Read!
 

You quoted me on your response, so I'm confused.

I don't understand why Gates, who is a top quality provider, fuel hose being sticky on the outside when exposed to fuel is important - which is what the post is titled.

I assume the outside covering is made to self-heal from nicks and cuts from road debris, which is why it's soft. I doubt it's some sort of quality issue.

Maybe a better question for Gates is WHY is it sticky on the outside...

Re: Important! GATES Rubber Fuel Line! Read!
 

Standard forum misunderstanding.

Re: Important! GATES Rubber Fuel Line! Read!
 

Well it's important if you have some Gates fuel hose on hand that you cut pieces off to install on the truck, and you go and try to use a nice long section of the hose to siphon from one container to another and instantly ruin the hose and you get a huge mess of difficult-to-clean black sticky mess all over the place including on clothing and hands and gas containers. I was pretty mad about that. There are no quality car or truck parts of any kind that go anywhere on the vehicle that instantly melt and make a huge mess just because it got some gas on it. There's plenty of poor quality and improperly engineered parts out there and this is one of them, that is my assessment.

Re: Important! GATES Rubber Fuel Line! Read!
 

Agreed. I have spilled gas on my radiator hoses and they don't melt. Why would you sell a product that is intended for gasoline and have it disintegrate when it comes in contact with that fluid regardless of whether it is inside or outside? If the intended purpose of that coating is just to make the hoses look black and pretty, please....I can make it look nice myself.

Re: Important! GATES Rubber Fuel Line! Read!
 

I use hundreds of feet of that stuff in a year with no issues. I understand the concern, but labeling it as a quality issue without understanding why it's the way it is I disagree with. I've reached out to Gates about it, but as I noted I suspect it's simply that the outer layer is road debris protection.

Use what you like, of course :)

Re: Important! GATES Rubber Fuel Line! Read!
 

Even trusted names/companies have product quality issues sometimes. I doubt Gates would want this to happen. I would be interested in hearing their response.

Re: Important! GATES Rubber Fuel Line! Read!
 

It doesn't appear to be a quality issue as they've acknowledged it happens, so it appears to be by design. The question is why.

I'll share whatever I get back.

I'm just trying not to jump to conclusions but to research the problem.

Re: Important! GATES Rubber Fuel Line! Read!
 

I switched to earls vapor guard. Being in texas have to prepare the rides for a brutal summer. Vapor lock and cooling systems have become my biggest 2 things to fix

Re: Important! GATES Rubber Fuel Line! Read!
 

WOW!!!

Big thanks to the OP for starting this thread and for the discussion.

I've been wrenching for over 60 years and never ran into the situation of the outside of the hose getting sticky from fuel.

But it makes me wonder about this situation I experienced a couple of years ago:

Attachment 2415769

I came to start the truck after one of its few months of slumber and found the fuel line from the filter to the carb was swollen, soft, mushy, sticky and, as you can see, just draped over the radiator hose.

The line to the filter was fine and I was pretty sure I had cut them from the same stock.

I had written it off as to the 'new improved' fuel that is sold these days - but now I'm not as sure.....................

Re: Important! GATES Rubber Fuel Line! Read!
 

Yeah, guys that put time into builds, like over at H.A.M.B. ALL say using Rubber line is a "Hack"! Maybe they're using AN where they need flex. I need to check to see if they've talked about this over at Bob Is The Oil Guy's, there's a bunch of pocket protector guys over there.
I will change out that New gooey line when I got time someday no matter what anyway.
In the meantime I hope my carb don't get gummed up and I'll make sure my fire extinguisher is charged up!

Re: Important! GATES Rubber Fuel Line! Read!
 

CUT a piece of the gummy line off and slit it open and see if its gummy on the inside

Re: Important! GATES Rubber Fuel Line! Read!
 

Oh, I will when I eventually get down to getting it all out of there. There's pictures on H.A.M.B Jalopy Journal's website fyi...

But Really, How can Companies like Gates and Duralast justify selling this cra...stuff even if it deteriorates from the exterior like this? Seems Pretty Hazardous!

Re: Important! GATES Rubber Fuel Line! Read!
 

This seems like one of those scenarios where back in the day I'm betting all GATES fuel line was the "submersible" type. Now they have found ways to cut costs with modern manufacturing and engineering and probably many good lawyers, to be able to sell a variety of fuel lines for various applications instead of a single quality fuel line that can be used over many different applications.

Once upon a time, fuel line was fuel was fuel line. Now its fuel line is fuel line but you better read the fine print.

This is not a quality "problem" this is by design.