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Date:         Wed, 24 Nov 2004 09:31:13 -0800
Reply-To:     Craig Oda <craigoda@GMAIL.COM>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Craig Oda <craigoda@GMAIL.COM>
Subject:      Re: FP Regulator Life Expectancy?
Comments: To: Max Wellhouse <maxjoyce@ipa.net>
In-Reply-To:  <6.1.2.0.2.20041124051808.01b840f0@pop.ipa.net>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII

Max, You got the VDO sending unit grounded to the block, right?

The pressure should be 29psi, steady and 36psi when you disconnect the vacuum hose.

I think that either your pressure sending unit is bad, not grounded, you have a vacuum leak, or your pressure regulator is bad.

Can you buy a mechanical water pressure gauge from home depot for under $10 and run it in parallel to the VDO sending unit on the main "T" to verify that your sending unit is operating properly. The sending unit operates based on resistance. You can also use a multimeter "ohm" setting instead of the electronic VDO pressure gauge to measure what the sender is puttign out. Maybe there is faulty wiring going from the sender to your cockpit?

The fuel pressure regulator is like $75. I just replaced mine. Similar symptoms as you. Ultimately, the regulator died on a busy highway in the middle of the night during the rain. Pressure shot up to 60psi, which caused a fuel hose under the van (the one that connects to the smooth hard tube near the firewall, to come completely off. This caused fuel to dump all over the road and stopped flow of fuel to the engine. Since I was in work clothing and the van is in the middle of the road and it is raining and at night, I decide to get the beast towed home.

I reconnect the lines and go for a test drive. Looks fine. Pressure is fine. Then, I take the beast on the freeway. Pressure shoots up to 60psi, but, the lines hold. I go back home. Check pressure at idle. It's fine. 29psi. I look for blockage of the fuel return line. I jack up the vehicle and redo the fuel return line and reroute it. Take it on the freeway. All is well until 5 minutes into the drive, pressure shoots up again. Since I don't want the lines to come off again, I do some tests. An hour later, I swap the fuel pressure regulator and my problem is solved. (Well, that problem anyway).

This said, I don't want to suggest spending the bucks until you check the sender. I had a bad pressure sender, which made the troubleshooting a nightmare. I isolated the bad pressure sender (from JC Whitney) with a el cheapo mechanical gauge.

If your fuel pressure is really fluctuating, something is wrong. It's not normal.

I've upgraded to AAA Plus for more free towings and longer tows, up to 100 miles.

-- Craig

On Wed, 24 Nov 2004 05:25:13 -0600, Max Wellhouse <maxjoyce@ipa.net> wrote: > With the Vanagon hitting the big 200k, I was wondering what the life > expectancy of the 2.1's fuel pressure regulator is. I'm sure this is the > original one and since the rebuilt pump was installed last May, the > symptoms probably aren't in that area. > Now that I have a gauge on the fuel line, when I hit the ignition key, it > jumps immediately to the high 30's, but during a drive of any length, at > idle, the pressure is down in the low 20's and often oscillates between low > 20's and high 30's despite no change in vacuum. Anyone wanna take a stab > at this? Wiring on this is pretty solid, but does the sending unit need to > be grounded to give accurate readings? I'm tied into the T towards the > rear of the motor, but currently don't have the VDO sending unit bolted > solidly to the block. Since the rubber fuel line hoses would seem to > insulate the T from any ground, could this be the issue? > > Thanks for the advice. > > Max >


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