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I can pick up some fuel hose way cheaper than the braided stuff used for the brake hoses; anyone agree if fuel hose will degrade with ATF? Autozone guy says it will work- I would rather get an opinion here I'm sure someone has done this and has an opinion...

Fuel line hose will not hold ATF for long. Get something specifically for hydraulic fluid or tranny line.

Fuel line will work just fine on the low pressure side. Gasoline is a lot more chemically active than ATF.

Get the URO fuel hose.

waferman wrote:I can pick up some fuel hose way cheaper than the braided stuff used for the brake hoses

What brake hoses are you talking about? The return from the brake booster to the reservoir or what?

No.

Hydraulic hose, they may have it under trans cooler hose.

Fuel line is for carbureted vehicles, which see less than 10 psi of pressure, most are around 5 psi from a mechanical fuel pump.

Using fuel line for the trans cooler lines will fail in very short order, and is one of my pet peeves. Even as a return hose for power steering it will leak and the "fix" is to over torque the hose clamps or put several clamps on the connections.....hackmaster extrodinaire.

Most parts stores have trans cooler hose in stock and thats what should be used.

Thanks all- this is for the 8mm and 6mm hose that comes out of the pwr steering reservoir, low pressure. The fuel hose suggested was hi-pressure, not for carb'd.

So the ATF will attack the fuel line material?

- Wait- answer is "Yes, ATF will eat up fuel grade hose"- dude from NAPA autoparts. Seems dude at 'other' autoparts store didn't know what he was talking about. Will price NAPA hose vs. autohausaz...

Fuel hose is not really designed for oil, more for pressure and to control fumes though newer "green label" barrier hoses might be more appropriate they cost more per foot than tranny line. That said, I used low pressure (75 psi not 300) fuel line with regular hose clamps for the trans cooler before though eventually it did start to weep a bit and soften. If it's all You can find or get under budget it's a temp fix but that's about it, silicone is pretty cheap by the foot online though still more than just waiting a week or so and getting the proper stuff in the first place.

I have often seen fuel line with markings indicating it was rated for both fuel and oil. And not that there couldn't be a material that was more oil resistant than fuel resistant, fuel is a much "hotter" or chemically aggressive fluid. You can put ATF in most plastic cups and it will be fine. Gasoline will melt many of those same plastics. Not to suggest it's a universal, but more a rule of thumb.

And as far as using fuel line for coolant, yes, it's safe chemically, but fuel line generally isn't rated for the temps that coolant runs at so it will harden in a relatively short time, say a year instead of 10 years.

Rubber and plastic formulations are two completely different things.

I just went through this on the small hose from the reservoir to the regulator. Brand new BMW fuel hose with the cloth braid outer covering was totally porous in 5 weeks.

edit: Ooops...didn't realize this was an old post

Area 52 wrote:
edit: Ooops...didn't realize this was an old post

But you posted fresh information. You get a pass on this one.

I am using fuel hose (high pressure rated for up to 100psi) for supply from the reservoir to my clutch master. Is that OK? It has been on there and working for about a year but I figured i would ask!