Date:         Thu, 5 Jun 2008 09:44:38 -0700
Reply-To:     neil N <musomuso@GMAIL.COM>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         neil N <musomuso@GMAIL.COM>
Subject:      Re: Weaning a Westy
Comments: To: Neil2 <vidublu@gmail.com>
In-Reply-To:  <5a099d980806050820p668d106dued684c8de0e017e@mail.gmail.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1

Sucking air? Maybe....

Are the hoses on your Diesel clear?

See any bubbles in hose/s when it's running?

I recall that air can be drawn in if there's a pin hole leak on the
hose/s or elsewhere.

Maybe swerving/shifting weight while driving moved a fuel hose, which
"reveals" a flaw in the hose and allows air in?

Far fetched idea, but worth starting your engine and gently moving the
fuel hoses in engine bay by hand and see of this disrupts them to the
point of allowing air to be sucked in.

Just be mindful (safe) of any potential fuel leaks. Look for that
before starting it.

And for sure, the fuel gauge isn't always the best "gauge". --- ;^) I
never trust mine, though I'm replacing the sender in the tank, so
we'll see if that improves the accuracy.

Cheers,

Neil.

On Thu, Jun 5, 2008 at 8:20 AM, Neil2 <vidublu@gmail.com> wrote:
> Very interesting.  I think, given the responses, I learned a VW lesson.  The
> fuel tank and/or gauge design, . . . sucks, . . . air.
>
> On 6/5/08, Malcolm Stebbins <mwstebbins@yahoo.com> wrote:
>>
>> When these symptoms happened to me, it was an intermittent failure of the
>> fuel pump.  M
>>
>>
>> On Thu, Jun 5, 2008 at 2:23 AM, Neil2 <vidublu@gmail.com> wrote:
>>
>> > Seems I tried to wean my Westy last week.  Was running along fine on a
>> > level
>> > interstate stretch and all of a sudden I began to slowly lose
>> acceleration
>> > despite depressing the pedal to the floor.  I don't recall if I swerved
>> to
>> > get the tank fuel into the pump but it regained 'altitude' a few seconds
>> > later.  30 seconds later it happened again and I certainly began to
>> swerve
>> > that time to keep the fuel flowing.  Same thing as before.  The last time
>> > it
>> > took a nosedive despite my trick.  I never really believed it was out of
>> > fuel because the fuel gauge indicator was not in the red zone.  Anyone
>> know
>> > why the red zone on an '82 (diesel) is 1/4" thick!?  Also, the van didn't
>> > stutter while it lost power or while it regained power.  Mystery.  Do
>> > diesels respond differently to low fuel conditions?
>> >
>> > Has anyone else ran out of fuel while outside the red zone?