Eric, I'm with you. Inspection is the best protection. The last major
fuel leak I had was with brand new fuel lines. There was nothing loose,
no bad clamps, no problems ........but I dumped 3/4 of a tank of gas so
fast you could the needle on the gage falling. And a fuel hose was the
culprit. How so if it was new? Well, actually fairly new, recently new,
but ot the first trip out after installation. It had been driven a few
hundred miles, but with no apparent problems ........ but the fuel line
passed close enough to the throttle cable that the cable wore a hole in
the fuel line. When it reached a certain point - blooie!  -- hole opened
and the fuel came out.

Inspect, inspect, inspect.

John Rodgers
88 GL Driver

Eric Zeno wrote:

> I'm not convinced that the fuel lines are alway the problem.
> Over the years I've seen the cigar tubes blow up/off.  I've
> seen the hose clamps rust away. Worst of all I've seen
> people who have not known what they are doing  cause
> fuel leaks.  A reminder every three months to do a good
> over all inspection of the fuel system would be better.
> The inspection should consist of looking at every fuel
> relation part in the engine compartment for leaks, rust,
> and proper placement and fit.
>                                              Eric
>
>
>
>
> Detroit Bus wrote:
>
>> Perhaps the "best" possible response to Deb's sad misfortune would be
>> the upgrading and replacement of fuel lines on old VWs all over the
>> world during the next several weeks. We could make this a joint effort
>> of sorts. Obviously there are other factors that cause vehicle fires
>> but as Ben convincingly states fuel line problems are the primary
>> instigator. (Can't wait to visit your shop next time I drive up to
>> Montreal, looks fun!)
>>
>> Last month I bought several meters of the correct high-pressure fuel
>> line and FI clamps from one of the list's vendor members, and have
>> been planning to retrofit my new Vanagon right after New Year's after
>> all the holiday obligations have ended, and while I have access to a
>> garage in Michigan (assuming I make the 700 mile journey from NYC to
>> Detroit without event!) In the past the *very* first thing I did to
>> any of my air-cooleds was to replace the fuel lines and clamps, even
>> before changing the oil. As no doubt hundreds of people on this list
>> will attest, there is scarcely a more miserable experience than
>> watching an engine fire devour months or years of work and care. My
>> brother once lost a fine Beetle convertible like this, just an hour
>> before he was supposed to finalize its sale for several thousand
>> dollars--in fact he was driving it to the new owner's house! The next
>> day he sold it to a junkyard for $50 (this was a while back...).
>>
>> Anyway, if anyone else has been planning to re-do the fuel lines on
>> their VW, perhaps we could all do this at the same time, say the
>> weekend of Jan 1-2, after you sleep off that hangover? That way if
>> anyone has questions or problems (I myself have never done this on a
>> Vanagon engine) there will be a lot of combined activity concentrated
>> on the same job simultaneously; as they say two heads (or fifty) are
>> better than one. For instance, I'm sorry to say that my fuel line
>> clamps look like little crusty brown barnacles so I'm already
>> anticipating some issues with removal, it would be great if I could
>> talk to someone who had encountered the same problem just minutes
>> before while every little detail is fresh in their head. Maybe we
>> could even spread this effort to other VW lists (vintage buses,
>> beetles, etc.) and make it a one weekend fuel line mass effort?
>>
>> This also gives anyone who wants to participate a week or two to order
>> and receive the correct hoses and parts (don't just use cheapo hose
>> clamps!!). If we get even ten or twenty classic VW's outfitted with
>> new fuel lines that weekend, it will be a great tribute to Deb's lost
>> Vanagon, and almost surely prevent a disaster somewhere.
>>
>> Any interest? I'll post again in January when I am in a dry garage
>> looking down at that first fuel injector...
>>
>>
>>
>> --
>> Garrick in Queens, NY
>> '87 GL Weekender
>>
>> *****
>> With fond remembrances of:
>> '77 Beetle
>> '67 Bus
>> '59 Pickup sn# 460440
>> '67 Beetle
>> '76 Camper Bus
>>
>>
>>
>>
>
>