Grey Fuel Lines from the Dealership

[grhonk]

Hi! I read in a thread somewhere that grey fuel lines are bad. The dealership also advised changing my old lines. So, I had the dealership change the lines and clean the carburetors. I am curious about the lines they did replace the old ones with. They are also grey in color. Will gasoline deteriorate all grey lines or are some grey lines resistant to breaking down with contact to gasoline? (The new ones are from Motion Pro)

 

[Seadoobuddy]

Here is info from 2009 as written on their website.

In addition to all the tools and controls that Motion Pro manufactures, we also offer staple products like fuel line and fittings. Motion Pro offers a broad range of fuel line types including clear PVC, braided vinyl, and our Premium fuel line, all of which are available in a variety of sizes. Our Premium fuel line is available in black, gray or clear and features excellent chemical resistance and greater strength and durability. Just introduced this year is our low permeation (LP) Premium fuel line. Our LP fuel line has the same outstanding chemical resistance and flexibility as our regular Premium fuel line and is 2008 CARB and EPA compliant.

Motion Pro fuel line is offered in twenty-five foot rolls packaged in easy to organize boxes with a perforated access that allows you to dispense fuel line right from the box. We also just introduced prepackaged 3-foot sections for the mechanic that doesn't need a huge box of fuel line. The 3-foot rolls are clearly marked with the fuel line type and size so you can easily identify them, and they are very affordably priced, so that you can have several different materials and sizes on hand without breaking the bank. Motion Pro fuel line has numerous uses other than carrying fuel, such as: brake fluid reservoir lines, vacuum lines, carburetor vent and drain lines, fuel transfer lines, and air box ventilation.

Motion Pro also offers a wide range of fuel line fittings including Y and T connectors, quick disconnect couplings, hose clamps, and O-clips, and all are available in a range of sizes. We also offer a selection of inline fuel valves for almost any need.
Motion Pro products are available from your favorite motorcycle dealer.

 

[Sportster-2001-951C-Stock]

I don't think there's a whole lot of negative results reported with fuel lines mfd by motion pro, the Tempo brand in gray are the ones to be wary of. If a professional shop changed them for you, they should have used the correctly rated materials to protect themselves from potential lawsuits.

Should really be USCG A1 rated for marine use and that's all I will use on customer boats/skis. This is more important to me than who actually branded the fuel line.

But, that doesn't mean something else won't work, even vinyl tubing from Lowes or HD will work but can harden, crack and leak in a few years time depending on the compounds used during manufacturing. It's hard to say what you're actually buying when it doesn't have the USCG marine rating.

 

[Bills86e]

Many many years ago near the Birth of seadoos, The GREY fuel lines were the only lines that got the approval of the US Coast Guard,

Owners be Aware,
Nothing has changed, except our awareness of the continued use of that product. We have labeled them unfit for all the obvious reasons,
and its a legal battle to challenge monetarilly. We move on in our forum.We recommend black rubber fuel lines like Goodyear red stripe
and other mfd's, as we like our Doo's trouble free for years of our pleasure.

I had a new craigcat with a 30Hp Mercury engine that the injectors failed from being pluged up. Sent to a Cerified Merc Dealer who
installed three new injectors and put on Grey fuel TEMPO lines, and 9 month later, suffered the same exact ordeal. Le$$on Learned!


Bills86e

 

[Sportster-2001-951C-Stock]

Gates and Goodyear both make the USCG approved fuel line, I'm sure there are others. Wrenching on your own ski, I suppose you can use whatever you want or feel comfortable with.

Using USCG approved fuel line shouldn't be discouraged, IMO.

You may fail an USCG inspection without it, if the fuel line isn't properly rated. Say for instance you kept your ski aboard or to tied to your larger boat that was subject to required USGC inspections in order to qualify for marine insurance coverage, I would use the properly rated fuel line.

 

[- BiRkS_]

That being said Sportster, there are Black USCG approved lines. All merc engines, and some newer etec outboard engines use Goodyear fuel line. They have the re-enforced webbing material to keep them from kinking and make them more robust.

I know I run away from any tempo product. Their fuel lines are crap, their primer bulbs are crap (check valves, hard rubber) But Sierra, quicksilver lines, are all fantastic.

 

[grhonk]

Fantastic discussion! Thanks a million.

 

[jseth83]

This was a helpful discussion. Mine has gray Pro Motion lines on them. I guess I will leave them on....I just wanted to be sure they were different than the gray Tempo lines that everyone is concerned about.

 

[Sportster-2001-951C-Stock]

This was a helpful discussion. Mine has gray Pro Motion lines on them. I guess I will leave them on....I just wanted to be sure they were different than the gray Tempo lines that everyone is concerned about.

Yes, this discussion is about the famous TEMPO made fuel lines that dissolve and contaminate your carbs with trash, plugging the small internal fuel filters and low/mid speed passages. This phenomenon isn't necessarily limited to Tempo's product but other sub-standard fuel lines can cause carburetor problems as well over time.

I think if your ski is running properly then you don't have to worry too much about this but eventually every one of these csrburetors will need to be rebuilt simply b/c contaminants build up over time, independent of which fuel lines are installed, but substandard fuel lines can contribute greatly.

In a nutshell, if you have carb problems then engine damage can result if the engine is run too lean (fuel starved) or the fuel octane is compromised due to age. A two stroke engine is quite sensitive to this b/c the fuel carries the lubricant so a lack of fuel also means there will be lubrication problems. If the fuel octane is compromised, combustion temperatures can become excessive, detonation can occur and cause the pistons to overheat, which will disrupt the delicate balance of the oil film on the cylinder walls and could cause the oil film to break down.

When fuel problems occur, one or both cylinders may not be running properly and the engine won't make power as it should. The engine will hesitate and stumble, fall on it's face and the throttle response will feel flat, unresponsive. When this happens, it's time to rebuild the carbs or troubleshoot the problem(whatever may be the cause), don't keep running the ski hoping the problem may correct itself otherwise engine damage is likely.

 

[68ragtop]

I have replaced the tempo lines on three skis so far. Two of them, a 1995 XP & a 1996 GSX, where pretty junked up at the typical brass barbs & fuel selectors. The Last ski I did, My 97 XP had the tempo lines & they were clean as a whistle. Not even green on the barbs & they still looked virgin. I am assuming its from the PO's always running a quality, non-ethanol fuel & I never asked them if they where able to do that or not. I was surprised however how good of shape they were in. Still replaced them all of coarse.

 

[LouDoo]

I have a newer Mercury 4-stroke outboard, it has Goodyear USCG approved fuel lines, they are light blue, and are ethanol safe.

Lou

 

[Sportster-2001-951C-Stock]

That being said Sportster, there are Black USCG approved lines. All merc engines, and some newer etec outboard engines use Goodyear fuel line. They have the re-enforced webbing material to keep them from kinking and make them more robust.

I know I run away from any tempo product. Their fuel lines are crap, their primer bulbs are crap (check valves, hard rubber) But Sierra, quicksilver lines, are all fantastic.

I've been looking for the OEM source that makes those blue plastic tubing pinchers that must be removed from the e-tec during setup, I'd like to get ahold of a larger size than the small ones we remove.

I think they're handy to have in the toolbox, do you know of somewhere we can get them?

The ones I'm referring to have "H.D.K Denmark" on them...