On 2 Jul 2004 20:15:03 -0700, (Wally) wrote:

Greetings:

Looking for advice on how to fix a dripping fuel line and a dripping
water cooling hose:

The fuel pump on my 1997 Searay with a 4.3 V6 went out. With the
busy 4th of July holiday here in the US, I decided to order the parts
and fix myself becuase I knew I could never get it in before the long
weekend.

I ordered a new fuel pump and fuel line (stainless) that runs from top
of fuel pump into the carb from www.mercurymarine.com. I installed
it last night and today when I fired up in the driveway, I have a
small drip coming from the fitting(s) at the top of the fuel pump that
connects into the fuel line. I tried to re-connect/re-tighten to
no-avail. Any clever tricks on how to stop a fuel leak like this?

Secondly, in order to get the fuel pump in, I removed one of the
cooling hoses as well. I've tightened it up real good but it is now
dripping as well. Do I need to replace this hose, or are there any
tricks to getting that to stop dripping. These are original water
hoses.

Any help that will get me out on the water would be much appreciated.

Wally

If you're talking about a flaired type fitting, similar to a brake
line, try this. Back off then seat (tighten) the fitting over and over
again, each time carefully going just a little tighter. What appears
tight on the first couple of tries will evetually yield that extra
quarter turn that you're looking for. Obviously don't apply excessive
force.

I don't think applying a small ammount of gasket eliminator around the
metal part of the cooling system would do any harm. Or, if you have an
eighth of an inch or more to spare on the hose, trim this off to get
to the narrower diameter of the hose which has not swolen. Half an
inch would be better.