Fuel line disconnect tool "hack"

[panthermike]

First I'll start by saying it's much easier of course to just use the tool designed for this. However when I started doing the intake manifold on the Crown Vic the other night as I was disassembling I thought I had the right size tool but it was not.

Got me thinking and looking around my miscellaneous bins, then I spotted a small metal clamp. Got me to thinking, what if I snipped off The screw portion of the clamp and wrapped it around the fuel line and gave it a shot? Well, I wrapped it around the fuel line tight as I could pushed it up in there with my fingers and a little bit with a screwdriver and voila, fuel line disconnected!

Nothing revolutionary here just thought I would share if you're in a pinch this could possibly work

 

[Blueshound]

Good tip

 

[D60]

Good tip

Lots of guys use something plastic you can wrap around the hard line and shove in there. I like the idea of metal more, though.

I've been traumatized by some '92-96 Ford trucks that refused to release even with proper tools, so now I have a zillion varieties of disconn tools -- plastic, aluminum, steel and even the "spreader" pliers that can sometimes help push the tool into the fitting (certain applications only)

I'm such a Luddite I long for old plastic "clothespin" connectors.

 

[Kira]

I'm such a Luddite I long for old plastic "clothespin" connectors.

Desiring simple retainers which work and don't jam up or require special (sometimes stupid) tools doesn't make one a Luddite.

~Eight years ago a Snap-On man told me about fuel tanks GM made with fuel lines cast (or somehow pinched) into them which required a new disconnection tool.
Breaking a connector on these fuel lines, he said, necessitated buying an entire new fuel tank.
He was selling said tools at a Chevy dealership at the time.

 

[clinebarger]

Lots of guys use something plastic you can wrap around the hard line and shove in there. I like the idea of metal more, though.

I've been traumatized by some '92-96 Ford trucks that refused to release even with proper tools, so now I have a zillion varieties of disconn tools -- plastic, aluminum, steel and even the "spreader" pliers that can sometimes help push the tool into the fitting (certain applications only)

I'm such a Luddite I long for old plastic "clothespin" connectors.

It's all the fine silt/debris that can get packed into the connections, Over the retention spring in the case of Ford quick connects.

On really stubborn ones, I use a Siphon Air Blower & Water followed with some penetrating oil. Nothing is better at breaking down hardened silt than water.