Date:         Mon, 17 Jun 1996 17:14:58
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@vanagon.com>
From:         EXPRES@gnn.com (RON SALMON)
Subject:      RE: Stranded in L.A. - 81 won't start



> For those who remeber, Last week my vanagons fuel gauge stopped
> working so I ran out of gas (didn't know this until I was towed 
> mechanic and he dertimed the problem).  Well, I picked up the 
>van, determine/ fix this?  Gas must be fine, I assume fuel pump is 
>also.
>
I did the same thing with a '76 bus, which also had a bad gas 
guage.  After trying everything, I asked the advice of a German 
friend who's been fixing VW's since before I was born.  He 
suggested that the pump might have lost its prime from running 
empty.  Told me to be patient and run the pump for a few minutes, , 
and eventually it would very likely start.  I hooked up a jumper 
cable from the positive terminal of the battery to the fuel pump, 
and ran the pump (with gas in the tank) for about two minutes, then 
hooked the pump back up and the bus started right away. (This after 
making sure the fuel filter hadn't clogged, etc.).  Maybe I was 
lucky, but this worked for me.
-Ron Salmon