Date: Thu, 31 Jan 2013 13:08:15 -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: Does this look like a fuel leak?
In-Reply-To: <42A254AC-013A-4283-8BC1-8AB0DE35FA1B@gmail.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1; format=flowed
The poster is wise to be cautious ...
and ......
the idea of wiggliing things or feeling around is a good one.
It is just 'silly-easy'to jumper the fuel pump relay if you know how.
and ..amazingly, you don't even need the key for the van to be able to
jumper the FP relay to pressureize the fuel lines for testing/inspection
etc.
and it takes like 5 seconds to do this ..
then ...without the engine running or being hot, you can pull and wiggle
on fuel lines all you want.
BTW..
hopefully the plastic fire wall fitting has been elimnated. There is no
reason for that part really .
and there is One Spot just forward of that fitting that likes to leak ..
on ALL Two Wheel Drive Vanagons, 83 to 91.
that spot ...from underneath, above the starter, looking at the plastic
firewall fitting ...there is a short piece of fuel hose there, about two
inches long. Where that is clamped to the plastic fitting ..not usually
a problem.
It's where that short hose is crimp style clamped to the hard plastic
fuel line coming from the fuel pump ..
that one spot is 'the one' that leaks and causes fires.
Minimum repair it to cut off the original crimp type clamp and put on a
good screw type clamp ..and not the common sharp edged american style #
4 either ...a good german screw type clamp.
better ...bypass the entire plastic fitting ...join the hard plastic
line coming from the fuel pump directly to the hose on the engine that
leads to the triple T fitting next to the distributor. Run it alongside
the bell housing in that large space there ..and don't run it through
any holes in the firewall. It's silly to run a hose through a hole in
the firewall for which you need to provide grommet protection ..which
can fail, when there is no reason to go through the firewall in the
first place !
I'd crimp all crimp type hose clamps 'more' for sure.
how to jumper the fuel pump relay - open the black box above the coil
..the one that implies you'll get electrocuted if you look in there.
You'll see 2 relays.
The left one is the Main Relay ..powers the ecu
the one on the right is the Fuel Pump Relay.
the wire connectors are arranged in a top and bottom/ left and right
pattern.
You'll see the center top connector has a red wire on it.
the center bottom connector has a double white wire on it.
Join those two connectors...
even touching both of them together with small screw driver bladewill
run the fuel pump.
I have jumper wires with miniature clips on the end ...works nicely.
Don't need the van's key even !
then you can let it sit there, pump running awayand
watch/wiggle/tug/pull/look all you want.
I think people are a little over-paranoid about fuel leaks sometimes ...
on the other hand, if there is a fuel leak .. .
and someone is driving merrily along and there's a small leak 'wayback
there' ....they might not realize that at all ..
and a fire could start...
so where safety things are concerned ....total cautioun is better than a
casual attitude for sure.
Like if someone calls me and says they smell fuel ..
do I think it's safe from them to drive it to me ? ....
obviously the safest thing is get the van towed to where the problem can
be identified and fixed.
do good careful work !
Scott
www.turbovans.com
On 1/31/2013 8:35 AM, Jarrett Anthony Kupcinski wrote:
> If it looks like a fuel leak, feels like a fuel leak, and SMELLS like a fuel leak, then I'd say its a leak. I couldn't tell from the video if you felt any moisture on the underside of the rails or if they were dry. The engine compartment should not smell like fresh gas. At all.
>
> The fuel rails are plastic, so they can crack. Crimp on connectors can be too loose and hose rubber can shrink away from the rail nipples over time. Fuel injectors can leak. As can the seals around them. When changing fuel lines, I use screw-clamps (the good kind) and always find a little snugging up can be done a month or two afterwards.
>
> Fluid leaks can be tricky to track down on a running vehicle because you can get the puddle a long way from the source. Get things cleaned up as best you can and let it dry. Then diagnose with lots of light. Have a fire extinquisher handy. An assistant to cut the engine is also useful. Check all hose junctions and clamps. Push and pull on the hoses gently to see if movement exacerbates things. If you can't find a source of a gas leak, look for other candidate sources. Coolant, power steering fluid, and of course motor oil (all of which smell different than gas) all can leak in places similar to where you're looking in the video.
>
>
> -Jarrett
> 89 Westy
> On Jan 31, 2013, at 7:40 AM, Peter Krogh wrote:
>
>> I've noticed the smell of gas in my engine compartment, and it looks like I may have multiple fuel leaks back there. I suppose it's also possible that what looks like fuel stains could have come from some penetrating solvent used in the fuel line repair over the summer. Or perhaps the stains have simply been lingering around since the repairs over the summer. Wondering the wisdom of the list.
>>
>> Here's a movie showing what I see:
>> https://vimeo.com/58572336
