Actually, that pump is used on some American vehicles such as Ford Escorts.
The VW pump is what is what is known as a "Roller Cell" design. That is, it
uses a series of rollers in a cage to pump the fluid. Other designs are
either of the gear type or multi stage centrifugal. The roller cell is
extremely rugged and will last along time. The usual causes of failure is
running dry, (mechanical damage, or sucking air due to leaky inlet hoses or
operating in a low fuel condition on steep grades or taking corners too
fast, or debris jamming the rotors. A rare situation can exist where the
pump will suck the right mixture of air and fuel causing a "quick" fire in
the pump. Remember the gasoline actually flows over the armature and brush
assembly on the motor. Another cause of failure can be a clogged fuel filter
or other restriction. This will cause the pump to work hard and strain the
motor.

The largest advantage of the stock pump is it's resistance to vapor lock.
Ask any one who's owned a FORD Van from 92 to 96 about the 40k mile vapor
locking, burning up fuel pump that FORD had a $700 upgrade for. That is what
it cost me when my last motor home died in Florida at 41k miles. When the
tow truck came, he knew what happened by my 2 hour drive from Disney and the
year of my camper.

Anyway, if you really need to save money, ask your flaps to get you a
rebuilt pump from PYHTON. They cost about half of new and I've had good luck
with them.

Dennis

-----Original Message-----
From: Vanagon Mailing List [mailto:vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com]On Behalf
Of Marshall Ruskin
Sent: Tuesday, August 15, 2000 9:37 PM
To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
Subject: Why use VW Fuel Pumps instead of Alternatives?

Hi Listees!

A quick question regarding alternative fuel pumps for Vanagons:

Is there any reason why a domestic FI fuel pump could not be used on a
Vanagon?

In my ignorance of the details of this subject, it seemed to me that:

1.    the existing pressure regulator will/should? deal with fuel pressure
control OK;
2.    most fuel pumps should use similar amounts of current/power, and
definitiely will use 12 V;
3.    fuel filters are an unknown??

So, is there a good reason why we should not save money - and buy a less
expensive domestic fuel pump, oh great Listees?

Thanks In Advance

Marshall Ruskin
84 Westy "Leader of the Pack"
Winnipeg, Canada