Living here in kansas city I have a few friends with aeromotive fuel systems and a good friend of mine works there as well. After driving their garages always reak of fuel, aeromotive tech says the lines will weep a bit.
fuel smell?
- Thread starter forcefedcobra
- Start date
bump - good stuff
as far as the fuel system relieving pressure after shut down - i will check this but think it is something more. even when i air out my garage for the day with the door open and the car not running at all... if i close it for the night i still smell gas the next day. it seems like vapor is definitely leaking near the tank though... doesn't seem like it's coming from the fittings. i wish i knew how to diagnose it because it is driving me crazy.
as far as the fuel system relieving pressure after shut down - i will check this but think it is something more. even when i air out my garage for the day with the door open and the car not running at all... if i close it for the night i still smell gas the next day. it seems like vapor is definitely leaking near the tank though... doesn't seem like it's coming from the fittings. i wish i knew how to diagnose it because it is driving me crazy.
My smell is coming from the fender where I have the extra hose bunched up between the fender and the wheel well, before it goes to the back of the car. I am assuming the hose is weeping, and since that is an area with a large ammount of hose in it that my problem. Ill keep you guys posted.
There is a dye that you can buy at the parts store, you add it to the tank before filling up and run the car for a while to get the dye through the whole system. Then you shut the car off and go over all the lines and fittings with a black light and the dye shows up either bright green or white if there is a leak anywhere.
This may be a dumb question but I'm gonna ask anyway 
Why doesn't anybody ever offer stainless steel hard line in a larger size than the OEM? It's not that hard to bend up some lines and I know with a solid line you will have ZERO seepage.
I plan on making my own hardlines with an fittings when I upgrade my system, has anybody else done this? Is there a reason why no aftermarket does it? I bend lines all the time for aircraft applications without issue.
I figure there must be a good reason why nobody is doing this
Why doesn't anybody ever offer stainless steel hard line in a larger size than the OEM? It's not that hard to bend up some lines and I know with a solid line you will have ZERO seepage.
I plan on making my own hardlines with an fittings when I upgrade my system, has anybody else done this? Is there a reason why no aftermarket does it? I bend lines all the time for aircraft applications without issue.
I figure there must be a good reason why nobody is doing this
This may be a dumb question but I'm gonna ask anyway
Why doesn't anybody ever offer stainless steel hard line in a larger size than the OEM? It's not that hard to bend up some lines and I know with a solid line you will have ZERO seepage.
I plan on making my own hardlines with an fittings when I upgrade my system, has anybody else done this? Is there a reason why no aftermarket does it? I bend lines all the time for aircraft applications without issue.
I figure there must be a good reason why nobody is doing this
I figure it's a cost issue. It's much cheaper to run a braided line, not to mention shipping and installation would be a pain as well. Of course that's just my 2 cents....
HighLife101
Cobra Carbon
guys bet its ur fuel filler gasket on ur tank. smell gas when turning or when u fill it to a certain level? becauce u should NEVER smell gas...period!
For my gas smell it was the Fragola Line. I switched it out with Pegasus Racing Stainless steel braided which is PTFE also, No more smell. My issue was definately the Fragola hose.
my garage smells like fuel also since the fragola hoses, nothing i cant live with, atleast my house does'nt smell like fuel
Dear Jared I got some new fragola hose from you when I got my upgraded fuel logs I was wondering.cause I also told.you about my fuel smell in my closed garage its stronger with race gas like sunoco104 but still bad with 93 but not as strong.....I was wondering if I can return this hose and get some steel braided hoses instead let me know.me and my wife can't bare that smell. Sometimes I can smell it in the kicthen..could remburse me or I need to get hoses and new fittings from you.let me know here or better pm me thanks I got my 80pound injectors today. The day is getting closerthanks Gary at that same time I got the fore rails from you I wont no fuel smell.at all cause I got 2 small dogs that are going to be sleeping in there this summer.they will. Die with this smell.I thought the newer hose would take care of the smell..but Lois like it don't. I got 2 other race cars with all steel braided hoses close up too with no smell at all.you need.to discontinue this hoe se before some. Car or home Burns up.can I get just a refund thanks pm me be liking for it thanks Jared
Last edited:
im glad i stumbled onto this thread, kinda lol. i have the same smell issue. i didnt know it was the lines. every time i jack the car up i always inspected every fitting hoping to find the one leaking that was causing the smell, im glad i can gain some sanity back now.
my concern is that gasoline vapors are flammable, if i can smell it is that enough that it could possible ignite somehow?
i dont care that i smell it, even though it cost me the ability to keep the car in the garage, i just want to know in not going to burst into flames. sometimes the smell is pretty strong.
my concern is that gasoline vapors are flammable, if i can smell it is that enough that it could possible ignite somehow?
i dont care that i smell it, even though it cost me the ability to keep the car in the garage, i just want to know in not going to burst into flames. sometimes the smell is pretty strong.
Sucks to hear you guys all having this problem too. I posted in all the threads I could saying the I had a heavy fuel smell in the garage with the Fragola hose. I switched over to PTFE hose and no more smell.
