Date:         Thu, 21 Jan 1999 10:35:34 -0330
Reply-To:     Bob Norman <B.Norman@THEZONE.NET>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Bob Norman <B.Norman@THEZONE.NET>
Subject:      Re: Filled gas tank leaking a common prob?
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii

Keith Olsen wrote:
>
> If this has been addressed before I'm sorry, but this is my 1st water cooled
> van and I noticed this problem before on another van and I'm wondering if its
> a common thing.  When the fuel tank is filled to the point where the automatic
> gas station pump clicks off, I get a fuel tank leak.
----snip----
Keith, I posted a reply on this to someone a while ago, here it is:


Re: Cutoff not working at the pump!
Date: Tue, 10 Nov 1998 21:25:18 -0330
From: Bob Norman <B.Norman@thezone.net>
To:  vanagon@VANAGON.COM
References: 1


> When I go to fill up my vanagon,
> I put the nozzle in the tank, and flip the lever
> so it pumps while I wash the windows, check the oil, etc.  When the
> tank is full the nozzle shuts off.
> No gas comes out the top but there is a decent size pool of fresh gas
> under the vanagon when I drive off.
> Is there some sort of cutoff/overflow valve that may not be working on
> my van?  The gas attendant says he's seen it happen with other vanagons.
> Any ideas anyone?
> TIA,
>  Stuart

Stuart,
My '81 westy does the same thing.  The day I bought it, I filled it up
and it left two puddles, one on each side just behind the front tires.
Inspection revealed the original cloth covered hoses leading to the
expansion tanks.  These I replaced, problem solved, right? Wrong.

The tank then leaked from the both sides up front, in by the chassis
rails. Inspection revealed more cloth wrapped hoses, on top of the
gas tank, replaced all of these, still had leaks!

Took the damn thing out, noticed that one of the plugs in the top of the
gas tank leading to the expansion tank was half out, so I replaced it,
re-installed the tank and filled up.  Gasoline started pouring from the
right side of the tank all along the Chassis rail.

my solution now is to add no more than $10.00 to half a tank.

I think my problem is where the filler neck joins the tank. I had a hell
of a time getting the filler neck back in, as it is impossible to see
due to the chassis rail.  I ended up soaping it up with liquid detergent
after which it went in pretty easy.  It just sort of lies there wedged
into a rubber grommet, if this is loose, which mine seems to be, well
you can see what happens.

So in a nutshell, get a new big grommet, and check your return hoses for
leaks.

Hope this helps

Bob Norman
'81 Westy
Gander, NF
Canada
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