MG-Cars.net

Welcome to our resource for MG Car Information.

Recommendations

Parts

MG parts spares and accessories are available for MG T Series (TA, MG TB, MG TC, MG TD, MG TF), Magnette, MGA, Twin cam, MGB, MGBGT, MGC, MGC GT, MG Midget, Sprite and other MG models from British car spares company LBCarCo.

MG MGA - Flexi hose failures

I have had failures of both the carb to carb hose and the oil gauge hose from the block. Both failures were in the flexible part of the hose not the unions. They were both new about 10 years ago. My original pipes are still OK they just weren't bright and shiny!

Has anyone else had similar problems? I think this is poor and I'm now concerned about the flexi brake hoses. If they fail it would be a real safety issue. I was very lucky with the oil gauge pipe as I saw it when my son drove the car home after a weekend away. It failed about half a mile from home. I could tell from the trail of drips of oil on the road.
John Francis

I have had the flexible fuel hose fail John and I have seen quite a few other owners have similar failures on them.
Most failures were of older hoses and I think the main cause was the use of modern fuels containing ethanol which tends to dissolve rubber products.

I have never had an oil pressure gauge hose fail.

(I do carry spares of these hoses in the car just in case (no surprise there! :-)

Cheers
Colyn
Colyn Firth

I and others have put up post about this (on B and Spridget areas), for the last 12+ years there have been continued sales of piss-poor rubbish rubber.

I personally don't believe its the ethanol in petrol that effect the fuel hosed, certainly not from my experience but my car is a year round use '73 midget.

12 years ago I had a GT6 and had 3 different lots of fuel hose from 3 different suppliers leak fuel in a very short space of time and didn't use ethanol fuels. I have had problems since on my Midget with fuel hose I now only use modern 6mm or 5.6mm.

If a modern made part is made of rubber or contains rubber I don't trust - however Paul Hunt (mgb-stuff) reports he's not seen problems with brake hoses - I wouldn't know as I swapped to Goodridge brake and clutch hoses about 10 years ago.
Nigel Atkins

John
I have also had to replace a leaking hose to the oil gauge before now.
But I had always thought, maybe incorrectly, that it is very different to the brake lines as the brake lines (I have Goodridge) has to cope with much higher pressure than the oil hose, and indeed the fuel hose.
When my oil hose leaked, it didn't spray out, it just dripped.
So I would have thought (and hope) that the brake lines should be made of much tougher stuff?

I have no evidence, and I guess changing brake lines every so often, can only be good practice.
Graham V

I too have had a flexible oil hose fail - brand new and on first start up of the engine. Fuel hoses on my other MG have only lasted a year with little interest from the supplier, other than to offer a new set of the same hoses.

It is amazing how it is pretty well impossible to get rubber parts that don't fail. The original rubbers lasted for decades and modern car rubber does not fail like the crap we are sold.

Mark
Mark Wellard

Flexible braided fuel hoses failing on the MGA is nothing new... My dad had several of them fail back in the day, and he solved that problem by converting to standard rubber fuel hose on hose barbs with clamps.

Some of the newer ones are supposed to be teflon lined, so ethanol in the fuel shouldn't matter as far as those flexible hoses are concerned. It would probably be helpful to know the source(s) of the failed hoses.

-Del
D Rawlins

Ethanol may well be an issue with fuel lines but unleaded fuel is the main issue with older hoses
I can remember when unleaded was first introduced here and there was a recall on the filler neck tube connector hose on Falcon wagons--The hose is inside the car itself and petrol fumes were weeping through the hose and that was on brand new cars
The upgraded hose fixed it
willy

Also I don't know if it's the same there as here, but fuel hose is a real issue with untrained storeholders--Only a couple of days ago I went to get some fuel line hose and the guy came back with some that had 'suitable for fuel use' written on the box but it wasn't fuel line hose at all it was non reinforced fuel compatible vac. hose like that you would use for a brake booster or breather hose etc.
Best bet is to ask for high pressure fuel hose- as used on fuel injected cars, at least you'll know it's fuel line hose and will hack the pressure ok
William Revit

Can't think why the absence of TEL would render the fuel more aggressive to rubber.
Art Pearse

Moss sells flex hoses for fuel from body to carb and from carb to carb (on MGA) that are PTFE (Teflon) lined. I installed these on my car with completion of restoration in 1986. Now 32 years and 427,000 miles on, the same hoses are doing fine. I don't baby the things either. They are periodically disconnected reconnected, bent back on themselves to stow them out of the way, and yet they remain sound and flexible.

These part have survived the transition from "Unleaded" fuel to "Gasohol" 10% alcohol fuel in the early 1990's with some gawd awful additives used today (like MTBE for instance). It is not often that I get to praise good parts these days, but the PTFE lined hoses are good stuff.

The oil pressure signal line flex hose I installed at the same time is also still good 32 years on. Pretty sure that one is also PTFE lined, although I do not see that particular note in the current catalog.
barneymg

Weren't there some failures of the oil pressure flex hoses reported in recent years?

-Del
D Rawlins

Thanks for all your comments. My carb pipe was originally supplied by Burlen so its disappointing that it has failed given that they specialise in the carburettors. The pipe was also a bit shorter than the original too. Moss Europe don't have any carb to carb pipes in stock at the moment with no knowledge of when they will come in.

John Francis

why not just cut the failed hose away and reuse the banjos with new high pressure fuel hose?
Dominic Clancy

John
It looks like MGOC has stock - also some for sale on ebay I see
Graham V

I have bought one from MGOC but it hasn't arrived yet. I am also considering going to Pirtek who may be able to re-build the failed one. Pirtek have sites across the UK for hydraulics and have a motor racing interest. They look like they have a vast range of automotive pipes and fittings.
John Francis

John, I went to Pirtek near my home and they re-built using the original ends. Years later they still operate OK. They claim to be hydraulic specialists so I figured the replacement hoses would be adequate. Did not cost much either!

Barry
Barry Gannon

Barry, we have a place like that here in Anchorage (Alaska Rubber). They made me an entirely custom hydraulic hose for the winch on my Jeep (it runs off the power steering pump) by brazing my existing tube ends to standard hydraulic fittings, and then making a custom length hydraulic hose to go in between, making the new assembly the exact same dimensions as my previous spliced (and leaky) hose. Cost me about $50 and was ready within 3 hours of my dropping off the original with them.

-Del
D Rawlins

Pirtek were not able to take my old pipe apart and reuse the fittings. They did have other fittings of the right connection size but they had much larger AF nut sizes and were not brass.
I took my old pipe ends off and was surprised. One snapped off with very little force applied as I was cutting the crimp. The other end came off with some careful cutting of the crimp. I can see why the other end sheared. The crimp has completely deformed the fitting. The brass spigot is probably too thin or the material is poor quality. The Flexi pipe was just rubber with no PTFE liner. This pipe came from Burlen about 9 years ago. Photo shows the two end fittings.



John Francis

These guys are good for banjo fittings etc.


www.vintagecarparts.co.uk/categories/vintage-car-parts-taps-pipe-and-fittings-fittings
Dominic Clancy

This thread was discussed between 23/11/2018 and 01/12/2018

MG MGA index

This thread is from the archive. The Live MG MGA BBS is active now.