watersteps
Active member
Now before everyone condemns me for using rubber fuel hose for a fuel line, I use rubber fuel hose on all my yard and garden tractors and they work great, no leaks and last for a long time. Now I only use the best hose the auto parts stores sell, at least I thought I did.
I got my 1953 Cub about 2 months ago and right from the beginning I notices a fuel leak at the carburetor where the brass fitting screws into the carb. I was working on changing a bad 6 volt to 12 volt conversion to a nice neat change. So I removed the copper fuel line with flared fittings and found the carb fitting was stripper of the threads. The carb had good threads so I decided to change the fitting to a barbed fitting for rubber hose. The copper line was kinked in a few places and was probably bend more then it should have been. The fuel shut off/fuel bowl on the tank was new so I just added a barbed fitting and installed the new hose and clamps. All looked good and worked great. Next day I rubbed the hose and clamp at the carb and my finger was wet! OK I tightened the clamp some and all looked good. Next day I found the same problem, I felt around the fitting and the carb for possible leaks. What I found was the carb gasket was wet around the carb and if you touched it your finger got wet. OK maybe This was causing the wetness at the hose and clamp. Well I bought a rebuild kit and rebuilt the carb, next day same problem, but the carb gasket was not wet. OK, I changed the clamps and the hose for another piece of new rubber hose. Next day same problem. Well this was getting old real fast so I removed the barbed fitting from the carb and put a 1/4" pipe cap on the fitting and turned on the fuel. A few hours later the hose and clamp was wet again. OK the threads in the carb were not bad, the gasket was not leaking, so what was going on here.
I decided to change the good fuel hose for a cheap rubber hose. It was a little tight on the fitting so I used a heat gun to heat up the hose and slide it on. I added 2 spring type clamps and turned on the fuel. A few hours later no leak, OK I will wait until tomorrow and see what happens. Next day no leaks, no wet hose, problem solved.
Yes I know I could have just put up with a little leak and forgot about it. No way I don't like fuel leaks in any amount.
What did I determine? The hose has a printed message on it with the size, "5/16 inch fuel hose, Do not use under the hood of a vehicle" It looks like the fuel or gas leaks out of the inner part of the hose and follows the inner thread from one end to the other. That is what I think is happening. So this type of hose goes in the garbage can.
The cheap hose did not have any threads inside the hose wall, just rubber. By the way the hose is around 7 inches away from the exhaust.
By the way, when I was checking the hose and clamps for leaks the hose at the fuel shut end was also wet.
Hope this helps another Cub owner.
I got my 1953 Cub about 2 months ago and right from the beginning I notices a fuel leak at the carburetor where the brass fitting screws into the carb. I was working on changing a bad 6 volt to 12 volt conversion to a nice neat change. So I removed the copper fuel line with flared fittings and found the carb fitting was stripper of the threads. The carb had good threads so I decided to change the fitting to a barbed fitting for rubber hose. The copper line was kinked in a few places and was probably bend more then it should have been. The fuel shut off/fuel bowl on the tank was new so I just added a barbed fitting and installed the new hose and clamps. All looked good and worked great. Next day I rubbed the hose and clamp at the carb and my finger was wet! OK I tightened the clamp some and all looked good. Next day I found the same problem, I felt around the fitting and the carb for possible leaks. What I found was the carb gasket was wet around the carb and if you touched it your finger got wet. OK maybe This was causing the wetness at the hose and clamp. Well I bought a rebuild kit and rebuilt the carb, next day same problem, but the carb gasket was not wet. OK, I changed the clamps and the hose for another piece of new rubber hose. Next day same problem. Well this was getting old real fast so I removed the barbed fitting from the carb and put a 1/4" pipe cap on the fitting and turned on the fuel. A few hours later the hose and clamp was wet again. OK the threads in the carb were not bad, the gasket was not leaking, so what was going on here.
I decided to change the good fuel hose for a cheap rubber hose. It was a little tight on the fitting so I used a heat gun to heat up the hose and slide it on. I added 2 spring type clamps and turned on the fuel. A few hours later no leak, OK I will wait until tomorrow and see what happens. Next day no leaks, no wet hose, problem solved.
Yes I know I could have just put up with a little leak and forgot about it. No way I don't like fuel leaks in any amount.
What did I determine? The hose has a printed message on it with the size, "5/16 inch fuel hose, Do not use under the hood of a vehicle" It looks like the fuel or gas leaks out of the inner part of the hose and follows the inner thread from one end to the other. That is what I think is happening. So this type of hose goes in the garbage can.
The cheap hose did not have any threads inside the hose wall, just rubber. By the way the hose is around 7 inches away from the exhaust.
By the way, when I was checking the hose and clamps for leaks the hose at the fuel shut end was also wet.
Hope this helps another Cub owner.