Hey Gary, I would def. switch that hose out. I hope you have better luck with Lethal refunding you any money, I was told they would not do anything for me. I basically had to give the hose away (it was only a few weeks old) and the fittings. I bought new hose from Pegasus Racing, no more smell. I was very disspointed with the Fragola hose and also with the fact that I specifically asked about fuel smell because my car sits alot in the garage, I was told I would have no smell. Well after all the money I spent on the line and fittings, also my time I had to rip it all out and then spend more money on the right hose. I hope you have better luck.
Hey Gary, I would def. switch that hose out. I hope you have better luck with Lethal refunding you any money, I was told they would not do anything for me. I basically had to give the hose away (it was only a few weeks old) and the fittings. I bought new hose from Pegasus Racing, no more smell. I was very disspointed with the Fragola hose and also with the fact that I specifically asked about fuel smell because my car sits alot in the garage, I was told I would have no smell. Well after all the money I spent on the line and fittings, also my time I had to rip it all out and then spend more money on the right hose. I hope you have better luck.
Last edited:
I'm just going to have to eat my fragola.hose and just get steel braided hose and fittings here for in town I wasted over 100bucks easy on theses frag hose and fittings .
Gary,
Please give us a call tomorrow and speak to Matt. He will do the best he can to help you out. I'm sure we'll be able to figure something out that works so there's no need to worry.
Thanks, Jared
I've seen you post several times regarding the fuel hose and get the feeling that you're not just unhappy with the hose but you really aren't happy with us on how your issues were handled.
So I'll first address how the handling of your issues as I want to be clear that we won't leave you or any of our other customers hanging.
Are you aware of the post that Matt made in another thread addressing your concerns? Did you happen to call us after reading that? You may have missed as I didn't see a response from you after it was posted but we will do our best to help our customers out with whatever the issue may be. Whether it's with hose or anything else we sell for that matter. So if you haven't already I suggest you pick up the phone and give Matt a call and we'll see what we can do to make it right so we can move forward.
Here's the post that Matt made
http://www.svtperformance.com/forums/11505019-post137.html
This is the thread it was in
http://www.svtperformance.com/forums/engine-tuning-214/811315-trying-go-return-system-please-help-6.html
Now I'll address the issues with the hose.
I understand you weren't happy with the Fragola hose. As mentioned before we have received complaints of fuel smell from systems we've sold using this hose. Keep in mind however that we've been selling these systems, hats, hose and fittings for almost 5 years now. The amount of complaints to the amount of parts sold is minimal. That doesn't mean it isn't an issue but that for the most part we don't hear about it.
I run this hose on several of my own cars and don't have any issues with it stinking up where they are stored. These cars are kept in my garage and in our warehouse. The only car I've smelled fuel from that uses the Fragola hose is my 03. On that car I personally did the install (I'm not a mechanic/installation facility). This was before the hats had return ports on them. The tank was drilled to install a bulkhead for the return line and used nylon washers as gaskets to seal the bulkhead. I also never knew about the filler neck gasket popping off when the tank is dropped so for all I know my smell could have been attributed to any of those things. Could it be the hose? Sure could. Do I believe it is? No. That's based of of using the hose successfully on other cars.
That's not BS but my real world personal experiences. So when a customer asks me how the hose works I tell them just that. Nothing is hidden or lied about. The customer at that point can make the decision on what they want.
Now when a customer calls and says they have fuel smell the first thing we ask them is who installed the system and have they checked for leaks. Not putting you into this category but there's A LOT of people who install these systems that shouldn't be. Do we agree? They should have professional shops do the installations. You don't know how many pictures I've seen of people installing hose halfway on to the barb end of the fitting. If people are installing the hose like that do you really think that they're installing the fittings and the rest of the system in a professional manor? Not too long ago a customer of my who we call the Coffee guy installed one of our systems by himself. He called me shortly after complaining about the smell. I told him the same thing I said above and suggested for him to take the car to Power by the Hour for them to look at. They were doing some other installations for him so checking over the fuel system wasn't a big deal. Come to find out even after he swore everything was installed right and there were no loose fittings Jake found that the return fitting on the bottom of the regulator was loose and leaking. After Jake went through the entire system the car no longer has any fuel smell. This is the same car that I had Travis (Sid297) take a look at while he was down here for our Raptor install. I explained to him the complaints people were posting on SVTPerformance and wanted him to check for himself and give me his honest opinion if the car and hose smelled like fuel. I'll ask Travis to post in here so you hear it from him direct and not a 3rd party source such as myself.
We also get calls every now and then from customers who say they just installed a system or fuel line upgrade and when they started the car EVERY fitting was leaking. They swear that they installed everything correctly. That type of stuff really boils down to installer error and ties into "fuel smell" because it's directly related. Let me ask you this. The chances of having one bad fitting are very slim right? So if someone calls telling us that all of their fittings (7-8 fittings total) leak wouldn't you question that? At that point what can we do other than to suggest them to take the car to a shop and have it done by a professional. Even suggesting that is difficult as a lot of people believe they're a mechanic and get defensive as soon as that's suggested.
