2007 SMax 1.8 Diesel (Son's car)

Had leakage at joint between return line and injector body. Had seen this before and fortunately had spare O rings left from the last time. Dismantled joint and immediately saw o ring badly damaged, replaced with new, test drove and all was well.

BUT as always happens, when my son drove it today the assembly failed and now a constant stream of fuel.

The fault is now different, the return line male fitting will not stay in its respective female hole, it is held in place by a spring "R" type clip which drops into groove in the fitting and should retain the fitting. You can push it in, feel a location click and think all is well but as soon as the engine starts it gets pushed out by the pressure.

Seems to be two options either the "R" spring has weakened or the groove in the plastic fitting has been damaged and lost definition. My concern is that both causes my be difficult to overcome eg

The spring clip was an absolute B****r to refit (maybe I was wrong to remove it) and may have over stressed it in the process. Fitting a new one would present exactly the same problem and likely to be over stressed again.

The plastic fitting appears to be permanently attached to the drain pipe (I could be wrong) and therefore cannot be replaced as a single entity.

Would welcome comments from anyone who has had similar experience or any advice. My short term solution it to retain the fitting in place by wiring it to the injector body, also considering cutting deeper groove in fitting body using a hacksaw blade.

Note to minimize risk of damage to O ring at assembly, I coated the fitting with grease, this may have contributed to the problem.

you have probably bent the clip while removing or refitting, easily done, bend the clip to give more secure fit prior to refitting.