Date: Sun, 23 Nov 2008 22:13:46 -0800
Reply-To: Roger Whittaker <rogerwhitt1@GMAIL.COM>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Roger Whittaker <rogerwhitt1@GMAIL.COM>
Subject: Re: Diesel fuel lines and air leaks = nostart
In-Reply-To: <986925.15673.qm@web45305.mail.sp1.yahoo.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1
Dear Poppie
how interesting ... my 1.6TD was acting this way and then i replaced to
1,9TD
so almost right away i start getting real lag from turn plugs to heat to
start ...
monday it would not start at all ...
i went to a Chain Saw Shop and got transparent fuel line from them (marine
shop also has)
so not only is there frothing in the fuel line .. there is also a great
emptiness in the fuel filter --
so i am sucking air till it starts -- then great puff of white smoke -- if i
have been driving recently -- like 1 hour --
zoom zoom zs they say it goes right off with out even a full turn of crank
---
so today -- i opened the screw on the top of the marine style fuel filter i
have used to replace the factory fuel filter ---
topped up the diesel in the filter ... and varoom .. right off ---
hmmm -- so ii then go to Canadian tire and pick up a 10$ Marine Style inline
fuel primer bulb
installed on the vanagon (pictures will come if you want )
tomorrow after sitting all night will tell the story --
because of the double check valves on the primer bulb -- i should not have
the empty filter -- but who knows --
if i have to squeeze every morning ...i will remount close to the license
plate inspection door for easy access
i will let you know tomorrow morning -- me in pacific canada time zone
yours
On Sun, Nov 23, 2008 at 4:32 PM, Poppie Jagersand <poppie.jagersand@yahoo.ca
> wrote:
> Typing "Diesel" into the search box there doesn't seem to have
> been any Diesel posts since Sept! Are we Diesel owners so few, or
> is it just that the Diesel is too reliable and therefore not
> many Diesel topics?
>
> After exactly 10 years of reliable service since my 1.6 to 1.9TD
> conversion in 1998, I got some starting problems this month.
> (Only other repair was a broken throttle cable some years ago
> -- can't blame that on the engine though).
>
> The symptoms were the same as I had experienced on my Passat TD
> years ago. Lots of cranking before it would fire. (bad for starter and
> injection pump). Finally no go regardless of amount of cranking...
> I guessed problem was likely the same as on the Passat also: an
> air leak into the fuel system.
>
> Only issue is how to find the culprit. In the good old days
> Diesel VW's came with a transparent fuel hose between the fuel
> filter and injection pump. At 26 years of age my hose was no
> longer transparent and I didn't see anything. Off to the VW dealer
> to try to get the right hose. No luck, oldest tech mentioned he
> remembered they having this transparent fuel hose a decade back,
> but not recently. Instead they set me up with some VAG generic
> fuel hose to replace sections until it would work again.
>
> I replaced, replaced and replaced, checked fuel filter, junctions
> etc. Still no go. A tricky issue is that leaks both in the line
> from the tank and the various return lines will give the problem.
> Tired of mindlessly replacing hoses I remembered that I had found
> a lab vacuum pump at a dumpster as a kid. Rummaging through the
> house I finally found the pump and a bit of clear hose.
> Pulling fuel up from the tank it was full of bubbles. I was just
> about to start tearing out the fuel line from the tank, when I thought
> I should try the return circuits also. Bubbles there also...
> What now? Holes everywhere?
>
> Luckily I noticed that cranking the engine with a partially filled
> fuel pump would be "frothing" the fuel. Then when not cranking this
> air-fuel mixture would get pulled back down in both the inlet and
> return fuel lines. Sure enough, after pumping enough fuel (a
> litre or two (the volume of the fuel filter + line maybe), it
> finally ran clear and bubble free from the input line.
> I similarly pumped the frothy stuff out of the return line and
> pump housing (which is normally fully filled with Diesel).
>
> Now sure enough, the engine would finally start and run well.
> Found and replaced a marginal hose, the one between the injector
> returns and the fuel pump. Engine now starts after sitting a
> few hours. Will let it sit a few days now and see if it still
> works.
>
> Next was to charge the battery after all the cranking. Almost
> knocked myself out, not seeing that the hatch was hanging a bit
> lower due to weak struts and cold fall weather. Then I remembered
> that I recently stumbled across a piece of PVC pipe I got at one
> of the camp outs out east a decade ago. Inside was a piece of
> paper from Karl and Kristina Bloss on how to install it around
> the hatch strut so to prop up the strut and keep the hatch up
> regardless of temperature. Installed in a snap, and no more banged
> heads!
>
> Karl and Kristina: Thanks! Hope you are still around.
>
> Cheers,
> Martin and Poppie '82 Westy 1.9TD
>
>
>
>
> __________________________________________________________________
> Connect with friends from any web browser - no download required. Try the
> new Yahoo! Canada Messenger for the Web BETA at
> http://ca.messenger.yahoo.com/webmessengerpromo.php
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> + To unsubscribe from the Vanagon List send an e-mail to
> + listserv@gerry.vanagon.com with SIGNOFF VANAGON
> + in the body of the message.
> ------------------------------------------------------------
>
--
roger w
There are two kinds of jobs in the world:
Picking up garbage and telling people things.
Successful people do both, with the same good attitude. (riw)
----------------------------------------------------------
Explore printed work at: http://www.prliving.ca/
View the growing list of video work at:
http://revver.com/find/video/?query=LastonLastof&search_on=owners
and ... older work at
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-7135104650374818257
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=3259745150182742364
------------------------------------------------------------
+ To unsubscribe from the Vanagon List send an e-mail to
+ listserv@gerry.vanagon.com with SIGNOFF VANAGON
+ in the body of the message.
------------------------------------------------------------
