Date: Mon, 30 Nov 1998 20:35:57 -0500
Reply-To: "Joe L." <jliasse@EMAIL.MSN.COM>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@vanagon.com>
From: "Joe L." <jliasse@EMAIL.MSN.COM>
Subject: Re: Fuel leak
If you have the same problem I did it can be fixed easily for about
$35 worth of parts and about a half hour of bending your fingers and hands
in ways God never intended.
If you look on top of your tank you will see that it has a "valley"
running the length of the tank. The "hills" on either side of that valley
are connected by a tube that is mounted on top of the front of the tank.
The purpose of this tube is to prevent air from being trapped in the "hills"
and allow the fuel to be at the same level on both sides of the tank.
Take a look in your front wheel wells (either side). If you look at the
top you will see a plastic "jug" (fuel expansion tank) with a tube running
from the bottom and disappearing into the area above the gas tank. With your
hands trace that tube from the "jug" to the tank (helps if you have small
flexable hands). When you get to the tank you will feel a plastic fitting
that the tube is attatched to; you will also feel a LARGE plastic tube
attatched to the same fitting and running off to the other side of the gas
tank (this is the cross vent tube that runs between the "hills"). THAT
fitting is likely cracked and leaking (at least it was on mine).
On the driver side there is one fitting, on the passenger side there
are two. The "extra" one on the passenger side is for the vent tube that you
will see running along your gas filler tube. You will see this vent tube
when you look at your gas filler tube. Since this vent tube is metal all the
way to the tank with no plastic fittings anywhere it is not likely to be
leaking.
If your cross vent fittings are leaking you will be able to tell if you
get a flashlight, crawl under the van and jamb your head up there in the
rear of the tank so you can look along the "valley". Trails left by the
leaking gas will show up as a kind of "wet looking discoloration" that is
hard for me to describe but easy to see. That discoloration will appear in
the area of the fittings and run down into the valley. The path of the flow
will be obvious when you shine the light up there.
If you see that path you DEFINATELY need to replace the cross vent
fittings. for this you need:
1. Two Grommets (about $2 each)
2. Three feet of 5mm gas line (the stuff running from the plastic jugs to
the tank. The good stuff is about $2/foot)
3. The cross tank vent assembly (about $25)
4. Four small gas line clamps (screw type) to replace the ones you are going
to destroy taking the thing off.
You can do the job without dropping the tank by jacking up the van so the
wheels are slightly off the ground. This will give you enough space to get
your hand in there to work. Clean the area off so the crud will not drop
into the tank when you get the old grometts off. Once clean just reach in
there and pull near the base of the fitting. They should pop right off
("should").
Once the fitting and grometts are out of the tank you need to look for
the clip that is holding the heavy cross vent tube to the underside of the
van. This clip is mearly a small strip of sheet metal bent into a hook and
screwed into the bottom of the van. You will see it if you shine your
flashlight along the cross vent tube from the driver side. I could not
manage to get a screwdriver in there to take out the screw so I just bent
the thing with a large screwdriver to free the tube. That being done cut the
small lines running to the plastic jugs in the wheel wells and pull the old
assembly out through one of the wheel wells.
This leaves the most difficult task of the whole job to do. That being
getting the fuel line off of the plastic jugs. It is difficult because the
lines are clamped onto the jugs with a permenent clamp. I got mine off by
chewing at it with a small pair of wire cutters. BE CAREFULL doing this. You
could break the nipple off of the plastic jug. An act that will cause you to
make another trip to the VW dealer for a new fuel expansion tank.
Putting things back togeather is pretty much what you think it is. The
tricks are to attatch half of that three feet of 5mm fuel line before you
install the cross vent tube (18 inches on each side is plenty). Also ensure
you put the new grometts in the tank FIRST then install the plastic fitting
in the gromets. Otherwise you will NEVER manage to push the grometts in the
holes. It is also a good idea to lube things up with a little motor oil.
It takes a little pushing and grunting to get things in but it is really
no problem.
I got the idea from an article somewhere on the Vanagon site. When the
time came for me to actually change mine I could no longer find the article
and I am not sure it is still there. That is why I wrote this for you. I
hope it helps.
My dealer wanted $350 to change the fittings. I did it myself for about
$35. Well worth a few skinned knuckles.
PS,
If you do this expect a slight odor of gas when you fill up the first
few times. It takes a little bit of time for the fittings to work themselves
in and seal tight.
-----Original Message-----
From: Steve Macaulay <smacaulay@INFINTIUM.COM>
To: vanagon@VANAGON.COM <vanagon@VANAGON.COM>
Date: Monday, November 30, 1998 4:21 PM
Subject: Fuel leak
>My 1989 Westy leaks gas when the tank is completely filled. I've been
>dealing with this problem for the couple of months I have had this van by
>trying to not rely on the auto-stop feature of most gas nozzles and
>estimating about how many gallons to add to get it close to filling up
>without overfilling. I'm getting better at this, but when I'm wrong I have
>a slow but steady dripping of gas until I drive it around for a few miles.
>
>Anyone experience a similar problem and have any suggestions? I plan on
>having the dealer look at this when I get my 60000 mile checkup in a few
>thousand miles, but I'm wondering if this is a common and relatively minor
>problem that I might be able to correct myself. I've noticed from the VW
>FAQ that there have been several fuel tank related recalls for 80s-era VWs
>(not just vanagons), but there doesn't seem to be one for my 1989 year.
>Although I haven't checked this out thoroughly, a quick check of the
visible
>fuel tank components didn't shed any light on the problem, although it may
>have if it was leaking at the time.
>
>Thanks,
>
>Steve
>
>1989 Westy
