Ron,
   The seal that failed for me was from VW.   I have
ordered a new one from busdepot.   I do not think the
seal was a defective seal.   The seal had clear
evidence of a fresh tear(inch and half in circle) only
but after 6 months of use.   My guess is the new seals
graps the plastic pipe and seal more tighly than an
old seal or a cheap seal.
I did lub the seal with soap and there is no way I
could have torn the seal during installation.   The
clue is that just before filling I hit a bump that
made the van dip down.   It is during this dip that I
think instead of sliding on the plastic hose the seal
binds and gets pinched and cut.   Perhaps I need new
shocks as well.   gary
Date:    Sun, 18 Aug 2002 09:57:13 -0400
From:    The Bus Depot <vanagon@BUSDEPOT.COM>
Subject: Re: gas tank seal failue

> The exact thing happened to me but it took only 2
weeks for mine to
> fail.  I got the first seal from Bus Depot and when
that failed I got
> the second one from the VW dealer for about $7 bucks
and haven't had
a
> problem with it since. I have no idea why it failed
but it did look
like
> the tank had cut it.

Could have been an defective seal (although we have
not heard of any
problems with these seals).
We get our seals from the VW dealer as well, so the
two seals you
bought
should have been completely identical.

- Ron Salmon
  The Bus Depot, Inc.
  (215) 234-VWVW
  www.busdepot.com

_____________________________________________
 Date:    Sat, 17 Aug 2002 21:05:07 -0700
> From:    gary hradek <hradek@YAHOO.COM>
> Subject: gas tank seal failue
>
> Six months ago I replaced hoses,grommets and seals
> on
> my gas tank.   This weekend while filling with gas
> failure of a seal was left as gas on the street.
> The
> failed seal was the one that the plastic fill pipe
> feeds into the tank.   It was clearly cut by the
> tank.
>   I had saved the old one and replaced the cut one
> with the old one.   The edge of the tank is not
> sharp
> but curved as it should be.   The seal is easy to
> fix
> in place.  Is the plastic pipe designed to move in
> and
> out of the seal as the van moves up and down?
> Should
> I apply a lubricant to allow this?   Has anyone else
> experienced this premature failure of a new seal in
> this place.  Any suggestions appreciated.   I will
> keep a spare seal in my parts box as this is
> somewhat
> of a mystery to me.   Easy to fix but still
> embarassing to piss gas out when you fill your tank.
>                regards gary
>
>
>

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