Date: Sat, 3 Jun 2000 23:43:11 -0400
Reply-To: Karl Bloss <vanagon@MAKAROV.COM>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Karl Bloss <vanagon@MAKAROV.COM>
Organization: Little, if any
Subject: Re: gas fumes/injectors
In-Reply-To: <3939B0D1.AD771B78@cnmnetwork.com>
Content-Type: text/plain
On Sat, 03 Jun 2000, Choreboy laid this bit of wit and wisdom upon us:
> though not the most dexterous way of repairing this fuel leak, it
> worked so far. I did relieve the fuel pressure, removed the injector in
> question and slid a rubber (heater) hose over it. The leak is gone, and
> there was no damage to the rail or anything else. The only problem: This
> would not pass the "DM" certification if old Doc Tim had his way. At
> all.
Well, don't beat yourself up...we all do quick fixes when necessary. I just
wouldn't leave this one that way because it represents a safety issue,
particularly since a non-negligible number of Vanagons meet their untimely end
by going up in flames due to gas leaks.
> So how do I replace that rubber at the injector??? VW dealership told me
> I needed to buy an entire outfit of an injector: $106.00 +tax, a-ootch!.
> Karl mentioned a 6mm high -pressure hose, but do you just slide this
> over, too or what? Cause I don't see how to remove and replace the stock
> hose, which seems to be glued to the injector body.
There's probably nothing wrong with your injectors and fuel rails. Don't let
the dealer BS you into buying expensive parts.
The way I did it was to depressurize the system (pull the injector relay on
Digifants; pull the ground wire on the fuel pump for Digijets and let the
engine start, then fuel starve itself), then I used bolt cutters to snip off
the old rusty clamps on the feed and return lines to and from the fuel rail
assembly. The feed and return lines then came off the fuel rail with no
problem (twist to get them started). Watch for dripping gas...gravity still
works. That leaves the entire rail assembly with injectors detached from fuel
feed/return, but still attached to the cylinder head.
Remove the bolt that holds the eyeglasses-shaped injector retention bracket
(13mm, a la VW, of course...or was it 10mm...can't remember, but with those two
and a 17, I think you can take the whole vehicle apart ;-). If you have
some compressed air, blow the area clean of crud that you don't want to fall
into the injector port. Then pull out the injectors with the fuel rail
attached. They injectors seals might be sticky or stay in the head.
The fuel line stubs came off the rail easily for me once the clamps were
snipped off (bolt cutters...I didn't fool around with wimpy pliers). The ring
clamp on the injector side is a little trickier. Mine were rusted beyond hope,
so I had no ambition to save them. Some folks say that an X-acto knife to the
fuel line under the ring clamp will let you pull stuff off. I said to hell
with it and snipped the ring clamp off. I still had to use a utility knife and
some four-letter words to get it all apart.
Reassembly is the reverse of removal. :-) :-)
Seriously, save the old hoses so you know how long to cut the new ones. Again,
use the _proper_ 7mm high pressure fuel line, not some cheap stuff from NAPA.
Several list vendors have the right stuff...this is not the place to skimp (and
it's not that expensive anyway). Also get the _proper_ stainless clamps and
get a few extra, IMHO. Never know when you'll be doing an emergency repair for
another Vanagoner who didn't have the forsight to do what you're doing.
Also, since you've got the injectors out, replace the injector seals; both the
small one near the tip and the larger one near the "eyeglasses" bracket.
Slip the fuel line covers back on to prevent chafing and heat damage.
I did all that and...I had another leak.
I then did the fuel line that runs through the rear wheelwell up to a
double-nippled flange on the rear of the engine compartment. That's a little
tougher for you Syncronauts, 'cause you have all kinds of tranny and tank
frabbitz back there. Then again, you probably don't have the same arrangement.
Anyway, on the 2WD the hose from the front of the flange eventually mates with
a hard plastic line. On ours, that had no clamp or anything holding it
together other than friction....that's where it was leaking. My replacement had
more overlap than the original and I added a clamp.
It really didn't take that long to do. A good afternoon oughta do it. The
hardest part for me was getting those @$#!% ring clamps off.
-Karl
--
Karl & Kristina Bloss - vanagon@makarov.com
1987 Westfalia Weekender "Bev" - 197K Miles
http://www.enter.net/~bloss/vw
VW Shop List: http://www.enter.net/~bloss/vw/vwshops
