Date: Sun, 2 Sep 2012 16:41:12 -0700
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: Running The Van Low On Fuel
In-Reply-To: <571997964.1339322.1346604825017.JavaMail.root@sz0063a.westchester.pa.mail.comcast.net>
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I can promise that crude and junk DOES get through fuel filters sometimes.
Can't say how ..
but I have seen that it can and does sometimes.
also..consider the logic of this comment ..fuel is always drawn from the
same bottom spot on the tank..
true. However..say there are 8 gallons of fuel with some junk in
suspension due to road bumps etc...
now take that same 8 gallons and run it down to one half or even one
quarter of a a gallon..
the same amount of junk may still be present, but now it's more
concentrated in the smaller volume of fuel.
It's been known for decades that running a fuel tank to near empty or
dry can be very bad for the fuel system on the engine. 'everyone knows
that' . It has never been other than that.
Sure we can get away with it often ..... ..but that 'junk factor' on a
low or dry tank is real.
It can even cause intermittent fuel pick up. BTDT. I've dealt with poor
fuel delivery on possibly hundreds of cars of all makes.
junk gets where it doesn't belong ...period.
Not always, but often enough.
Heck, I've had a fuel tank have a problem feeding fuel 6 months after
being well cleaned out, including cutting open the sump on the bottom
and cleaning there and soldering it back together .........back when
radiator shops did that ..
I still got a clogged diesel fuel filter some 6 months later.
additionally ..case of a brand new gasoline vanagon gas tank ..the best
one we could find to buy new ( Van cafe likely )
6 months later, I am finding water in the fuel when emptying out and
inspecting the fuel filter from that van. No source of water getting in
could be identified.
Fuel filters do their job 'mostly' and not absolutely, at all. And very
old vanagon fuel tanks are always suspect.
Imagine the corrosion and junk that accumulates in 25 + years. Sometimes
ya just gotta know when a component has served out it's time and is just
due.
Scott
www.turbovans.com
On 9/2/2012 9:53 AM, J Stewart wrote:
> Wow, folks, I just had to pass on this response I got from my earlier post about having my fuel injectors cleaned. Here is my story first, then the response. Heading home from Everybus in 2008, Sunday morning in Lynchburg, VA. I should have known in Jerry Falwell country no gas stations would be open! I kept going and going,fuel gauge dropping so low I wasn't sure how the engine was still running. I FINALLY find an open gas station and fill up. Hit the highway, and then just below Charlottesville VA. it starts: every once in a while a brief hesitation, that gets more frequent. By the time I'm past Charlottesville the van is barely able to make it to 55 mph. I still have another 90 miles to go. By the time I am 30 miles from home I am limping along at 30 mph. It's pouring down rain and I really don't want to mess with the van but I have no choice. I thought at first my cat was plugged, so I unbolt the exhaust:slight improvement but not much. Continue to limp home, and make it without being towed, but last few miles were on the shoulder at like 10-15 mph. Once home I swap the fuel filter. Boom! Able to do 55 again, but the van just doesn't feel "right". I live with it like this for a while. Back then, this Westy wasn't a daily driver for me, so it got little use. I had bought this van ('84) with a seized motor, and put a 2.1 in it and got one of the Euro spec ECU's from Boston Bob. This set up was quite nice, and the van had always had plenty of power, even when towing a trailer with my motorcycle on it. After the Lynchburg incident it was never the same, even after swapping fuel filters a coupe more times. Then, I read here about folks getting their injectors cleaned by WitchHunter. I pulled all 4 and sent them in. Got them back a week later and installed 'em and took the van for a test drive. I was blown away! The van effortlessly hit 75 mph. All the power was back, just like it was the DAY BEFORE I RAN IT LOW ON GAS! I always assumed it was crud sucked into the fuel line from the tank that was fine enough to pass through the filter and then partially clog the injectors! I guess not! Here is the reply I got:
>
> ww common' J, you should know better than that. I get so tired of hearing that the fuel got low so it was sucked from the bottom of the tank along with some trash. Truth is the fuel is ALWAYS taken from the same place, the bottom of the tank....no difference. And if trash was sucked into the fuel flow it would never make it through the filter, that is what the filter is for....plug it maybe but not pass through. Sorry dude, your conception of the situation is not correct, sort of an old wives tale sort of thing that people seem to hang onto.
>
>
> SO, what was it? Was it like the season on the TV show "Dallas" when Bobbie Ewing got killed? Did I dream it?
> Seriously, if my assessment isn't correct, what was it?
>
>
>
>
> Jeff Stewart
>
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