I have about 2000+ miles on my Vortech install with no real problems until today. I was going back to work after lunch and I suddenly realized that I seemed to be slowing down (stereo was turned up). I pushed on the gas pedal and nothing, nada. I looked at the tach and the engine wasn't running..WTF. Looked at the fuel pressure gauge and it was at 0. At that point I am smelling gas. I don't mean "do you smell something" type of odor, I mean MAJOR fuel leak fumes. I immediately turn off the ignition and coast into a parking lot leaving a trail of gas in my path. My first thought is the springlock connectors on the framerail that I had to "splice" the Vortech fuel system into. I get it towed to the dealer and they looked at it for me. Sure enough, one of those couplings came apart. I was never 100% confident in the way these went together when I installed the kit but, since they weren't leaking and have held so far, I just assumed I was being paranoid. Word of advice; check these fitting and/or remove them. I think my next modification will be to get rid of all of the rubber hose and clamps that were installed with the Vortech kit and move to Aeroquip fittings and hose.

 

Sorry to hear about that . Thanks for posting it . Would know what to look for if some thing like that happens to me

 

sorry to hear....

can you show me which ones??

 

Look at figure 7-c on page 7 of the Installation Guide . It is the either of the 2 connections at the top of the drawing where the OEM line is disconnected. I am not sure yet which since I didn't want to deal with the huge gas spill and let the dealer fix. All that I know is that there was gas everywhere when I popped the hood. Luckily nothing caught fire.

 

Interesting. McDuck just e-mailed me about something else and he mentioned that he just had a fuel leak problem with his Vortech. He said that he had an FMU problem which caused a pressure spike that blew one on his hoses to blow off the fitting.

I'm sure he'll give better details when he sees this thread.

 

Exact same thing happened to my Z this weekend and I have over 4000 miles on my SC. Thought the fuel line just worked loose somehow, fixed, then a different hose (same fuel splitter) came off.

At this point, we're thinking the FMU failed somehow and maybe a pressure build up is popping the hoses off (Because, as teh215 has pointed out, those splitters aren't the best design).

Hope to know in the next day or two for sure. I'll post an update when we have an answer.

 

copied from another thread, but still relevant here...

I am one of the other who had this problem and during our install we also replaced the crimp clamps with regular screw style clamps, so we could be seeing a trend. Anyone else have the issue with a fuel line coming off one of the Vortech fuel splitters? If so, did you use the crimp clamps that came with the kit or something else?

Also, for those who haven't seen it, the Vortech fuel fittings that split the line are different from normal splitters. One lead has the normal "ribbed" tube that "grabs" the hose if it tries to back off the splitter. The other two leads are smooth, but have a rubber piece sleeved over the tube.

On my car, the two hoses over these rubber fittings are the ones that failed. The "ribbed" fitting wouldn't budge. Even after I had removed the fitting (by cutting the third hose) and removing the clamp, the hose on the ribbed fitting was extremely hard to pull off.

If we feel certain it is not the FMU, I'm going to buy two new brass fittings with ribs on all three leads and replace the Vortech ones.

Watch teh215s original post to see how this works for me.

 

I don't thinkit will be the FMU...hmmm. Have you talked to our tech department? Be sure to get the hose back to us.

 

Yeah... we were skeptical about the FMU, too. Now, we're leaning toward it being some combination of the clamp and the fuel fitting. We're going to replace the fitting that comes with the Vortech kit (with rubber sleeve on two of the fuel leads) with one that has ribbed leads for all three lines.

When we take off the original fitting and hoses, I'll see about getting them sent back to Vortech for inspection.

 

why not just replace the hose with better quality items from now on? Seems like t2h215 is the 6th victum on this board (someone said 5 last night, so assuming what he said is right)

 

I only count two. Regardless, this is why I want to make sure the lines come back here for us to inspect.

 

Forced...

it took some time, but I did find a 3rd last night. Can't remember if it was her or over on 350zfrenzy, tho. If I can find it again, I'll PM you the link.

In any case, as soon as I have something definitive on my end, i'll let you know. It'll take me some time to ship you the parts because I just realized I left one of the old 3-way brass fuel splitters at a friends house about 2.5 hrs away (where my car first had the fuel line problem).

 

well atleast glad to see an aftermarket company looking out for it's customers and keeping up with feedback. Makes a good impression on future customers.

 

Sorry Steve but mine is already trashed since I didn't fix this particular problem. Have you mentioned this to anyone in your tech dept. for their comments?

Rob

 

First of all, sorry this happened to you guys. Second, thanks for sharing so that maybe a few of us can fix this before it happens to us.

teh215, So did the hose pop off the fuel fitting, or did the connection just pop apart under pressure?

mcduck, you mentioned that you replaced the crimp clamps with regular screw style clamps. Did you actually remove the stepless clamps, or did it not come with the hose attached to the fitting? My kit came with the hoses already attached with stepless clamps.

Did either of you replace these fittings yet? If so, could you share some part numbers or a link?

 

First, some quick answers for TD30...

1. The hose popped off the fuel fitting from a pressure build up in the fuel line (confirmed now)

2. On my install, we never used the crimp clamps. We installed with the screw clamps. This was not the problem.

3. I did replace the fittings. I don't know the part number, but you can get them at any good parts distributor. I bought mine from NAPA. Just be sure to get 5/16th brass T-fittings where all three leads are barbed and you should be fine.

OKAY, that said, we found the problem with the fuel line issue and it is the FMU.

My FMU was removed and taken back to the authorized Vortech dealer it was bought from. Ralph (at Carolina Performance Racing) disassembled the FMU and discovered several components damaged from mineral deposit build up. This caused the valve within the FMU to stick, creating the pressure build up.

So, the problem occurred because, over time, bad gas had left mineral deposits on several rubber internal components of the FMU. Fortunately, fixing the part is costing me nothing. All I'm out is the down time and having to haul my car home from where the part failed.

PREVENTION
For the record, I only run 93 Octane gas and almost always from BP or CITGO. So, I'm not sure you can argue brand quality was the issue. Essentially, in order to keep things running peak and without problem, it has been recommended that I occasionallly run higher octane (which I do... every now and then I pump some 100 into my car) and that I run an injector cleaner through my fuel system every 2-3 tanks of gas. That is much more frequently than I have been accustomed to, but in light of the alternative, I will do this as well.

teh215... I'd recommend if you can, to disassemble your FMU and see if this is your problem as well. It will be fairly obvious as several of the rubber sealer pieces will appear white and chalky. Let us know how your recovery goes.

My Z should be back on the road this afternoon.

 

The fuel line leakage could of been a blessing in disguise.. What if it didn't leak and fuel flow to the injectors was reduced resulting in an undesirable A/F lean condition..Wolud there have been any detection of reduced fuel flow? before potential detonation..

 

is injector cleaner safe to use with out cars?

 

jpc... I've already thought of that and you are right. if the valve was sticking, but still open a little, I could have been getting too little fuel, but still running. I would not be surprised if this was actually happening since my car has felt a little weaker lately. I attributed that to the heat we've had, but it could very well have been a fuel starvation issue. Thankfully, at no point, have I heard any pinging. So most likely, an all or nothing.

tig488... I don't know... why would injector cleaner not be safe for our cars?

 

oh i dont know, i vaguely remember something about not using it with our cars, im probably mistaken. id like to start using it.