Date:         Tue, 11 Jul 95 21:16:20 -0700
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@vanagon.com>
From:         kenb@SIRIUS.COM (Ken Bowen)
Subject:      Fuel pump woes

I have a rather strange problem I'm hoping to get some help with. Here is
the long winded saga:

About two weeks ago my '69 bus quit running at 2;00 am twenty miles south
of nowhere. I checked for fuel and lo and behold, none came from the pump.
I took the pump apart, put it back together and everything worked fine. I
drove at least 400 miles and decided it might be a good idea to get a new
fuel pump and keep the old one , which seemed to be working fine, as an
empergency back up.

I installed a brand new pump and drove several days/tankfuls of gas, no
trouble. Today on the freeway, I feel the engine starving and pull over. At
this point, the engine will idle, but will not increase RPM when the
throttle is opened. I walk around back and look at the engine. I see a
steady stream of bubbles in the fuel filter, moving from the pump to the
carb. I wiggle the hose; Air is being sucked in at the inlet side of the
filter. SO, I put a hose clamp from my tool box on the line (oh yeah, I
looked at ALL the fuel lines, from tank to carb and they ar in great
shape...mint) and get back on the freeway. 1/4 mile later, stall.

Back at the engine, I pull the line from the pump...have my buddy turn the
engine over...no gas!

Here is the important part. I decided to pull the pump off. I had not yet
disconected the INLET line from the pump. I pulled the pump and tried to
push the lever-to see if I could squirt gas. I couldn't push the lever save
my life. When I disconected the fuel line, it made an audible sucking
noise, like there was a vacume in the gas tank. It sucked and bubbled for a
second or so and then began to release gas in the usual fashion. I plugged
the line with a pencil and notice that I could now work the pump with my
finger and it shot out whatever gas was in it with the enthusiasm I would
expect from a new pump. Put it back on and drove away.

It seemed like the pump was trying to draw gas from the tank, but the tank
was unable to replace the lost liquid with air, creating a vacume. I am
totally confused by this. It's not a clogged fuel line, gas flows freely,
nor is it the fuel pump, that's brand new.

Help me Mr. (or Mrs.) Wizzard,
Ken


kenb@sirius.com