Why I bring this up is because it relates directly to the fuel hose. If people aren't installing their fittings correct, didn't re-install the filler neck gasket properly or have a hole drilled in their gas tank don't you think that could be causing a fuel smell? (Not putting you into this category but just making a point)
Next-The fuel hose itself.
After receiving complaints about fuel smell I contacted Fragola. They're response was that they also have had very good results with the hose but also received complaint here and there about fuel smell. Going into it further I asked them if it's possible that fuel could weep through the line and of course the answer is yes. What I did next was call Aeroquip by Eaton and spoke to one of their managers about hose options. I explained to them the issue with the fuel smell and asked them if it was possible that their hose would do this too. Wouldn't you know it they said yes. It's definitely possible for most of their hoses to permeate fuel smell into the air over time. That didn't sit well as the Aeroquip hose is more expensive and more difficult to get then the Fragola hose. I wasn't prepared to switch all of the systems to a more expensive hose that could potentially smell like fuel down the line.
This brings me to the PTFE hose which seems to be the hot topic lately. As you know from your experience PTFE hose and fittings isn't a cheap route to go. I've seen some posts about it costing anywhere from $800-1000 to upgrade your fuel system to that type of hose. You may have been alright spending that type of money for a hose that guarantees no fuel smell however I believe the majority of our customers and the rest of the mustang community aren't. If we were to use the same hose you're recommending these people in our systems the cost of the systems would go up by at least $700.00. The fuel system which gave the customer the ability to safely support the power they make just became that much harder to afford.
This is why we still offer the Fragola hose in our systems but have been working on a reasonably priced PTFE upgrade option.
I know, I know. That's a lot of typing and time spent to explain ourselves but I definitely felt it was necessary.
Thanks for your understanding and hopefully we'll be able to help make you a satisfied customer in the end.
Jared
Jared, yes I have seen the response Matt wrote in Malcom's thread about contacting him. I wrote in that thread as well about my experience, because it appeared that I was not the only one having the same issue. Why would I call Matt 6-8 months after the problem? I called him the day after installing the hose and he made it very clear there was nothing he could do for me. I explained to him I was not happy with that and I assured him 100% there was not an installation error. I am still running a returnless setup which consists of (4) fittings. There were absolutely no leaks and I could smell the hose directly and smell the fuel. Why would I contact Matt now after all this time has gone by? Should I call him now that so many other members on here are experiencing the same smell in their garage? Matt already made it clear there was nothing he would do, the hose was cut to my specific lengths and fuel was run through it. I can care less at this point. If Matt was going to help me Im sure he would have done it when I called initially. I have spent well over 5k with your company in less than a year and yes I was not happy with the response over a $200 hose/fittings. I hate that I have to write this in this public forum, but I feel like your almost calling me out on why I havent contacted Matt about my problem. I did contact him and I got no where. I am very satisfied with my Pegasus PTFE hose and would not recommend anything less to someone who asks for advice. Since I installed the Pegasus hose I have yet to smell anything in the garage, even after sitting for months during the winter.
Am I not satisified with the response over the hose / smell, sure I am. Am I going to contact you guys to receive some sort of credit in return for the issue 6-8 months later, nah no need to. Not bashing at all either, Matt has been great on all my transactions with you guys, just not happy with the Fragola hose. If a member on here asks for advice on why his garage stinks like fuel and says he is using the Fragola hose, you bet Ill tell him about my experience.
I'm unsure of what transpired 6-8 months ago as I wasn't personally involved with the situation. Our response in that thread though was to address the concerns a few of the members here including yourself had with the Fragola hose. If you want to take advantage of our offer you're more then welcome to call Matt and he'll do what he can.
As far as me calling you out that's not the case. When I saw your reply to Gary telling him that you had no luck in dealing with us about the hose I went back to the the thread with Matt's response and saw that you never replied to it. I figured you just missed it and wanted to make you aware that we offered you help and were willing to do the same for Gary.
I'm sorry for how the situation was handled initially and understand your frustration.
If there's anything else we can do for you please give Matt a call and he'll sort you out.
Thanks, Jared
:beer:
Since I was mentioned in this thread I guess I'll chime in. I looked, or sniffed, over Joe's car fairly closely and I really couldn't smell much of anything. Any fuel I could smell could easily be attributed to other cars in the shop. While I didn't didn't win a medal for huffing in the White Trash Olympics, I do know what fuel smells like. I could put my nose up to the lines themselves and couldn't really smell any fuel vapors.
I will call.I am going steel.braided now.so I wont have to mess with it again your service is A1.
I can seen back the unused frag hose.
I need to order some parts BA3000 meter. And thinking of a cai kit.one that is betterthen my under the holding film one.
You all are my #1 speed shop. Just the fuel.smell.wife smelt it to.
Talk later thanks Gary
I can seen back the unused frag hose.
I need to order some parts BA3000 meter. And thinking of a cai kit.one that is betterthen my under the holding film one.
You all are my #1 speed shop. Just the fuel.smell.wife smelt it to.
Talk later thanks Gary
Sorry to reopen this...but i am having this issue as well...i have a return style. Except after driving my car for an hour with windows down and then stop at a light it smells of fuel bad...no leaks anywhere...ideas?
Users who are viewing this thread
