fuel pumps last amazingly well.. especially considering that they run every minute the engine is running .. in 20 years that's millions of minutes of running time....a thousands of hours.

and the only service of any kind they ever get is some fuel additive .. and replacing the fuel filter. really quite amazing...............I don't think they have a finite life.

eventually ...the get weak or intermittant. I sure would not go on a major trip without at least a known-good used one as a spare.

starters..they last 'forever' too , or almost. Far more critical with an auto trans .. with manual trans if you have to you can push start, to keep moving, in an emergency.

the weak link - cooling system. plastic parts in the cooling and fuel systems. if you still have a firewall fuel line fitting ... and most of them are plastic - very early vans had a metal one there ( above the starter, in the firewall ) . it's very important to get rid of that plastic firewall fitting .. and where fuel first starts to leak is on the forward side of that part. Just bypass it .. and don't run the new fuel hose through the old hole in the firewall... just run it right through the big space on the right of the bell housing there, and arragne it so it can't flop around too much ..and I like to make the 'one new junction' ( fuel hose from engine to black plastic fuel line on the van's body ) ..put it right were I can see it easily.

don't know if you have a 1.9 wbxer or 2.1 .. more plastic in the 2.1. .. like coolant tower hidden behind firewall, rigth side, or plastic thermostat housing .. defenite weak links.

doesn't usually happen .............but I was twisting and pulling the fuel hose off the output end of the fuel pump ...and the plastic hose nipple on the pump breaks right off ! I've undone a hundred or more of those and never had that happen.

what I find besides 'parts that are old, tired, or broken' are hundreds of spots crying out for some good lube, or corrosion treatment, or whatever... I really will say .. just replacing parts on these fine beauties as the parts fail is not really taking really good care of them. It's just parts replacing ... it't not keeping them out of blazing sun and UV, it's not not parking them under trees, it's not airing them out in the winter, it's not catching small rust spots and treating and stopping that rust, it's not treating corrosion on electrical contacts , it's not lubing dozens and dozens of little dry spots on the vans.. it's just replacing one part at a time as it fails...which leaves you with a van with dozens of areas not 'really' lovingly cared for. These fine vans are too precious and valable to just replace parts on. They need preservation and care in detail.....if that's done, they can last indefenitely. I rarely see a vanagon that has anything more done to it other than replace one part at a time as they fail.. that's just 'repair' ...which is not preservation and really caring, in detail, for the whole thing at all.

to really, REALLY care for them....and they are good for as long as we can get gas and drive as we know it currently ...'replacing tired parts' is incidental really, to actually caring for them.

Just like to see things actually cared for , it's so rewarding, and these vans are so worthy of 'actual' care, and not just parts replacing. Scott www.turbovans.com

----- Original Message ----- From: "Troy" <colorworks@GCI.NET> To: <vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM> Sent: Friday, July 16, 2010 4:09 PM Subject: Fuel Pump Failure - trouble shoot & repair (if Possible)

> Speaking of fuel pumps, what is the average life of a fuel pump in a > vanagon? This is one of these items that I have never replaced at 116 K. > Have a new engine, fuel lines, rebuilt transmission, brakes, tires, and a > long list of other items, but always wonder about the weakest link. > Starter is another one that I wonder about and is on my list to replace as > a preventative measure. Of course, it's amazing what you can break doing > preventative maintenance! That pretty much applies to all the plastic > parts that seem to crumble in your hands if you try to dismantle them. > > Troy