Trouble finding fuel return hose

[Mike and Joanne Stimmler]

Last weekend, I found a leak in the short 4 inch by 3/16 return hose that comes off the rear cylinder and connects to a bracket that adapts it to what looks like 1/4 inch.
Has anyone had as much trouble finding the 3/16 inch hose as I did? Everywhere I went. the smallest hose they had was 1/4 inch. The Universal dealer could order one for me but did not have one in stock.
What I had was obviously the original hose since it was painted the gold color and also was a reinforced type hose. Napa had the 3/16 hose but it was not reinforced nor rated for fuel use. Some of the shops I went to indicated that since it was "ONLY A RETURN LINE", I didn't have to worry about the type of hose but I was very skeptical about that. After hopping around to many shops, the good folks at Marine Exchange on Shelter Island refereed me to a Yanmar dealer just down the street who did have the hose and although it didn't appear to be reinforced, the dealer assured me that it is the hose that Yanmar uses on their return fuel line and it seems to be working just fine.

I don't recall this hose being addressed anywhere on our board and was wondering if anyone else had this problem.

Starting out, it seemed to be such a simple solution but wound up being an all day project.

Mike

[Ralph Masters]

Mike,
When I replaced all my fuel hose at the time of replacing the fuel tank I ran into the same thing.  Thanks for the information, I'll go get a short piece this weekend and replace that hose too, it's the only one I did not replace. 

Ralph
Ciao Bella

[Mike and Joanne Stimmler]

Ralph,
I can't remember the name of the Yanmar dealer but it's on the same side of the street as Marine Exchange on Shelter Island Drive going towards the circle or round about. He charged me $5.00 for about a ten inch precut piece. Or you could order one from the Universal dealer A to Z Marine on Rosecrans.

Mike

[Ron Hill]

Mike : I used a 1/4" hose (small outside diameter).
Then used a piece of leather between the clamp and the hose and tightened it down.  The leather protected the rubber hose from the clamp cutting in to it.
There is little pressure in that fuel return line and it worked for me.  A thought