When I bought my van about 2 years ago I took it in for a "tune up" because the smog test said the van was running a little rich. At that time the VW dealer mechanic suggested that for about $40 he could replace all fuel lines and also that plastic piece at the firewall telling me that although they all looked good, they were old and it was a good idea to do replace old stuff with new. For me the $40 investment for parts and labor and a guaranteed job was good preventative maintenance. Stan's advice is golden. Why spend hundreds of dollars on equipment that will only take up space and may also fail when proper maintenance and regular engine inspection will do the job for next to nothing. William
> A full set of quality 7mm FI lines and the required short lines to reach the > behind the firewall plastic lines are less than a once in a lifetime > investment of $20.00. > (Funny they call that front panel a firewall). > Many times the OEM lines are ten years old or older and many times the lines > have been replaced with regular low quality discount auto house generic fuel > lines. > Back in 1994 the TSB (Transportation Safety Board) advised all car owners to > verify that their existing fuel lines are safe with the newly formulated > fuels. > Many cars had problems because the newly formulated fuels melted the > carbuerator floats, melted gaskets, softened fuel lines, dried out other > fuel lines. > If you've had your Vanagon over a year and have not serviced the FI lines > it's going to be your own fault if it flames up on you. > New FI lines should easily last 5+ years ................ > > Stan Wilder > www.engineceramics.com > > > ----- Original Message ----- > From: "Chris S." <mrpolak@YAHOO.COM> > To: <vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM> > Sent: Tuesday, August 03, 2004 12:24 PM > Subject: Re: Fire Suppression Solutions > > > > > Third, > > > > > > How safe ARE these vehicles!?!??! According to that one web > > > story (can't > > > believe everything you read I spose) the tow truck driver had > > > picked up > > > 3 in like one week!?!? Is it a ticking time bomb? Has VW said > > > anything > > > about this? > > > > I have seen and heard quite a few stories about rear-engined > > VWs, both air and water-cooled, that caught fire, but why would > > VWoA be concerned about poorly maintained vehicles? I'd say > > this is an age issue and not a marque-specific issue. As an > > example my friend's '89 Audi Quattro was recently grounded due > > to a leaking fuel line. Any car with rubber fuel lines is more > > susceptible. > > > > An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. > > > > > > > > ===== > > Chris S.'85 Westy Camel -> http://www.knology.net/~vw/vws/camel/ '84 Westy > Hershey -> http://www.knology.net/~vwghost/hershey/ '01 NB TDI -> > http://www.knology.net/~vw/Beetle.jpg > |
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