Len,

You nailed it on the head. The return line had a pinhole leak that was a result of corrosion under one of the rubber hold-downs. I used a dremel with an abrasive cut-off wheel to cut through the line at the leak point. (I couldn't think of any other way to cut through the line quickly while the fuel was dripping out. This was dangerous due to the heat and sparks that develop! The right way of doing this is to drain the tank.) I patched it as you described with a short section of 5/16" fuel line and two hose clamps.

Then the SECOND leak developed. The supply line cracked up under the trailing arm from the movement of the first repair. To repair this second line, I ran a long (3 1/2 ft) section of fuel line above the trailing arm and patched into the steel line on either side. At this point, I was lying in a puddle of diesel fuel. What a complete mess!

I don't feel good about the condition of this repair. There are still steel fuel lines and the brake line in the area that are corroded. I eventually need to repair this correctly by dropping the trailing arm and replacing all these steel lines as Len suggested. My dilema right now is to decide how quickly I address it.

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'85 300D 276,000 mi