Date:         Fri, 03 May 1996 09:15:00 -0700 (PDT)
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@vanagon.com>
From:         "Maher, Steve (SD-MS)" <SMAHER@gi.com>
Subject:      RE: gassy  oil


>a friend of mine (no really - this isn't happening to me) has a split with 
an
>annoying gasproblem - the oil keeps getting gas in it.  (1600 SP)  I saw 
it,
>checked the dipstick - and it was 2 quarts high, smelled like gas to me- 
and
>of course was very  thin.  It wasn't that long since he changed the oil, 
but
>was of course vague on distance/ time, though he didn't even drive it to
>town.   He  changed the fuel pump (twice) and even bought a new carb.   He
>only lives a quarter mile from work, so he doesn't drive too much, but what 
a
>hassle!
>
>any suggestions?   comments?    gas (fart) jokes?


Well, those brazilian (Brosol, I assume?) fuel pumps were never known
for high quality, but it seems unlikely that he picked up two bad ones
in a row. Time to stretch into the realm of less-likely-but-still-possible
guesses:

1.) Is his fuel pump pushrod the right length? They must be matched to the
pump. Don't know how many different lengths there were, except that there
were more than one. I think all 1600SP's came with the "tall" fuel pump.
But most Brosols I've seen, especially when sold by FLAPSs who were more
used to selling fuzzy mirror dice, were the shorties suitable for alternator
engines ('74-later bugs). If your pushrod is too long, it might overstress
the diaphragm inside the pump, and cause eventual (or immediate) holes in
the diaphragm.

2.) Does your friend make that 1/4 mile trip to work, twice a day, every
day? Plus longer (1/2 mile) trips to the post office, store, VW dealer?
He may be doing most of his driving with a cold engine and closed choke
plate. This causes rich mixtures (duh), fuel condensing on cylinder walls,
and maybe draining down into the crankcase. Normally even this isn't much,
but throw in worn rings (if any), misadjusted carb float level (if any),
and you could conceivably have a smallish river flowing from the carb,
down the intake manifold, into the cylinders, past the rings, and into
the case. It's a stretch, I know, but... Murphy's Law applies. My '71 bus
used to belch out huge clouds of acrid, opaque white smoke at odd times,
and I found the most amazing chain of weird coincidences combining to make
it do that. If it's crazy enough, someday somewhere a VW will do it,
whatever it is.

My $.02...
 ______________________________________________________________________
           _                                            ______________
    ______//________    Steve Maher    smaher@gi.com   //__][__||____\\
   /o _   |  -| _   \   San Diego, CA     75461,1717  (o _-|       _ o|
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