Date:         Fri, 5 Jul 1996 11:36:56 PDT
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@vanagon.com>
From:         "Shawn Wright" <SW@smus.bc.ca>
Subject:      Re: 83 Sink's 12V water pump

On  5 Jul 96 at 8:02, john wakefield wrote:

> Yesterday I decided to improve the recently slowed delivery of water 
> coming from my '83 Westie's sink spigot, so I pulled the pump.  After 
> much agitation by shaking it along its shaft while it was running and 
> hearing lots of micro grinding noises, it was spinning much faster, but 
> just before I was about to quit satisfied, it demonstrated its 
> dissatisfaction by quiting.  The motor is now electrically open, so I'd 
> say it's "toast."
>   If someone knows of a device that also uses this standard appearing 12V 
> DC electric motor, that would be nice information.
>   Also, in what interchangable years were these little submergable pumps 
> used?
>   Is there an inexpensive alternate source for acceptable replacements 
> beside the maximally priced VW dealership?
>   If others have found nice little two speed replacements, that would be 
> a fine improvement.
> 
You say your '83 has the submersible type? Interesting... The '83 
which I almost bought last year had the pump mounted in the 'secret' 
compartment in the bottom of the kitchen cabinet. It looked factory 
to me - maybe it wasn't. Anyway, I used this method to replace my 
pump which failed the same way as yours. A $25 RV sink pump mounted 
nicely in this compartment, insulated with a few foam pieces to keep 
it from rattling too much. Flow rate is not bad, better than the 
dying pump I had, but still takes about 45-60 seconds to fill the 
kettle. (heck, if I'm rushing when camping, there's *something* 
wrong!)

One main problem with this: Since the water line comes through the 
top of the tank, the pump will lose its prime if the tank is emptied, 
or near empty and driving up *steep* hills (as I often do...). I've 
gotten used to mouth-priming the pump - no big deal. The RV place I 
got the pump at sold a 3/8" check valve to fix this - I skipped it 
since I thought I had one already. The white thingy under the sink is 
just a coupler - not a valve. Another solution would be the more 
expensive self priming pump, but it was about $80...

ps: I left stock wiring in place so I could go back to the old pump 
type - just disconnected the 4 prong connector under the sink for 
power from the faucet, then ran a ground wire to a cabinet mounting 
screw. 

pps: You'll also need about 2-3' of 3/8" tubing to extend the lines 
to the pump, and lengthen the feed line in the tank.













Shawn
'88 Westy 331k (Kyra)
'85 Jetta TD 349k (Jenni)