1998 Lesabre Fuel Line Leaks

[Leon2]

I have a 1998 Buick LeSabre with 75000 miles that has started to leak gas. The local Buick dealer has examined the car and has informed me that the leak(s)are coming from cracks in the flexible fuel lines. He does not have any explanation for what has caused the cracks in these lines.

The flexible lines will obviously have to be replaced, since this is definitely a safety problem in addition to being a performance problem. The dealer indicated that the sending unit in the tank will also need to be replaced since the hard line ends are rusted and the new flexible lines will not be able to be secured to the sending unit. He also said that since this is all being done, the fuel pump will also most likely need to be replaced. The total cost has been estimated to be between $1000 and $1300.

The car is only 7 years old, does not have excessive mileage, and has been driven only under "normal" city driving conditions - no incidents of any damage anywhere on the car -including the undercarriage.

I think that it is highly unusual for this car to have cracked fuel lines - and all of the other related problems. Does anyone have any information/advice that they can share with me regarding this?

Thanks in advance for your help.

[yogi_123rd]

I feel for you and understand all too well what is going on. The higher of the price of repairs quoted sounds about right. You really need to inspect the car for yourself from the underside to understand the problem. Professional mechanics will also replace everything to guarantee a quality fix which is why the repair cost is so high.

My experiences: I bought a 90 Lesabre (13 years old at the time). Rear brake line was leaking. I thought it was no biggie. I dropped it off at the local garage to splice in a simple repair and found out different. Mechanic put the car on the lift and showed me what he was up against.

The Lesabre has 2 fuel and 2 brake lines coming down from the engine compartment and mounted together. They are bolted to the underside of the car and go to a point just in fromt of the driver's rear wheel. The fuel lines split off and go to the tank, and brake lines split off and go to each wheel. The fuel lines on my 90 Lesabre were made of soft steel. Perhaps in your 98 they are now made of a plastic/neoprene material ("flexible fuel lines"). I suspect they are like mine - soft steel.
From inspecting my Lesabre, I discovered the prior owner had fixed the fuel system lines in two spots with splices (so he was aware of the problems underneath). The condition of my car was pitiful. The fuel lines were completely rusted the lenght of the line and going up to the fuel pump in the tank. By completely rusted, I mean flaking off chunks of rust and ready to disintergrate. The fuel line was leaking in 5 seperate spots and impossible to splice again short of running a rubber fuel line from the gas tank to the engine compartment. My problem was with the brakes. Just like the fuel lines, the brake lines were simularly corroded. If you touch the line or try to break a connection fitting, the line will crumple. Impossible to splice in a fix.

I don't believe GM did anthing special to undercoat these cars or perhaps it is that the lines are exposed on the underside of the car rather than run along the frame as other cars. Perhaps it is the grade of steel in the lines. The point is these lines rust and rust big time. I had my car repair to the tune of $1500 for all new brake and fuel lines inclusive of a fuel pump. It turned out that the fuel pump was the only item that was good. The problem was that in order to inspect the lines coming from the fuel pump, the gas tank needs to be dropped. Once the tank is dropped, might as well put in a new pump. The lines from the fuel pump are protected from moisture because of where the gas tank tightly fits to the underbody.

You do have one thing going for you. Your car is only 7-8 years old. The excessive rusting process may just be starting. A splice fix may be possible, but it wouldn't be Mr Goodwrench doing that type of work. You need to see the problem for yourself.

[Leon2]

Thanks very much for your response. It looks like my situation is not unique. I have decided to have the repairs made by the dealer so I can have my car back. I have tried to reason with the dealer and with a Buick Customer Service rep - pointing out that this is a safety issue - not just a performance/cost issue. But, they will not do anything because it is not a warranty issue and not a recall issue. However, I am not going to let it end there. I am going to file a complaint with the National Highway Trafiic Safety Agency. In my opinion this is a safety issue (gas leaking under the car) and this type of failure should simply not be allowed to occur - especially on a car that is not very old. If my situation is unique, I may not get much help there. But, if more people have had this problem and report it to them it may properly get resolved. I will be submitting my complaint to NHTSA before the end of this week. I will also be copying the top execs at Buick and GM. I will add to this post when I have completed this. I will also let everyoine know if I get any response to the complaint.

Thanks again.

[Flatrater]

GM has been using this type of plastic for more than 15 years. I have worked around these systems for 13 years now and never have I seen the plastic lines crack.

[Smith1000]

This is interesting. I have 2 '97 lesabres and do not keep either one inside. They get all kinds of mud, road salt,etc. underneath and I have never had not had this corrosion problem. Everything looks great underneath. No rust or leaks at all. The fuel lines look fine too. I have read though, that gas from a certain company ruins the fuel gauge sending unit in some gm vehicles. I have seen some vehicles in this area (Kansas) from northern cities, like Chicago, that are extremely corroded underneath. One SUV I looked at had the frame flaking off in big pieces underneath. Could be high humidity, road salt in the winter, etc. Some of the stuff they put on the roads now in the winter isn't straight salt. I'm not sure what it is.

[gbeeley]

Be sure to tell the dealer to save the hoses & other parts for you to examine. It'd be interesting to see what those leaky spots look like. Maybe an animal got up in there and was gnawing on a hose? You never know about those rodents - I had one build a nest in my blower fan... three times! and later one gnawed all sorts of stuff in the passenger compartment, including a piece of rubber. Also, maybe the sending unit & hoses were replaced previously and low grade hoses were used?

Do file with the NHTSA, though, just in the odd chance that there might be a pattern or a common cause (e.g., a road chemical like Smith1000 mentioned) that needs to be investigated.

[Gocart879]

when vehicles are placed into garages, the mositure will promote and accelerate rust. unfortunatly the parts which come first are the brake and fuel lines. but if i had advice, keep your vehicle outside as much as possible. also heated garages are bad. the heat activates the road salt etc. materials they use. so that will also increase rust.

here is an example,

i am a volunteer firefighter,
we have 2 1994 chevrolet suburbans, one as a ex chiefs unit and one as a ems response unit,

now the ex chiefs unit is driven daily 2 and from work, and has approx 50-60thousand, the ems unit has just over 13000 but has the hours on it from idleing. the ems response unit is washed every time after a call. no body rust. The ems unit is kept inside all the time and the ex chiefs unit is garaged every so often,

now the one with more rust is the truck kept inside.
think about it.
anyways good luck. hope your buick keeps running strong.