Those little bastards wear out with time. I have found that over torque is the main reason. I have replaced mine twice and it is an 01'. For $1.60 it isnt a huge deal but more of an inconvenience. Personally I think the design was to damper vibration for the gauges but nonetheless poor. If anyone has a better solution Im all ears. It probably wouldnt hurt anything to run a straight bolt and the fuel line, albeit the fuel line wouldnt really do much but act as a washer. It would probably solve the problem but for $1.60 X's 3 every few years i'm not too worried.
