Date:         Fri, 3 Oct 1997 11:56:46 -0700
Reply-To:     Tom Young <young@SHERLOCK.SIMS.BERKELEY.EDU>
Sender:       Vanagon mailing list <Vanagon@Gerry.SDSC.EDU>
From:         Tom Young <young@SHERLOCK.SIMS.BERKELEY.EDU>
Subject:      Re: fuel problem
Comments: To: Tonya Pope <tonya@MSMM.COM>
In-Reply-To:  <34351A32.4B68@msmm.com>
Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII

On Fri, 3 Oct 1997, Tonya Pope wrote:

> Today I had well over 1/4 tank of gas (closer to 1/2 actually) when I
> left my home.  Approximately 3 miles later, I was fuel-less.  You could
> smell it everywhere however.  No visible leaks, so I'm assuming it was a
> fuel injector (or more than one :)

If you really had a half tank of gas and were empty 3 miles later, than I
don't think it could possibly be a faulty injector.  You make no mention
of no power, huge clouds of black smoke, etc. that would accompany an
injector (or several injectors) leaking that bad.


So how hard are these bad boys to
> replace?  If I can't do it myself, I have to have it towed an hour away
> to get fixed, so I'm very willing to attempt this.  While I'm in there,
> I'd prefer to replace all 4 than to figure out which one had the problem
> (although I'm sure it will be quite evident) if they aren't too terribly
> expensive.
>

Not hard.  Basically one nut per injector, remove the injector from the
fuel ring (may have to cut off VW-supplied clamps), put new injector on
ring, put on new seals, tighten down nut.


> Am I right that they are the culprit?  fyi, ran great yesterday, fuel
> economy has been normal until today.  What's the chances that the o2
> sensor got fouled?  plugs?  Weather is hot as usual, although it was a
> brisk 70 this morning (kids were putting jackets on :).
>

Since you don't mention the symptoms of rich running, I'd look for a leak.

---------------------------------------------------------------------
Tom Young               young@sherlock.SIMS.Berkeley.EDU
Lafayette, CA  94549    '81 Vanagon
---------------------------------------------------------------------