On my way home today my hose for my oil pressure gauge sprung a leak. If that wasn't bad enough, the oil that sprayed out shorted out some of the wiring causing a small fire under the dash. Luckily I was able to separate the burnt wires and the car would still start so I limped it back to work a block away. Nothing looks permantly damaged so I was lucky.

Moral is, if you have an aftermarket gauge and are still using the plastic hose, CHANGE IT NOW! I knew using it was a bad idea, I had been told over and over not to use it, I knew that it would eventually leak, but I kept planning to do it "next week". I should have used the copper tubing the day I installed the gauge.

 

I was always told not to use copper tubing for brake systems. Vibration will fatigue the copper and cause cracks leading to leaks.

I don't see why the same wouldn't hold true for any automotive application.

 

NHRA and IHRA won't let you on the track if you use the plastic line. It must be copper or a steel braided hose.

 

Brake systems are under way more pressure than oil. Just kinda sucks I kept putting off using the copper tubing. I just want to try and prevent this from happening to anyone else. It could have been much worse.