Date: Sat, 15 Jan 2011 11:58:23 -0800
Reply-To: Scott Daniel - Turbovans <scottdaniel@TURBOVANS.COM>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Scott Daniel - Turbovans <scottdaniel@TURBOVANS.COM>
Subject: Re: Update on Belize Vanagon
Content-Type: text/plain; format=flowed; charset="UTF-8"; reply-type=original
it's really easy to run a vanagon, gasoline or diesel, on another fuel
source, like a large gas can.
it's one two lines..
one TO the engine ( through fuel pump and filter )
and one FROM the engine, back to your gas can.
if you have to, run the fuel hoses over the back seat and sneak the under
the edge of the engine cover,
not planning to run it like that for weeks and weeks after all.
or ..if the rear heater is removed ....there's two nice holes in the rear
firewall right there.
in case it's not super clear, feed from the gas tank goes to the inlet of
the fuel pump .
and the return ..which on a waterboxer vanagon is that hose on top of the
plenum ..
( the fuel pressure regulator is at the 'end of the line' as far as the
pressurized fuel hoses are concerned ) ..
that dumps the unused fuel back into your gas can.
it may be necessary to start a siphon from gas can to fuel pump inlet to get
things started.
one should *always* at least check in the fuel filter..
empty it out backwards on a clean dish or something like that ..
look for ...rust particles, water, dirt particles, and shiny tiny bits of
metal.
also ...dampish climate right ?
25 year old gas tank right ?
low grade fuel there perhaps, right ?
all indicators that the fuel tank itself, and pump and filter should be
thought about and checked.
as I like to say ..you can't *really* tell why it's loosing power or
stumbling from the driver's seat..
it may seem like 'she's not getting fuel' ..
but it could as easily be an intermittent clogged cat ..
or fuel injection weirdness or intermittent ignition.,
as always too ..it was a 'blockage or leakage of fluids, or a fluid, or
electrons."
it's so super easy to see a couple of injectors spray on a vanagon ( the
left side ones especially ) as soon as you start to wonder what the hell is
going on ..
watch them spray. It is ONE screw to remove to hang them outside the engine.
it's such a relief when things make sense again !
I'm would always suggest ...at least eyeball the fuel filter early in the
process
I like to at least LOOK at the sucker ..
sometimes you go ...wow ..that thing looks like it's been on there years..
sometimes it looks fresh ...so your suspicion of the fuel filter is a little
less..
but you never know until you actually see what the fuel is like, what junk
might be in it , and how retracted the fuel filter might be.
And if the van had been driven with a fuel pressure gauge on it, rigged so
you can see it in the rear view mirror ...it probably would have been
apparent that when it started to loose power .....it was a fuel issue.
Also .....just because fuel pressure checks good one time ..does not mean
it's good after a hour of running or so ...as this case shows. I leave a
fuel pressure gauge on them the entire time I am sorting through weird
running.
at least it's fixed and things make sense again !
Scott
www.turbovans.com
----- Original Message -----
From: "Ken Wilford" <kenwilfy@COMCAST.NET>
To: <vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM>
Sent: Saturday, January 15, 2011 5:47 AM
Subject: Update on Belize Vanagon
Thanks so much to everyone who had ideas about what was wrong with the
Vanagon I was working on in Belize. After testing several things I decided
to pull the injectors to watch them spray. Instead of a nice cone shaped
spray pattern I was seeing a little squirt like from a squirt gun. The fuel
pressure was good, and I even did a volume test which also seemed good. We
had another set of injectors handy so I swapped them in and voila! The van
started and ran well. I was so happy and it was still morning so I thought
we were going to be able to get back on the road with the van and do some
sight seeing. The customer had complained about the van running good, and
then starting to run bad after a bit of running and then not wanting to
restart when hot. I thought this was probably due to the bad wiring harness
which has been replaced with a new one but I wanted to be sure. So we let
the van run and it sat there and idled for about 20 mins. Initially it had
good power and everything. However after about 20 mins of just idling the
engine started to not respond well to the throttle and then it just died and
wouldn't restart again! It was acting exactly the same way it had when I
first got there. I pulled the injectors again and they were spraying in the
exact same way as the old ones. Just peeing, not really spraying at all. I
decided to replace the fuel pump. when I pulled the line going to the pump,
about 3 tablespoons of rust spilled out onto my hand. I had found the
problem. I blew back into the gas tank, hooked the line back up, and the van
started right up, ran for about a minute or two and then died again and
wouldn't restart. I think there is so much rust inside the gas tank that it
just keeps getting sucked up into the system and bogging things down. So now
I have to get a new fuel tank and parts sent down here. I am going to try to
get in touch with the customer today and see what he wants to do. If we can
get this done, perhaps the van will be back on the road and running well. I
tested through the entire fuel injection system with a meter and all of the
grounds and sensor tested fine so I am pretty sure that everything is good
and that the gas tank is the problem.
Just wanted to let you guys know what I found. One suggestion is to run the
van off of a new 5 gallon plastic gas tank. However I am not sure how you
could do this without doing some serious mods (drilling holes and running
really long fuel lines). If anyone has any ideas in this area, something
that you have done before, please let me know.
Hope you are having a great day!
Ken Wilford
John 3:16
www.vanagain.com