Bent fuel rail

I have been working on doing the isolator bolt fix and lower intake manifold gasket replacement on my 3.8 today. When I was trying to get the fuel rail off...which took A LOT of effort...I bent the back right corner (if looking from the front of the van) upwards. When I put it all back together is it safe to gently bend it back down and bolt it in? Or will this cause a leak?

in my opinion, it depends on what you mean by "bent". If bent is gentle and not kinked in any way (so the walls of the rail haven't collapsed) I'd say try to gently bend it back to its original shape. If there is any sort of kink mark, or visible line in the rail, I'd replace it for sure. Fuel, as you know, is under a fair amount of pressure and you don't want that line failing or the results could be catastrophic.

A pic would really help. If even a tiny bit of doubt, replace it for peace of mind.

It's not kinked or collapsed...I'll try and get a picture posted this morning.

http://i737.photobucket.com/albums/xx13/peneguy102309/Fuel_Rail_1_zpsba1c8bf1.jpg (http://s737.photobucket.com/user/peneguy102309/media/Fuel_Rail_1_zpsba1c8bf1.jpg.html)

http://i737.photobucket.com/albums/xx13/peneguy102309/Fuel_Rail_2_zps43d8699d.jpg (http://s737.photobucket.com/user/peneguy102309/media/Fuel_Rail_2_zps43d8699d.jpg.html)

I've never bent a fuel rail before, but honestly for the $45 it seems they cost I think I'd be replacing. That looks like about 20 degrees of bend, and I'd be concerned that in straightening it'd pinch on the long side of the bend.

If it were me.. I'd be replacing.

Where can you find one for $45? MSRP (which I know is going to be much higher) at Fordparts.com is $539.94. At least I think "Fuel Supply Manifold"=fuel rail?

UPDATE: I just got off the phone with the ONLY Ford dealership within 50 miles of here and he quoted me the MSRP price: $539.94. He said it's not even available and he would have to special order it.:banghead:

Hey,

didn't do a thorough search but found this page ,http://www.ebay.com/itm/2001-Ford-Windstar-Fuel-Rail-With-Injectors-3-8/221292219122?_trksid=p2047675.c100011.m1850&_trkparms=aid%3D222008%26algo%3DSIC.MOTORS%26ao%3D 1%26asc%3D20140107083349%26meid%3D5159250251739730 434%26pid%3D100011%26prg%3D20140107083349%26rk%3D0 %26rkt%3D10%26sd%3D321168500987

and that's what I based my $45 on... that Ford price sounds about right (10x ebay :banghead:)

http://www.car-part.com/
Used car part database. I got 38 pages of results with 50 per page priced form $14 to $175.

I've never heard of one of those going bad (not saying it can't happen... just that I've never heard of it.) I'd personally just head over to pull-a-part and get one off the lot. Or I'd order the one off ebay.

Thanks guys for your replies. I just did a google search and couldn't come up with anything except the ones on ebay (which I have been banned from...long story...ebay screw up that they won't admit). I'll create a new account and give it another shot, if not I'll use Jerry's suggestion, or the junkyard.

scubacat:
It didn't go bad, it works perfectly, I just bent it trying to get it out...it was stuck tight!

I think you misunderstood. I was saying that just with respect to swapping from a junkyard part. A used or junkyard part is likely just fine since it's not a high failure item.

Good luck with this!

Oh ok, I see what you meant

I decided to try and bend it back...I did it extremely slowly and carefully. It isn't perfectly straight, but everything went back together fine. Do you think it would be possible if I did fuel pressure test to determine if it is leaking?