Replaced my plenum with the Air Gap, about 800 miles later, smelled fuel and that damn hard plastic hose that ties the rails together was leaking. Went out and got a F.I. hose and F.I. hose clamps, 17$ later, fixed her right up. No wonder I was gettin 8 mpg.

 

Outside of the fact that they are charging way too much, they might be soaking your *** too.
I'm trying to imagine how a slightly bent fuel rail can cause it to spray gas, and necessitate replacement of the rail & fuel line, the picture is looking kinda fuzzy.

 

Rightly so, but, you don't want to use those rails and I will tell you why. When there's no fuel inside of them or, they have been sitting unused, they begin to rust out on the inside thus clogging the injectors at the time they are put on another vehicle and used.

You have to remove the rust out of there with an aggregate and then, rinse them out, then apply an acid etch to remove the final rust and to expose good base metal. Once that is complete and they are baked out, you have to coat them in a special epoxy on the inside.

If that is not done, it will keep rusting and it will end up flaking off over time thus clogging the injectors.

The best way to go is to replace those OEM junk - cold rolled steel rails with Al ones. They won't rust and will outlast the steel ones.

If anyone tells you that they are coated on the inside and that they don't rust out- they are full of it. That coating is a super thin and, over time, the base metal bleeds through and starts to rust.

The long fuel supply line is also coated to prevent rust however, I have seen those rust out. It starts at the quick connect fittings first. Those are the areas to start rusting out.

The shorter, SS flex line is also prone to rusting out at the connectors. It will not rust on the inside because it is not steel on the inside however, the fittings do rust out and, over time, they start weeping, or, that rust flakes off and ends up inside the injectors thus clogging them.

I ripped all of that junk out of my truck after finding the root cause for my injectors clogging up.

I installed nothing but SS-flex 100% throughout and replaced the fuel rails with custom Al rails. I never have to worry about rust / clogged injectors ever again. Problem solved indefinitely.

 

That's right, but we are talking about vehicles that have been there for weeks,not months or years.

 

It doesn't take that long to start rusting and, it doesn't need to be the point of flaking off. Depending on the condition of the rails as well as the climate, they may start to rust in a matter of weeks. They would still need to be checked and cleaned out. Even the slightest bit of rust will ruin injectors. In fact, it's the smaller particles that do the most damage. Larger particles end up being caught in the filter while the smaller particles end up inside the injector valve area.

 

Just to add to this the shop said the only reason they need to replace the fuel rail is cause if the line where the quick connect goes on is bent/twisted, or even dimpled in a little bit, since the fuel line is high pressure, fuel will find it's way in there and leak out. And since it would be leaking onto the manifold and gas is highly flammable it's probably a good idea to get new rails....
I probably should have been a lot more careful when taking the fuel line off and I'm paying for it...but it's also how you learn this crap, and I definitely won't make these mistakes again.

As for replacing the fuel line he said it was starting to rust so mine as well replace it...

I'm getting a diesel next fo sure

 

The OEM rails should last you until you decide to sell it. Just remember to use some fuel treatment to dissipate any moisture in the lines. This will prolong the life of the rails.

Once, they start to rust- it's over.

 

I usually run some Lucas about once a month...

Shop called said the parts came in today and and I should have my truck this evening! Yay for not being stranded for the next week.

I guess whoever they ordered the parts from expressed it cause the parts were so expensive...I don't know, good for me though

 

Lucas won't fix a clogged injector due to rust. It only dissolves fuel deposits.

 

What brand of fuel treatment would you suggest to use to keep my new parts from rusting?