Date: Sat, 16 Feb 2013 07:57:41 -0800
Reply-To: Steve Williams <sbw@SBW.ORG>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Steve Williams <sbw@SBW.ORG>
Subject: Re: Copious Fuel Leak at Both Manifolds
In-Reply-To: <201302101648.r1AGmt603292@sbw.org>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"; format=flowed
Thanks for the advice.
I posted earlier that my '84 camper was leaking gas badly from both
injector manifolds. I asked a bunch of questions. I'll try to
answer them for myself, based on what I learned.
David Beierl suggested tightening the hose clamps to temporarily stop
the leak, so I could safely drive to the shop. But GoWesty uses
clamps with no adjusting screw that require a particular tool, with
which I'm not familiar. So I didn't pursue that. Here's GoWesty's
kit with a link to the tool:
http://www.gowesty.com/ec_view_details.php?id=4393
I called the always-reliable Dick's Automotive Transport for a
flatbed to carry the camper down to the VW experts at Peninsula
Automotive in Campbell, California, about 6 miles from me in Santa
Clara. Dick's is across the street from Peninsula, and they've
carried several VWs and an Audi for me over the past 15 years or
so. Here's me in the Rabbit chasing the Beetle on Dick's flatbed in 2007:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bMRkunKQPyY
(Peninsula is generally a lot more expensive than Van Cafe in Santa
Cruz, but it's wonderful to have so many knowledgeable shops around
the Bay Area. I'm also a fan of Fred's Garage in Redwood City.)
Peninsula couldn't reproduce the leak. That's one of the mysteries I
was trying to understand. But they replaced all of the fuel lines in
the engine compartment and installed aluminum injector
manifolds. They also installed a metal firewall fitting to replace
the grommet installed by GoWesty with the 2.3L engine in
2009. Peninsula prefers not to have the fuel line pass through the
firewall, even with that grommet.
Here's that metal fitting next to the plastic original:
http://urlzr.mp/xbb (redirects to www.tk-carparts.de)
Here's a copy of that image, in case the German web site goes away:
http://sbw.org/big_wp_7685.jpg
I don't know whether Peninsula got the manifolds from GoWesty, but
they look very similar:
http://www.gowesty.com/ec_view_details.php?id=23458
The old manifolds weren't leaking, but I just don't like the idea of
30-year-old plastic thingies filled with pressurized fuel directly
above the exhaust.
Peninsula used screw clamps, and I notice they arranged the clamps so
the heads of the screws face up, making it easier to tighten or
remove them when the time comes. I trust GoWesty, who eschew screw
clamps, but I trust Peninsula, too. I'd welcome your thoughts on this.
So, on to my questions.
>Is it more likely the hoses or clamped connections are leaking than
>the manifolds?
Certainly the manifolds can be damaged, but I haven't read anywhere
that they fail solely due to age. In this case, Peninsula says the
hoses were leaking.
The hoses were new with the GoWesty engine in 2009. GoWesty
recommends replacing hoses every three years, unless you pay more for
their "high quality" German fuel line.
>Is this the sort of leak that can start small and get worse over time?
Yes, since it appears the leak was due to the fuel lines
aging. Peninsula said it wasn't until they removed the fuel lines
that they could see they were cracked inside.
>Why did the leak always stop after the engine warmed up?
>Why did the leak generally NOT occur when I drove every day?
I asked Dave at Peninsula. He pointed out that the fuel lines dry
out after the fuel pressure bleeds down, which takes time. When
filled with fuel under pressure, dried out, cracked fuel lines will
leak more until they become saturated with fuel and "swell up." OK.
When I drive every day, the fuel lines don't dry out.
This was a more expensive fix than I like. Next time, I won't have
to replace the firewall fitting or the manifolds, and I hope I'll
have time to do it myself. So maybe it won't be such a painful experience.
Glad to be back on the road without leaks!
