Date:         Sat, 2 Oct 2004 11:44:23 -0400
Reply-To:     Greg Potts <Greg@POTTSFAMILY.CA>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Greg Potts <Greg@POTTSFAMILY.CA>
Subject:      Re: Substitute Fuel Pump #
Comments: To: rrecardo@WEBTV.NET
In-Reply-To:  <2309-415EBC38-6633@storefull-3177.bay.webtv.net>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII; format=flowed

Hi Robert,

I have firsthand experience in selecting a replacement pump. On the way
to EveryBus 2002 my Parent's Vanagon westy's fuel pump died and we had
to replace it at the side of I-390  just north of Bath NY, a small town
with three auto parts stores.

The Vanagon pump was $199 at Advance Auto parts, and a two day wait.
When I asked about cross-referencing to other pumps all I got was a
blank stare like a deer in the headlights. Obviously not a good place
to spend our $$, so we headed down the road.

Fred Roberts Auto Parts was a mom-and-pop operation with a bunch of big
books behind the counter next to the computer. They didn't have a
Vanagon pump either, but they were nice enough to look up the specs for
the Vanagon pump and find a suitable replacement. The relevant specs
are voltage, gallons per hour, inlet and outlet diameter, pressure
rating  and  over-pressure cutoff rating.

CFM and pressure aren't critical in the VW system since the fuel
pressure regulator controls the fuel pressure and the fuel return line
dumps excess pressure and fuel flow back to the tank.

The replacement that was found matched everything but the intake
diameter, so we decided that a new filter could act as an adapter and
replaced the vanagon filter as well.

Unfortunately they didn't have one in stock, but they called the NAPA
outlet down the road and found out that they did have one. We were back
on the road within an hour for $110US, and the bus is running fine more
than 30,000 miles and 30 months later.

Happy trails,

Greg Potts
Toronto, Ontario, Canada

1973/74/79 Westfakia Conversion **Bob the Tomato**  LY3H
1977 Sunroof Automatic L63H/L90D
http://www.pottsfamily.ca/westfakia
http://www.busesofthecorn.com


On 2-Oct-04, at 10:33 AM, Robert Cardo wrote:

> Good idea.
> However, I am wondering if this substitute pump put's out the same CFM
> and pressure's as the VW unit. ( ??? )
> Sometimes tradeoff's aren't the best solution in the long run.
> Just curious.
>
> RC
>
>