I've recently had the fuel system apart on two engines, both '84.  One was
in Scotland (cool and damp) until '91 and New England (moderate) since, and
the other reputedly lived in Arizona (hot, dry) mostly.  On mine, the
Scotland one, everything metal was rusty (sometimes mostly rust), but the
rubber parts seemed externally good and the plastic hose-sleeves were
flexible.  On the Arizona one all the metal was nice but the hoses were
stiff and had little cracks in the ends, and the plastic sleeves were
stiff, and cracked when I bent them.  Both systems still had factory crimp
fittings.

I cut open (lengthwise) one injector hose and the pressurised supply hose
from each.  The Scotland hoses were excellent internally, though somewhat
stiffer than new hose.  The Arizona supply hose was excellent, but the
injector hose showed slight surface cracking inside, visible only when I
folded the hose against the normal curve.  Even folded back that way it was
more of a surface crazing than real cracks.  The visible cracks on the ends
were only about two mm long, not even reaching the outside edge of the band
clamps.  I reckon that either one could have continued in service for
years, not that I would have wanted to risk it.

Incidentally on both engines the injector seals, oil breather O-ring,
dipstick O-ring, thermostat and water-pump O-ring and the O-ring on the
coolant pipe that plugs into the thermostat housing were hard and
stiff.  The ones exposed to oil had no flexibility at all and came out in
pieces.

Now the mystery:  I have sitting on my bench the cracked remains of a
*tiny* O-ring, no more than 1mm thickness by 4mm OD.  Half the size of the
dipstick O-ring.  What the heck is it?  I can't think of anyplace on the
engine that takes such a small thing, but OTOH this "bench" was set up for
the purpose and doesn't have five years worth of junk lying on it.  Any
thoughts?

david
David Beierl - dbeierl@ibm.net