Date:         Wed, 10 Aug 94 09:28:15 CDT
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@vanagon.com>
From:         Joel Walker <JWALKER@ua1vm.ua.edu>
Subject:      Re: Hot Starting (a) vanagon

On Wed, 10 Aug 94 09:01:20 CDT David Carment said:
>I bought a fuel filter that the guy at Kohlweiss said was the proper
>one. It is huge and metal  and round as opposed to the original filter
>that was plastic square and small. It seems to work well (about 5
>dollars extra on the market). The only problem is that the ends did
>not quite match the tube from the tank so i needed to usextra clamps
>to get a tight and proper fit.

hmmm. the little square plastic one was discontinued in one of the tech
bulletins. at least on the water-cooled vanagons. it supposedly would leak.
(i never had any trouble with them on my 80 bus). the big metal one is a
real 'filter', whereas the little plastic one is a 'strainer'. at least,
that's what i was told. it should have matched the rubber hose better than
that, i would have thought. well, as long as it doesn't leak or impede the
flow of fuel. :)

>The OXS sensor sounds more likely or possibly that diaphragm you were
>discussing. Any way to test each of these. ie How does one "test" and
>OXS sensor and what do they cost to replace?

the only way to 'test' an oxy sensor (that i have ever heard of) is with a
rather expensive volt-ohm-meter. :( which is why most folks just replace the
thing.

the little pressure diaphragm has some sort of testing that can be done but
as i recall (from the bentley book),it requires a fuel pressure gauge.

>> ~~~also check all the little electrical connectors in and around the engine
>> area. you might be just getting some corrosion on the spade lugs.
>Hoipefully no corrosion .....yet.

i don't mean the kind of corrosion that looks like corrosion. (?) but just
the kind that makes the outer surfaces look dull and brown. this is some
sort of oxide or something that impedes the electrical current. scrapping
or sanding lightly the connectors until they are shiney bright can sometimes
help electrical problems.

>> What is their expected life span- will idle and fuel consumption
>become less reliable over time if they are not replaced?

i change the big metal fuel filter on my 88 bus every 25,000 miles. just
cause it's big and costs about $30. i probably should change it every year
but i'm too cheap. i may pay for it later (by having to replace injectors or
something) but so far (75,000 miles), it seems to be working ok.

the pressure regulator? i have no idea. i think it is one of those things
that sometime last for the life of the car, and for other folks, it'll die
just after the warranty expires.

the oxy sensor? that's another iffy one. i've heard that vw says to replace
it on vanagons at 90,000 miles. then another dealer says at 60,000 miles.
what i have observed is that most of the manufacturers seem to want to
replace it just before the big EPA service (at about 50,000 or 60,000 miles)
... something about the emission systems having to be repaired under warranty
for FIVE years. :) so they are making sure than the parts are up-to-snuff to
last past the time limit. i replaced mine at 50,000 miles ... paranoia. i'll
do it again at 100,000 miles. it cost me $130 but that was dealer price.
you might be able to get bosch parts at a FLAPS a lot cheaper, but make sure
it has the same number of wires. there are one-wire sensors (really cheap)
and three-wire sensors (over twice as much). you can't swap the two types.

joel