Date: Mon, 4 Aug 2008 10:03:14 -0600
Reply-To: Jon Kanas <kanas@QADAS.COM>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Jon Kanas <kanas@QADAS.COM>
Subject: More about Fuel Lines / Maintenance
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1; format=flowed
Good Morning all,
Kim (spouse), Emily (daughter), Bonnie (Golden Retriever) just left on a
week's adventure all over the Colorado mountains in the '87 Westy
Syncro. Clyde (other Golden Retriever) and I are alone at home due to a
combination of unruly behavior and employment. In the interest of
self-defense, I will not mention which of us falls into which category.
I ran the 120K maintenance on the Westy (changed all filters, fluids,
plugs etc) and also replace all of the fuel lines using the kit from
VanCafe. I even treated myself to VanCafe cookies to celebrate several
productive hours of maintenance, a successful outcome, and no nasty
surprises.
For the fuel line replacement effort, I hot-wired the fuel pump to drain
the last couple of gallons of gas from the tank. I was surprised to
find that the main feeder line (fuel filter to injector "T" on top of
the engine) was uniformly wet with fuel, apparently seeping through the
hose. It was NOT leaking profusely, nor was it leading at the ends, but
the line was soaking wet with fuel. Approximately two weeks ago, I
checked the entire engine compartment when the engine was hot, and this
line was dry. I think that when the engine compartment was warm, the
rate of evaporation was high enough that the rotting fuel line was not
apparent. When removed, the old line was not brittle, and did not
exhibit any cracking on the ends.
I must express my absolute concurrence that it is necessary to
periodically replace the flexible, high pressure fuel lines on ANY
fuel-injected vehicle as part of your major maintenance cycles.
Clearly, I should have replaced mine earlier, probably at my first 60K
maintenance several years ago. This was not a particularly difficult
job, although rather time-consuming. Anyone wishing for additional
detail or "how-to" hints, feel free to contact me off-list.
--
*Best Regards,
Jon B Kanas
Longmont, Colorado; Cultural Center of the Universe
Website: http://www.qadas.com/~kanas <http://www.qadas.com/%7Ekanas>
AOL Instant Messenger ID: KanasColo
"How can they say my life is not a success? Have I not for more than
sixty years got enough to eat and escaped being eaten? -Logan Pearsall
Smith, essayist (1865-1946) "
*
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