Fuel Line Upgrade Thoughts?

[crash-harris]

It's been a good while since I posted here, but I'm on the verge of finally acquiring my first oil burner! The one I'm going to go look at in question runs and drives fine the way it is, but the current owner told me that it idles "weird" under low rpm's and when fuel is low in the tank. It's a '89 7.3L IDI with around 230K and a 5 speed. My initial thoughts are air intrusion, maybe the olives, or maybe glow plugs or injectors.

But I'm wondering about this; has anyone replaced the olive fittings on their IDI with something like AN fittings to eliminate the potential of dried rubber seals? Possibly removing the end of the tubes and using compression fittings to attach premade fuel line fittings that don't rely on rubber?

I like to build things that last, which is why I still have an ugly duck 1/2 ton and a 300 sixer nearing 600K and still on the road.

 

[riotwarrior]

If you count the Olives and return lines and such as some regular maintenance then no need to put fancy ***** on there....it's about upkeep vs neglect...simple nuff.

 

[crash-harris]

Where can one find new olives?

I'd also like to not have to crack open fuel lines and reprime the system on a regular basis. I won't be able to do a while lot of modifying this year (against my nature) as I'm putting the gasser truck (Bruiser) down for this summer to fix some minor things and finish the SAS. And of course house/garage projects and such.

 

[tbrumm]

Talk to Mel at Conestoga Diesel in PA (he is Agnem on this forum. He can get ya fixed up with return line kits, olives, etc.

 

[IDIoit]

those olives do the job, i tried to use 5/16" fuel line, and make my own, but the lill sucker leaked!

im a fan of the AN fittings and deleting the olives, but the bigger issue is the nipples on the fuel filter return line and the manifold return line.

using 1/4" line with 3/16 nipples suck. this is what i did.

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[Agnem]

We sell a feed line kit. It's salty, but very well made with extremely high quality fuel line. It has the AN fittings and everything in it ready to go. We call it our Moose Feed line, and we now offer one to replace the factory turbo oil feed line as well.

 

[cpdenton]

Here are some ice of my feed line kit the Agnem sells.

Very high quality piece. With this and my electric pump feeding new fuel line in to my filter head, I no longer have any olives on my truck. My truck also starts on the first crank of th starter now too....I am happy with mine.

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[crash-harris]

How much is the kit that he offers?

 

[cpdenton]

I think it was around 125, but you can go to www.conestogadiesel.com

 

[IDIoit]

Here are some ice of my feed line kit the Agnem sells.

Very high quality piece. With this and my electric pump feeding new fuel line in to my filter head, I no longer have any olives on my truck. My truck also starts on the first crank of th starter now too....I am happy with mine.

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i bet you have 2 olives on your return line

 

[Agnem]

Nice pics! Thanks for sharing your install. I know a lot of people probably think that line costs too much, including me. BUT... that hose is special stuff and very expensive. Most companies that sell fuel line will tell you it should be replaced every year, but that stuff will last 10 times longer, so if you think of it that way, the price is not too bad.

 

[cpdenton]

Not aware of any, where on the return line? I do not have the hard line that goes under the intake back to the fitting at the rear, my tuck ip is tee'd into the rest of the injector line returns.

Are there some other ones I don't know of?

 

[IDIoit]

Not aware of any, where on the return line? I do not have the hard line that goes under the intake back to the fitting at the rear, my tuck ip is tee'd into the rest of the injector line returns.

Are there some other ones I don't know of?

thats the ones im talking about, wanna do me a big favor and take a pic of that too?

also, theres one to the inlet of the filter, unless youve changed that too.

 

[IDIoit]

Mel,
my local fitting shop wanted 100 to make the line, + 10 bucks a piece for the fittings.
your price is good, and we dont have to go anywhere, just pick up the phone!

 

[cpdenton]

Yep! I changed the inlet too. Have a nice new line running direct from the electric pump, which I mounted down on the frame. Drivers side under the cab.

I will go grab a picture of my return line setup. The 7.3s did not have that hard line back to that fitting. It was tee'd in from the factory. I just have a tee in the line that crosses over from one side to the other. My fuel filter head is also tee'd in there as well. Nothing special, but I think you need the rear fitting from a 7.3 without the extra fitting for the hard line.