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Had the brake lines replaced about a month ago on my 1999 Accord. The mechanic showed me the fuel lines which were in bad shape. He'll need to order the fuel lines. Then a few weeks ago the CEL came on, brought it to my son's who has a code reader, it was P1457. He reset it, as expected a week later it returned. Could this be related to the fuel lines? Part of the (I believe) vent lines has a small hole. I need to consider how much money I should put into the 20 year old car. The rest of the car is in decent shape, 172k miles. I was quoted $615 for to replace the fuel lines, that's actually less than I thought. I don't have the time or resources to do it myself. With the P1457 I know it involves maybe more parts, research shows that can be a complicated troubleshooting procedure, but related to the fuel system.
Currently I'm thinking it's worth putting the money into it even exceeding the original quote to a point. I don't use it for work, so the mileage isn't a concern.
Had the fuel lines replaced this week, the shop reset the CEL. Time will tell if it's resolved as I know the code comes up after the cycle fails twice. Bought the car about a year ago - now it has new brake and fuel lines. Expensive of course but not as much as a head gasket repair which would almost definitely had come up on the Subaru I had.
Last edited by Stelcom66; Sep 21, 2019 at 08:47 AM.
a P1457 is related to the evaporitive emissions control system. Years ago gas would sit in the tank of the car and slowly evaporate (or evaporate much more quickly on a a hot day). Basically the gas was just "vented" to the atmosphere. In 1996 the government mandated that on all cars there must be a self monitored system in place to basically capture the evaporating fuel and at certain times re-introduce it into the engine's intake system to be burned as fuel. What this code means is that there is a leak in the system. The system consists of solenoids (electrical motion makers, typically valves), and things like a liquid-vapor separator and a "canister" to collect fuel. The system is self diagnostic and when certain parameters are met (things like temperature outside and how many times and how long you've driven the car) it will perform a leak test of all the components and lines. The leak could be an actual leak in a hose or loose connection or it can be a component, designed to be used in these self tests, that is not properly contributing to the test. Typically fuel lines are not part of this evaporative emissions control system, there are typically 3 lines that are replaced when you have "bad" fuel lines, (1) Fuel "Feed" Line, (1) Fuel "Return" Line and (1) Fuel "Vent" Line, the system deals with the gas tank and its vapors, not pressurized fuel so the feed and return lines are not part of the evap system and won't ever be cause for a check engine light, the "Vent" line however could be.
The correct way, and the way a Honda dealer would approach the diagnostic process is with a Honda factory diagnostic tool, this enables them to manually operate individual components (actuate certain valves) and in turn, be able to separate and isolate certain parts of the system. Another very common practice is to use a smoke machine to inject smoke into the system and use it to visually check for leaks. This particular code is very common in older cars and amoungst all the mechanics, is dreaded, its an annoying and time consuming process to find the cause.
If your fuel lines are bad, know it kinda sucks, know that they are in need of being replaced but just replace them and know your getting the lines and getting them installed all under $700 which isn't too bad. If you bought OEM Honda lines and installed them yourself you'd be looking at about $320 for the lines. Some parts stores can sell you aftermarket brand lines, those may cost a bit less, you might be able to get the feed, return and vent lines for about $175 but it is fairly labor intensive job.
Here is a OEM Honda parts catalog parts diagram for the fuel lines.
The lines are:
Wow the fuel system is a complicated one! I had a local shop replace the items #23, #28 and #19, and maybe other miscellaneous hardware and coupling items. Now looking under the car you see new copper (or whatever the brake lines are) and the silver fuel lines. I know the fuel vent line was really bad, there were holes in it and sections missing. The mechanic let me look under the car when it was on the lift doing the brake lines. I'm hoping since the vent line was in poor condition, that was the reason for the code.
I did research the system and learned unfortunately it can be challenging to diagnose where the failure or leak is. If it returns I'm thinking I may bring it to the area Honda dealership. I have a Honda dealership as a customer (not in my area) who's mechanic stated the fuel and brake line failures are not rare on the gen 5 Accords. Then again. mine is 20 years old - and here in the northeast the chemicals used to melt snow and ice on the road are very corrosive - I heard even more so now.
Don't know how long I'll own the car, currently no intentions of getting something else as all components/options work and it runs great. So I wonder should something that would protect the lines be applied to them? I've heard of that done with trucks. Thanks for the diagram, I'm saving that for reference.
Last edited by Stelcom66; Sep 23, 2019 at 03:48 PM.
If the fuel lines were that bad, then the vent line is right there with them, chances are that was your problem.
As far as applying a protective coating to the new lines, the lines come from the factory with a anti-corrosion coating. You can take the extra step to coat them in undercoating or other coatings but there are things to consider. Is it necessary and how much effort does it require. The chances are the new lines will last another 20 years, my guess is you will have gotten rid of the the car by that time so there is that. Also, it takes an extreme amount of care to properly prepare and apply undercoatings, often times the attempt can go wrong by poor prep, causing moisture or salt to become trapped in between the lines and what your applying and in turn pre-mature corrosion.
I was also considering the car is 20 years old - these new fuel and brake lines may outlast other critical components in the car, and need to consider how long I'll have it. Interesting that undercoating not applied properly can have the opposite of the intended effect.
The thing about being 20 years old though is what is very impressive to me. It feels more like a 5 year old, 60k mile car. Don't know if all Gen 6 Hondas are like that - but this car doesn't show it's age and 172k miles. That's why I felt justified putting the money into it for the recent repairs.
Code P1457 related to bad fuel lines?
