Date: Tue, 20 Jul 2004 21:49:06 -0700
Reply-To: Craig Oda <craigoda@GMAIL.COM>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Craig Oda <craigoda@GMAIL.COM>
Subject: Re: Lake Trip Report and fuel pressure question
In-Reply-To: <b3a1e7ad0407201009175f666f@mail.gmail.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII
Thanks to Bob Lilley and the other people on the vanagon list, I have
isolated my problem to a defective new Bosch fuel pressure regulator.
I suspected that this was unlikely, but it turned out to be the case.
I have also got one of the old fuel pressure regulators I had lying
around the garage to work. Bob Lilley was really nice and even
offered to sell me a known working regulator really cheaply. I really
appreciated the gesture, but it looks like I won't need it.
I constructed a mechnical pressure gauge and mounted it to the above
the engine bay lid with a large clamp. Pressure was about 29psi with
the system connected, over 60psi with the fuel return line clamped
shut and around 36 psi with the vacuum line disconnected.
I then connected the electric gauge back onto the fuel system and
drove around for about 30 minutes through freeway and street traffic.
The fuel pressure stayed around 29psi, roughly staying in the 24psi to
34psi range.
So, it appears that my JC Whitney pressure gauge is accurate and that
the source of the problem was indeed a defective "new" fuel pressure
regulator.
This reminds of when I bought a "new" defective starter on eBay and
took about 6 months of debugging and getting stranded before I bought
another Bosch starter from VolksCafe. Fortunately, I was able to
isolate the defective part quicker this time.
Thanks again to everyone, especially to Bob Lilley. I can now plan my
next Westy venture to the lake. now I have to decide whether or not
to buy a WindGlider http://www.windglider.com/ to play around in at
the lake. Better than deciding whether or not to buy a new pressure
regulator. :-)
Regards,
Craig
On Tue, 20 Jul 2004 10:09:52 -0700, Craig Oda <craigoda@gmail.com> wrote:
> For the first time in a few years, I had a trouble free weekend trip
> in my van with a nice idle, good gas mileage, and a fridge that stayed
> lit on the freeway. Thanks to the people on this list. :-)
>
> My family and I stayed at Emerald Bay campgrounds on Lake Tahoe and
> swam for two days in the lake. One way distance from my house was
> about 300 miles to the site. There were a few accidents on the road,
> so the driving time took about 7 hours going there, about 5 hours on
> the way back. Van idled fine in stop and go traffic. Some points
> that helped make the trip smooth:
> - bug screen in the back of the van came in really handy since there
> were a huge amount of insects flying around when we go to the campsite
> on the first night
> - water faucet works much better since I took it apart, sanded the
> electrical contacts and put electrical contact grease on the switch
> - fridge stayed lit driving around in windy conditions since I
> sealed the air leak on the side of the exhaust vent
> - cylinder misfire has now gone away since I changed a hydraulic
> lifter and just readjusted a valve on cylinder 3 right before the
> trip.
> - engine idles fine since I put silicone gasket sealer on the gasket
> between the throttle body and the intake manifold collector
> - fuel consumption and black smoke gone since I swapped the O2
> sensor and ran the engine for 300 miles with the O2 sensor
> disconnected to clear out the soot from the exhaust. This also
> improved power and drivability.
>
> So, after a successful, fun, and relaxing trip, I'm still puttering
> around with the van to ensure that there are future happy trips.
>
> My question has to do with a low fuel pressure reading on my electric
> fuel pressure gauge. The van runs fine. However, when I don't have
> the gas pedal pressed down, the fuel pressure gauge reads close to
> zero. When I press the gas down, the pressure reads close to 25 psi.
> When I put the van in park (automatic transmission), the idle goes up
> and the pressure settles to around 10 psi. I have the gauge tapped
> into the stock fuel pressure testing port and it's set up so that I
> can read the pressure while driving.
>
> I have a new gauge and it's possible that the gauge is incorrect. I'm
> planning to test it with a mechanical water pressure gauge hooked up
> to a fuel line. I also plan on testing the vacuum pressure. Before I
> do this, does anyone have any words of wisdom about fuel pressure? Is
> it supposed to be this low when the engine RPM is under 3,000rpm?
> Even when I rev the engine, it does not go above 25psi. Bentley says
> it should be 29psi.
>
> Here's where I'm at:
> - brand new fuel pump
> - brand new fuel filter
> - brand new fuel pressure regulator
> - tested electrical volts at the pump leads and it's okay (at least
> was okay during the test)
> - pinched off fuel return line from the fuel pressure regulator with
> a c-clamp and the fuel pressure immediately jumps up to 40psi or
> higher. This seems to indicate that the pump is okay.
> - took off vacuum line from the fuel pressure regulator and it
> pressure goes up by maybe 5psi to about 20psi, far below atmospheric
> pressure of 36psi.
>
> Van drives fine, but I want to resolve this situation before my next
> long trip. The gauge is telling me that fuel pressure is between 2
> and 15psi most of the time. I could disconnect the gauge, but it
> won't make me that much more relaxed. Just a little.
>
> I have bought a bunch of fuel line T's, so i can tap into the pressure
> at other places to test. I notice that if I use the old pressure
> regulator, the pressure is higher... I threw away an older pressure
> regulator about 2 weeks ago. What's the chances that three pressure
> regulators are bad??
>
> Any advice to help me make my next trip as relaxing as this last weekend trip?
>
> Thanks.
>
> Regards,
> Craig
>
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