What exactly is a “GM fuel disconnect tool”?

[Oro_O]

Thanks to reasons I will not vent here (did elsewhere), I need to do a head gasket job on a GM 3400.

I gather I need a unique tool like this to get the fuel rail off? I’m not opposed to the $10 or less it costs, just checking there is not an obvious work-around. I have a general suspicion and aversion of totally one-off tools.

https://www.harborfreight.com/3-piece-quick-disconnect-tool-set-38732.html

 

[Bailes1992]

They slide up into the female side of the fuel connector which allows the male end to be extracted.

I have managed to butcher things like pen lids in the past to release fuel lines, but honestly, just buy the tool. It's not worth the effort.

 

[Oro_O]

Thanks, @Bailes1992 . That’s what I guessed and $8 to $10 is not a burden. Thanks for clarifying the need and keeping me from trying to MacGyver it. The pen lid reference is amusing.

And added context: I married a woman from South Wales once (Abvergavenny). I survived; stronger for it I guess.

 

[eljefino]

You want to catch two little prongs and push them in. You might get by with picks, small screwdrivers, or a sliver of a soda can. You can also butcher the thing and fold it back into shape when done.

 

[Oro_O]

You want to catch two little prongs and push them in. You might get by with picks, small screwdrivers, or a sliver of a soda can. You can also butcher the thing and fold it back into shape when done.

LoL, you just struck a serious chord with the “sliver of a soda can” thing. Serious chord. And New England-ish.

My college roomate and I got stuck in far northern VT years ago because the alternator on my BMW 2002 failed (and the car was OLD then, not new). We were at a big dairy farm on the east shore of Lake Willoughby up near the Canadian border, where his parents rented a cabin each summer. We had only the farm tools and some beer cans to fix it or wait a week for parts. I cut a Coors can into strips and fit them into the bearing race, jammed it back together enough to make juice and we got as far as the belt way outside Boston before the battery light started to flicker, but made it home.**

My non-driving, city-boy roomate who witnessed this was stunned and bragged about it. So the last year of college they called me “MacGyver” (I did not actually like that). I haven’t thought of that in years (actually a decade + is more accurate).

lesson: I just ordered the specific tool off Amazon; so screw that hero stuff if you actually have money and time. But don’t give up if you don’t.

** I was an east-coast college kid at the time, but I was from Kentuckiana and my dad was a heavy diesel mechanic with the army, then a machinist with the L&N. I might have been a wimpy college kid at the time, but I wasn’t letting my Dad down or what he taught me before college or my Kentucky/southern Indiana roots.

 

[Lubener]

Thanks to reasons I will not vent here (did elsewhere), I need to do a head gasket job on a GM 3400.

I gather I need a unique tool like this to get the fuel rail off? I’m not opposed to the $10 or less it costs, just checking there is not an obvious work-around. I have a general suspicion and aversion of totally one-off tools.

https://www.harborfreight.com/3-piece-quick-disconnect-tool-set-38732.html

I have used the same tool on my Fords, so is a good item to have in the tool box. It will relieve the tension of the coil spring within the coupling so you can separate it.

 

[Astro14]

Spend the $10. MacGyver this and you risk damaging the part. Not a concern on the 2002, it was already toast, but bugger up the fuel rail or pipe and it will cost a whole lot more than $10.

 

[MSCH]

Thanks to reasons I will not vent here (did elsewhere), I need to do a head gasket job on a GM 3400.

I gather I need a unique tool like this to get the fuel rail off? I’m not opposed to the $10 or less it costs, just checking there is not an obvious work-around. I have a general suspicion and aversion of totally one-off tools.

https://www.harborfreight.com/3-piece-quick-disconnect-tool-set-38732.html

its pretty much a standard tool for quick release fuel and AC lines... go spend 7 dollars...

 

[14Accent]

There's another tool that you're going to want while doing this job:

GM 3x00 pushrod removal tool

Do NOT attempt to remove the rocker arm bolts! The threads in the cylinder head LOVE to strip.

 

[Jetronic]

And added context: I married a woman from South Wales once (Abvergavenny). I survived; stronger for it I guess.

If you see a red dog running free there, you know it's mine!

 

[Number_35]

Thanks, @Bailes1992 . That’s what I guessed and $8 to $10 is not a burden. Thanks for clarifying the need and keeping me from trying to MacGyver it. The pen lid reference is amusing.

And added context: I married a woman from South Wales once (Abvergavenny). I survived; stronger for it I guess.

My best boss at work was a very fine gentleman from Wales, an excellent combination of fairness, kindness, competence, and dry wit. He was rather appalled by the vulgar Limerick about the young lady from Aberystwyth. RIP, Mr. Williams.

 

[D60]

And I do reco the metal ones. You can buy plastic ones but on stubborn tangs/fingers they aren't always up to the task.

Sometimes the scissor ones as shown are too large for tight quarters so it's not a bad idea to also have the set of aluminum discos. They're single-ended and more "stubby" and not terribly expensive:

Fuel and Transmission Line Disconnect Tool Set, 7-Piece

Amazing deals on this 7Pc Fuel Line Disconnect Tool Set at Harbor Freight. Quality tools & low prices.

www.harborfreight.com