Date: Sat, 18 Jul 1998 21:40:58 -0600
Reply-To: kenstich <kenstich@BEWELLNET.COM>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <Vanagon@vanagon.com>
From: kenstich <kenstich@BEWELLNET.COM>
Organization: Central Intelligence
Subject: Re: Gas odor after fill-up => More possibilities
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii
Roy,
My 80 Vanagon-L actually leaked like a seive after a fill-up ==>> a stream of
gasoline ==>>left a large puddle on the ground at the pump. I did a full seal
job as Austin describes. I'm thinkin though, that since you are just getting
fumes, that it could be connections to the expansion tanks or the lines to the
expansion tanks. You might try this before going the full route (tank drop
that is). Put the front of the beast on stands and pull the front wheels. Top
up the tank with a gas can. Get a strong light and a small mirror and a good
nose. You can see the seals on the top of the tank and the lines fairly well -
there are several 5mm fuel lines (the same as used in carburated VW's - gray
cloth overbraid) that carry only vapor. Also. there are rubber grommets where
the steel lines penetrate/join the expansion tank (I still need to do these,
but they are easily accessible w/o dropping the tank.
I agree with Austin - if you drop the tank, do it all as its a PIA job. Drain
the tank by disconnecting the line at the fuel filter - This gets the tank
almost totally drained.
The 5mm rubber interconnecting hoses on my beast were badly cracked/dry-rotted
- the 3 rubber tank grommets were dry-rotted on the outside - where exposed to
the atmosphere, but on the inside, the rubber had turned gummy from years of
fuel exposure. I think though, that if any of the three tank grommets, the
fuel filler neck grommet (huge) or the sender o-ring were faulty, I think
you'd be seeing fuel on the ground as I did.
When dropping the tank, I had an awful time keeping dirt out as the tank was
covered with crud. Further, for the o-rings/grommets to seat well, I cleaned
the tank seating surface with steel wool - again, difficult to keep crud out.
I used rags stuffed into the holes whenever possible - You may have read other
threads talking about plugged tank drain lines and whining pumps => with a
flashlight, you can see in through the filler neck hole that the drain line
comes from the round depression in the middle of the tank and is covered with
sheet metal and baffling - in other words, no way to clean the drain line
screen - even with the tank removed. I blew all lines with compressed air -
about the best one can do. Good luck with it.
Regards,
Ken Stich
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Roy Mellor wrote:
>
> I was hoping not to have to do that. But, deep down inside I knew it
> was coming. ("You're going to have to drop the fuel tank" the little
> voice kept saying. Maybe not, I'd say. There could be a simple solution.
> "Yeah right!") When I'm emotionally/physically prepared for this I do
> it.
>
> Thanks for the advice.
>
> Roy Mellor
> Little Rock, AR
> '85 Westy GL "Humbert"
>
> > BTST!! (been there smelt that)
> >
> > It's time to get close & personal with your fuel tank!! LOTS of fun,
> > schedule an afternoon to do the job right.
> >
> > Get _every_ piece of rubber (~7?) that goes into the tank from your local
> > VW dealer before you start, especially the crossover tube assembly (don't
> > neglect the humongous rubber donut for the filler tube).
> >
> > Drop the tank (as close to empty as possible), clean it carefully (look for
> > rust-through - you're SOL if it's there); replace the rubber inserts,
> > pre-position the crossover tube ass'y, re-raise the tank replacing hoses as
> > you can.
> >
> > It definitely helps to jack up the front end & remove the wheels - allows
> > access over/behind the brake discs.
> >
> > Austin
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