Vanagon EuroVan
Previous messageNext messagePrevious in topicNext in topicPrevious by same authorNext by same authorPrevious page (June 2009, week 1)Back to main VANAGON pageJoin or leave VANAGON (or change settings)ReplyPost a new messageSearchProportional fontNon-proportional font
Date:         Mon, 1 Jun 2009 22:11:13 -0700
Reply-To:     Roger Whittaker <rogerwhitt1@GMAIL.COM>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Roger Whittaker <rogerwhitt1@GMAIL.COM>
Subject:      Re: Another Burning Van!
Comments: To: Scott Daniel - Turbovans <scottdaniel@turbovans.com>
In-Reply-To:  <022d01c9e33c$cccd2870$6801a8c0@PROSPERITY>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1

Dear no leaks here

That crimped fitting is the one identified by the factory as a recall item the word is simple ... change them or lose your van to fire :( yours

On Mon, Jun 1, 2009 at 9:44 PM, Scott Daniel - Turbovans < scottdaniel@turbovans.com> wrote:

> my thoughts about 'changing fuel lines' ....... > personally, I'd amend that to 'check your fuel lines' ......... > which is what I do, on the either or so vanagons I'm restoring , and of > course I replace stuff that's tired or worn, or not of high quality. > but due to two factors .......... > quality of materials used, and workmanship .......sometimes replacing fuel > hoses INCREASES chances of a fuel-line induced fire . > > I would however, ALWAYS bypass the plastic firewall fuel fitting thing > .......there's no purpose for that part at all.........and what happens, > very commonly .......is at the forward side of the firewall, where it's > hard > to see.........a crimped fuel hose clamp there doesn't work well > enough......and it starts to leak there. The repair is to remove that part, > and join the fuel hose directly to the black plastic fuel line that's > right > above the starter. > Definitely need to do that to all gasoline vanagons. > > And ............the OTHER FIRE HAZZARD ...........and rather common, is > electrically caused fires. > At the minimum you should have two things......... > a fire extinquisher, and a FAST way to disconnect the battery or batteries. > Entire vanagons have burnt to a crisp from shorting out wires...... > non-stock ones I might add. The stock wiring is pretty well fused > protected, > though not infallible. It's the aftermarket and back yard hack work > that'll get ya there........messy sound system wiring . > Some peole do not realize that if you run a hot battery wire 6 feet, then > fuse it ...........the entire 6 foot run is unfused and can short and cause > a fire. > This happened to pretty nice 85 Vanagon I have now ........ > guy was driving along, noticed smoke in the back.......pulled > over............the rear upholstery caught on fire .......no fire > extinquisher...........no way to get the battery disconencted > quickly.....or > it didn't occur to him to do that ............he called 911, and waited > while his van burnt to nothing. - al for lack of ....... > proper fusing on the stereo/booster amp wires under the back seat , no > extinquisher on board, and no way to disconnect the batterry quickly or > easily. > > I say you should look all over your engine for ANY excuse ......any > suspecioin of a fluid smell or leak.......any odd smell.........or 'just > cause'. I have another van here.........nice 87 GL .......the fire wasn't > too bad. Most likely a fuel fire that started on the right side of the > engine ..... > but here's the stupid part of this story .........the guy pulled into a car > wash ........and he noticed smoke coming out of the right upper rear vent > ...... > wisps of smoke.........and he didn't do anything about it !! > he didn't investigate, he didn't LOOK ( how many times have i asked peole > .........well, it's doing something ........did you LOOK at the engine > ????? > it's AMAZING .......how often people will be aware of somethign not being > right ......and they don't even LOOK at the engine !!! ) > So this guy didn't look, and got back in and drove off. > When the fire started in earnest, he used up his extinquisher immediately. > And be sure .......if you don't get the fire stopped in about the first > minute ...........once it gets going, no foot tall 20 oz. fire extinquisher > is going to be enough. > In 40 years of ful time car work, I have gotten at least 4 car fires out > ............all within seconds........with minimal damage in each case. > You need to proactively inspect to prevent it, > and catch it while it's really just barely started...........and be > prepared > to handle electrical fires , not just fuel ones. > Anything inspected on a regular basis is bound to do better than something > that's not inpsected. > The burnt 87 GL guy ....... > that was all preventible. Now I've got a fine van ...........that turned > out to have a rebuilt 2.1 under the melted/burnt stuff.......and only 2.5 > years on a rebuilt trans. And that fire was preventable too........ > or at least stoppable while it was really small. Raw gasoline is a very > distinct smell, and the tiniest amount is easy to smell too. > scott > turbovans > ----- Original Message ----- > From: "Justin M. Mayrand" <jmayrand@METROCAST.NET> > To: <vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM> > Sent: Monday, June 01, 2009 11:20 AM > Subject: Re: Another Burning Van! > > > Gees, this is not good. I'm so paranoid about this I check mine before >> every trip. Stonyfield Farms (the yogurt people) had a Bus rebuilt to >> drive around to shows and such - it burned down on it's first voyage >> - the person that redid it did not check the fuel lines. >> >> On Jun 1, 2009, at 1:40 PM, Keith Ovregaard wrote: >> >> Saw this pic on the wall of a rural market near Point Reyes, CA. Fuel >>> line leak? Anybody know who's van or how it happened? I asked the >>> folks at the market and they really didn't know anything. Another >>> reminder to CHANGE YOUR FUEL LINES if you haven't already. >>> >>> <http://www.flickr.com/photos/9955648@N05/3586291500/> >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> Keith O. >>> 90 Westy Syncro "VikingWagen" >>> >>

-- roger w From Proverbs: Under three things the earth trembles, under four it cannot bear up: a servant who becomes king ... ---------------------------------------------------------- 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


Back to: Top of message | Previous page | Main VANAGON page

Please note - During the past 17 years of operation, several gigabytes of Vanagon mail messages have been archived. Searching the entire collection will take up to five minutes to complete. Please be patient!


Return to the archives @ gerry.vanagon.com


The vanagon mailing list archives are copyright (c) 1994-2011, and may not be reproduced without the express written permission of the list administrators. Posting messages to this mailing list grants a license to the mailing list administrators to reproduce the message in a compilation, either printed or electronic. All compilations will be not-for-profit, with any excess proceeds going to the Vanagon mailing list.

Any profits from list compilations go exclusively towards the management and operation of the Vanagon mailing list and vanagon mailing list web site.